Liverpool were once again forced to do it the hard way, but maintained their perfect home record in 2023/24 with a dramatic 4-3 victory over Fulham.
The Reds were pegged back twice after two spectacular strikes to go into the break at 2-2, but Bobby De Cordova-Reid gave us plenty of work to do with his header on 80 minutes.
Wataru Endo and Trent Alexander-Arnold produced two more quality finishes in quick succession to elicit bedlam inside Anfield, ensuring that the gap to Arsenal remains a small one.
Adam Beattie (@beatts94), Courtney Neary (@Courtney_Neary) and Patrick Allen (@P_Allen21) are here to unpick an afternoon we’re unlikely to forget in a hurry!
In the ground, could you see the turnaround happening when we went 3-2 down?
COURTNEY: Honestly? No. I was expecting possibly a draw. The way the game had gone so far, I thought we deserved the draw.
ADAM: You never count Liverpool out and I did fancy us to get an equaliser, but to nick two as quickly as we did felt like a real smash and grab.
2-2 felt worse than 0-0 at half time given the nature of the goals we gave away, but you can only imagine the lift that’s given the players and I wouldn’t change the scoreline for anything now.
PATRICK: Absolutely not. I’d seen nothing from our performance to inspire any real confidence that we’d turn around a really well-deserved lead, but when Endo scored the equaliser we were always going to get another chance.
Trent is really stepping up, thoughts on his midfield display?
PATRICK: He was superb. I don’t want to draw comparisons but he doesn’t half remind me of Steven Gerrard when he picks up the ball on the half-turn.
When he’s in midfield, you can see his drive and his pace. That was up there with his best performances in a Liverpool shirt.
ADAM: It’s a great option to have and I can see the manager moving him there mid-game at various points this season when the situation needs it.
You can see him getting goals from there if he gets the nod more often, he’s got the right foot to do it and his confidence must be sky-high at the minute.
COURTNEY: I was really impressed with him, too. Already at half time, I was thinking he’d be my man of the match and then to see him move into midfield fully when Joe Gomez came on and score the winner sealed it.
How would you rate the performance overall?
COURTNEY: About a 7/10 for me. I felt like we took a second or two too long to make a decision over a pass and wasted too many chances in front of goal.
Fulham played decent as well which caused us a few problems. Before the last 10 minutes of the game, I didn’t think we played all too well.
PATRICK: Sloppy at best. It’s okay to maybe start games against sides you’re expected to beat a little slow, but they didn’t sort themselves out, well, at all really.
Ryan Gravenberch, Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz were all very loose in possession and it seemed endemic in the overall performance.
ADAM: We definitely looked a bit pedestrian at times. The nature of the goals were a cause for concern and probably would have been the main talking point had we not turned it around.
The resilience really pleased me, though. Last season we’d have felt sorry for ourselves and let that game get away from us. We look like we’ve got real fight in us now.
Favourite of the goals?
ADAM: Macca’s is definitely the right answer. I didn’t realise how much it was bouncing when I watched it in real time, which just made it even more special.
It might be the best goal we’ve scored at Anfield since the pandemic, I’ve been struggling to think of a better one.
PATRICK: It’s got to be Macca’s, partially because I was right behind it! He’s come in playing out of position and maybe not having the best time of things, but he showed no lack of confidence in that strike.
On par, if not better, than Salah’s thunderbolt against Chelsea in 2019 for me.
COURTNEY: I agree with both, it’s got to be Alexis Mac Allister! What a goal.
No one in the stadium saw it coming when the ball came to his feet especially from that far out. What a way to score your first goal for LFC.
Same team for Sheffield United on Wednesday?
COURTNEY: I’d like to see Endo start on Wednesday for Gravenberch, I have a feeling it’ll be a tougher game than people are expecting.
Midweek and late on I feel like we might have some issues, especially after the team put their all into them last few minutes to grind out the win against Fulham.
ADAM: We’re probably going to start seeing Jurgen Klopp really use the depth within his squad over the next few weeks, but I think we’ve got more than enough quality for it not to show.
Neither Curtis Jones nor Harvey Elliott got on the pitch against Fulham so I imagine we’ll see both of them at some point, and of course, it looks like we’ll be missing Joel Matip for the foreseeable so Ibou will probably come in.
PATRICK: Like Adam said, there will have to be changes. Matip looks like he’s going to be out for a bit so Ibou comes in there.
I’d be inclined to bring Cody Gakpo in too as Darwin Nunez certainly didn’t have the best of games. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jones or even Elliott got the go-ahead in midfield either.
Fan Comments