Sparta Prague 1-5 Liverpool: In game and Post Match discussion

And? We’ve heard that loads of times before.
Obviously I hope he’s fine, but feels hard to see him playing Sunday.

I'm thinking he won't be starting, if he felt something and they took him off so it didn't turn into something worse, then why wouldn't it be the case on Sunday?

Hope he's back but I fully expect Gomez to be in there (which is fine).

I could not watch the game and only saw the highlights. We could have conceded many goals but luckily, some players really stepped up.

How was Gakpo? I think he's the weakest link in the attack. It's a bit harsh, but I'm concerned by him. luckily Salah and Nunez are back but I expect more of Diaz and him. Diaz is scoring, but Gakpo is not having much of an influence. I hope I'm wrong.

I could not watch the game and only saw the highlights. We could have conceded many goals but luckily, some players really stepped up.

How was Gakpo? I think he's the weakest link in the attack. It's a bit harsh, but I'm concerned by him. luckily Salah and Nunez are back but I expect more of Diaz and him. Diaz is scoring, but Gakpo is not having much of an influence. I hope I'm wrong.

Gappers was good. But , Thier goalie saved all of his shots but nobody else's. L o l

I could not watch the game and only saw the highlights. We could have conceded many goals but luckily, some players really stepped up.

How was Gakpo? I think he's the weakest link in the attack. It's a bit harsh, but I'm concerned by him. luckily Salah and Nunez are back but I expect more of Diaz and him. Diaz is scoring, but Gakpo is not having much of an influence. I hope I'm wrong.

With Diaz, Nunez and Mo available, I don’t see Gakpo being involved on Sunday, unless he gets late minutes as a sub for tired legs. 🤷‍♂️

MOTM could have been two players for me, but I went for Darwin because of his goals and his work rate ,2 brilliant strikes that looked effortless and really stamping his class now , Caoimhin saved our arses again with a world class performance , A good performance from the lads tonight ! Think the only doubt is the squad for the City game ,hopefully Ibou isn't long term and has a treatable strain , I really believe the City game is the title decider

Watched the Boss's presser... is it just me or did he look absolutely knackered?

Didn’t see it live caught the edited highlights though and I thought we were fairly comfortable, I’m glad we went strong and sustained that throughout, from what I seen we had another gear to find had we needed to, Kelleher was immense yet again and no we shouldn’t sell, he’s happy being No2 and his time will come,

Ibou is a worry but I think the medical staff will have him ready V frauds, if not we have Gomez who like Kelleher has been immense this season, Macca showing once again why we bought him and he’s been superb since moving into his natural position and is absolutely perfect in a Klopp system, important too Szlobos got valuable minutes for he too will play on Sunday, with Endo as DM,

Great that Mo got minutes too, but I’m not so certain he’ll start on Sunday, but what a player to bring on for the last half hour, don’t think 20 mins is enough time to risk starting him In such a pivotal game, ease him back gently so we’ll have him for the run in, fully fit,

Nunez, yet another display of world class finishing, he really is starting to show his worth, and you can visibly see the confidence oozing from him each time he bangs one in, he’s a shoe in for me Sunday with Diaz and probably Gakpo,
NOTE;  since oppo fans still refer Darwin to a “sh*t Andy Carroll” it would be funny if we sang our own version,….

“You’re just a Fit Andy Carroll” a parody if you like, maybe someone might make a banner too 😜

Anyhoo, job done as far as I’m concerned, but we should still start strong second leg, Score a couple more then change things, we have the MUtants in the FA cup straight after, so definitely do not want to take any unnecessary risks leading up to playing them,

Overall I think we have this in the bag, Xabi’s lot will be a tough gig so I’m hoping that’s the final, assuming of course they get through themselves, call me arrogant if you like but I just can’t see anyone else posing a threat !!


Well done Redmen, we go again!!


YNWA

Within the first ten minutes of watching Sparta press there was always going to be goals. Luckily for us keeper was on point and they scuffed a few chances as they should of have 3 or 4 goals.

Big point of the game was Diaz goal which killed all the momentum Sparts had after their goal. Got the lead needed to rest a few players next week before FA Cup game vs United.

