Summary: Liverpool - Luton 1:4/Sport1
It's hard to know how Jurgen Klopp's "last dance" on the lines in Liverpool will end, but after yesterday's (Wednesday) 1:4 win over Luton, we can say with certainty that it will be difficult to upset the leader of the Premier League table.
With a list of no less than 11 injured, most of them significant squad and rotation players, the German coach was forced to improvise quite a few positions, add substitutes and give minutes to the Mighty Reds academy players in a turnaround that increased the gap at the top to 4 points over Manchester City and 5 over Arsenal, with two games to go.
The Reds fell behind in the 12th minute to a surprise goal from Chidozi Ogbane, but a terrific second half starring strikers Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Luis Dias and Harvey Elliott, in his 100th appearance for the hosts, turned the tide.
It was another time that Liverpool came back from behind and they actually managed to get back to 22 points this season in the Premier League, more than any other team and equaling the record from the 2008/9 season.
Most Premier League assists provided by defenders:
◎ 58 - Trent Alexander-Arnold
◉ 58 - Andy Robertson
Robbo wants to retake top spot.
?
pic.twitter.com/U4EKiKAGvZ
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 21, 2024
Liverpool have named five teenagers on the bench to face Luton:
◉ 19-year-old Bobby Clark
◉ 19-year-old Kaide Gordon
◉ 19-year-old James McConnell
◉ 18-year-old Jayden Danns
◉ 16-year-old Treymaurice Nyoni
Jürgen Klopp always trusts the academy.
✊ pic.twitter.com/yIMeVXzFKt
— Squawka (@Squawka) February 21, 2024
The division of forces that Klopp had to do during the season also resulted in a large number of conquerors this season.
Yesterday, Dias joined Mohamed Salah, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunes and Gacpo with his 10th goal of the season, making Liverpool the first in Europe's top five leagues to have five different scorers score at least 10 goals this season in all competitions, and their second time in 8 years That happened to her last time.
The one who was obviously in the center of the picture again was coach Klopp, but it actually started for him with a fight with the crowd.
Back when Liverpool were trailing in the first half, Elliott lost the ball in the center of the pitch, an incident that caused the crowd at Anfield to boo and complain about the team's ability.
The German did not oblige and started screaming at the fans behind the Reds' bench and, according to reports in England, told them to "go home if they are not happy", when he himself was not satisfied with their behavior and the "atmosphere at Anfield".
Later things calmed down of course after the change, and after the game Klopp said: "I told the players a few months ago that I would never use the 0:4 victory over Barcelona as an example, but tonight they made me break my promise."
The German of course referred to the huge turnaround against Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2019 with many injured people in the team's squad that evening, which ended in qualifying for the final and winning that year.
The rage turned into a huge happiness.
Klopp/GettyImages
At the end of the game, things looked different for Klopp and the fans when the German made a turn in front of all the offers and celebrated with the crowd more demonstratively than usual.
On the first day of the week (17:00, Sport1), Klopp and his players will compete for their first title of the season in the League Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley Stadium, and according to what the coach said before the game, Mohamed Salah and Derwin Nunes may still be fit for the game, but Trent Alexander-Arnold And Dominik Soboslai will certainly not be at his disposal.
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