“Anfield and Liverpool at its best” – Luton boss praises “incredible atmosphere”

After Liverpool came from behind to beat Luton 4-1 at Anfield, opposition manager Rob Edwards praised the “incredible atmosphere,” adding that “the Kop was sucking” the ball in.

Anfield isn’t always at its loudest against teams further down the Premier League, but during the second half on Wednesday night, the crowd took it up a notch as the Reds pushed for goals.

Following the game, Luton manager Edwards admitted that “it was probably difficult for the players to really concentrate.”

He joked: “We just made them angry I think, didn’t we?” by taking the lead.

Edwards continued: “Second half, I just thought we saw Anfield, we saw Liverpool, we saw that full throttle football, their counter-pressing was incredible, suffocated us.

“Fans were amazing and it was probably difficult for the players to really concentrate and play like we had done in the first half.”

“They sort of suffocated us in the second half.”

Luton went ahead thanks to Chiedozie Ogbene’s back=post header in the 12th minute and, despite toiling, the Reds couldn’t equalise before the break.

11 minutes into the second half, Virgil van Dijk stepped up to head in from Alexis Mac Allister‘s corner and set the wheels in motion for a dominant display.

Just two minutes later, Cody Gakpo also scored a header, before Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott put the game beyond doubt later on.

The Luton boss explained how the atmosphere affected the players, saying: “They really put us on the back foot.

“Clearly it’s disappointing to concede from a corner and a throw-in as well, especially in that noise and, you know, your mate next to you can’t hear you. You’ve got to be able to deal with those situations better.

“Bigger and better teams have come here and it’s sort of happened to them as well, so it’s not a disgrace.”

Finally, the boss said: “It was like the Kop was just sucking it, and we couldn’t really get out. As I say, we saw Anfield and Liverpool at its best – I thought they were brilliant.”

It isn’t every week that Anfield comes alive, or indeed is needed to step things up, but when Liverpool and the supporters are in tandem, it really is a sight to behold.