0 voters
Unused subs: Ojrzynski, Hughes, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Origi, R Williams, N Williams
76’ James MILNER on, Thiago ALCANTARA off
79’ Naby KEITA on, Curtis JONES off
48’ Curtis JONES (assist Alexander-Arnold)
64’ Roberto FIRMINO (assist Mane)
Never in doubt.
Two changes for the Tricky Reds tonight, with Adrián replacing Alisson (who was excused on compassionate grounds after his father’s untimely death) and Phillips coming in to replace the injured Henderson. This did at least mean that we started with two actual centre halves, for the first time since the Merseyside Derby in October.
A fairly quiet opening saw Adrián make a sharp stop from McGoldrick’s far post header; at the other end, Ramsdale foiled first Firmino then Jones. Jagielka reacted sharply to clear when Jones was played in by Bobby, the youngster having slightly mid controlled the pass.
Bobby, who was looking a bit more like his old self, then released Mo down the right but the home keeper managed to deny the Egyptian with a good save made with his right foot. Ampadu then cleared straight to Trent, who cut inside and aimed for the top corner… Ramsdale to the rescue again. It looked like it was going to be yet another of “those” games.
Kabak then managed to nick the ball past Adrián, under pressure from McBurnie; fortunately, the forward was half a yard offside and the goal chalked off. Ramsdale then saved Gini’s drive from the edge of the box and Bobby tried to find Sadio from the rebound, instead of slotting it home himself. Another opportunity wasted.
As the players trudged off for their halftime oranges, the champions had definitely been the better side but Sheffield United had certainly had their moments. Ramsdale had made several important saves but none of them had been “worldies” and that meant that our forwards weren’t putting them where he couldn’t reach them.
The breakthrough finally arrived three minutes into the second half. Trent did well to keep the ball in play, after his initial shot had been blocked, and crossed from the byline for Jones to clip home from about twelve yards out. The home defenders claimed that the ball had gone out of play but it was still partially in, so the goal rightly stood.
Trent put in another cross a few minutes later but Jones headed weakly, straight at the keeper; Sadio had a goal correctly disallowed for offside. McBurnie had a golden chance to equalise but could only steer his unmarked header wide from Norwood’s cross; the same player was then denied by Kabak’s clearance when poised to pull the trigger.
In the 64th minute, the Reds doubled their lead. Some neat interplay involving Jones and Mané ended with Bobby wriggling free on the edge of the area; his shot was heading well wide but deflected off Bryan and past Ramsdale to make it 2-0. That was, apparently, Liverpool’s 7,000th goal in top flight football… and it was officially credited to the unfortunate defender.
Milner replaced Thiago with a quarter of an hour left to play, shortly after Robbo had sliced an effort over from the edge of the box. Mo then crossed to Robbo, arriving unmarked in the are, but the rampaging left back could only head straight into the ground and the ball looped harmlessly to Ramsdale.
Robbo returned the favour with a lovely low cross but Salah somehow steered his effort wide, completely unmarked. Jones made way for the returning Baby with ten minutes left; the youngster had a good game but let’s hope that the Guinean can string a few appearances together at last, as we need all the fit players we can muster.
Mané stayed on his feet when Ampadu lunged at him in the area; I dare say players from certain other teams would have thrown themselves to the ground and been awarded a penalty for their efforts. Had Sadio done the same, there’s little doubt he would have been pilloried for diving.
Adrián denied Burke as he threatened to burst free as we entered stoppage time, but the hosts barely threatened and the champions were able to run down the clock comfortably. A most welcome three points to arrest our recent slump, even if there’s the caveat that it did come against the worst team in the division.
Next up is the visit of Chelsea to Anfield on Thursday evening. After Thomas Tuchel’s revitalised Chavs drew at home to Manchester United earlier today, another win is essential if the Reds want to get back into the thick of the scramble for a top four finish.
MOTM: those fine people at Artemis Karamolegos winery on the Greek island of Santorini. They are amongst the finest exponents of the wonderful Assyrtiko grape variety and their gorgeous 2017 Mystirio is especially highly recommended- I’ve just had a bottle with the rather splendid halibut steaks the missus cooked for dinner and were about to start on our second. γιαμας! (just for @Lowton_Red )
Will take it.
Liverpool no?
Glad to finally get 3 points.
Pop the champagne, a win!
Calm the fuck down, it’s only Sheffield Utd.
Back to the routine wins against the relegation fodder. Jones man of the match and I voted Adrian and Nat also. Onwards and upwards.
Back within striking distance now
Long time ago we won in the PL but it was against the nr 18 let’s see what Thursday against Chelsea brings
Glad to keep pace for top 4 especially that both West Ham and Chelsea dropped points this weekend.
I’d take a win against Accrington Stanley right now and I don’t even know who they are!
Easy game against terrible opposition.
Jones MOTM with Thiago not far behind. Adrian deserves credit for his performance, especially punching corners. The change in shape allowed Jones more attacking freedom and he took advantage, he looked a threat all game with his movement and it was no surprise he put us ahead.
Mane a bit better tonight. Firmino had a couple of good moments but his finishing is abysmal. Forgot Salah was playing. Gini not involved enough until Jones and Thiago went off. Good to see Keita back.
Phillips and Kabak - worrying. Kabak actually started well but I don’t know if that own goal incident knocked his confidence. Caught ball watching too often. Phillips made loads of small errors and was often out of position, looked really poor when caught out wide. Both lucky the SHU have no attacking quality.
Still need to improve our finishing.
Very happy to take the three points, but boy, it’s becoming hard to watch. The timing, the rhythm, the synchronization, the quality of passes are so off. With all the mishaps in the back, I still hope to see Phillips and Kabac in the back again to install some consistency in the back. Jones by far the better player on our side in the past few games
Can you imagine the advice that must be getting piled onto Kabak after each game
His head must be cabbaged…
Sheffield UTD, now my second favourite team, they have given us 6pts and £23.5m.
Just said what I wanted in my final post in the Pre-game thread. So I’ll just say here that I am grateful for the 3 points despite the some what lackluster performance against what was really very weak opposition.
Really hoping this can lead to something better…
Dominated the game, the boys needed this in for moral booster. Everyone of the boys pull in a shift today, and nobody slack off. Jones is continuing to impress, he’s gonna be some players for us. If it wasn’t for their GK we would’ve ran away with the game. I think our backline is still susceptible to over the top balls, but I think for the most part they dealt with Utd forwards well today.
Unlucky Bobby didn’t get the goal but I think it’ll help his confidence none of the less.
Midfield we dominated the middle of the park and Jones was the bright spot there.
Overall good game, but big big game coming Thurs against Chelski… If we win that then we are in a very good position 
.
YNWA