Seems an odd thing to say after a 5-1 win but I don't think we played all that well. What we did do well was put the ball in the net though, which is the most important thing and that was the difference between a comfortable looking scoreline of 5-1 and a nervy second leg with the score a lot closer. We took our chances, they fluffed their lines.

It does mean the second leg should be nothing more than a formality now though and essentially gives us a week off between ending City's League title hopes and United's FA Cup hopes followed by an international break that could be vital for us in getting players fit ahead of the final couple of months of the season.

The quadruple is live and well after last night. A 15th win in our last 18 games. Goals spread round again. Minutes in the legs of those coming back from injury. Doesn't look like we've picked up any season-ending injuries either. The thousandth goal under the Boss. And all this against a team who haven't lost at home all season. Whether we should be beating them or not is not up for debate, to do it against a team who have that good a record at home is impressive - think we done something similar to Porto under Jürgen as well.

We all know how the high-line can get us into trouble from time to time but Sparta really expolited it well. Unfortunately for them they didn't take advantage of it - though Kelleher deserves quite a lot of credit for that as well.

Kelleher - another good display from our keeper. Big saves when needed. Seemed to very quickly realise that playing out from the back wasn't doing us any favours so went long instead. I like players who can think for themselves and don't have to be spoonfed every decision they make.

Gomez - like his defensive partners, it's not a game he'll look back on and think of it as one of his best. They were cutting us to shreads with the runs from their attacking players. Saying that, fantastic goalline clearance to keep the game in our hands early on.

Konate - one of his worst games in recent memory. Not sure if he was trying to cover the rest of the back four which made his own individual performance poor or if he just played badly but not the level of performance I expect from the big man. Saying all that though, I hope his injury isn't a bad one because he's a huge part of this team.

Quansah - far and away his worst performance in a Liverpool shirt. He's been boss all season so I'm taking this as a one off but he looked completely out his depth last night. The opposition were just running past him like he weren't there.

Robertson - I said it about Jones in an earlier European game where as captain he has to stand up and drag the others to an acceptable level with him and didn't - Robbo was the same yesterday. I didn't see any leadership qualities from him, which is something I never thought I'd say.

Elliott - quite the contary to those behind him, this was one of Harvey's better games - especially with the ball. He actually made things happen for once. Didn't offer us the sort of hardwork, chasing down performance he normally does but ends up with three assists so it's hard to be overly critical of him.

Endo - like a few others, this was his worst performance in recent memory. Got caught on the ball a bit too much for my liking. Probably should have been booked in the first half as well when their lad just spun him and he dragged him down. It was the sort of performance he was putting in in the first few months of the season.

Mac Allister - set the tone early on with his pressing and passing. And of course opened the scoring with a very well taken pen. Another good performance from a man who is quickly becoming an automatic starter in this team.

Gakpo - poor f**ker will be getting flack for last night because it's another game where he's ended up without a goal. But he had plenty of chances to break his baron spell. Missed two really big chances, one quick swivel and hit and second one trying to be too clever and going for the reverse finish into the bottom left corner after bursting through the defence both of which the keeper saved. Think he might have a third as well, a good one on one opportunity.

Nunez - now have five goals in his last four games and seven in his last seven starts. Not your typical centre forward strikes last night but two belters. First, the keeper will be disappointed with but if you don't shoot you don't score so credit to Darwin for having a pop. The second was just a lovely hit. Waited and waited for it to come down then rifle it into the far corner. Maybe just maybe, we have somebody not called Mo Salah who ends up as our top scorer this season.

Diaz - another game in which he's got a goal. Six in 2024 already. Wasn't at his his absolute best last night but you can see how much having better players around him benefits him. He didn't try and do everything on his own yesterday, which he has been guilty of with Nunez and Salah both out. We've seen players over the years shrink under the weight of the number 7 shirt, if anything Lucho is relishing it.

Bradley - not many players score a screamer in the top corner with their first touch of a game, unfortunately for Con it was in the wrong goal. Was caught out of position a few times as well, but he wasn't exactly alone in that sense from our defenders.

Van Dijk - not sure if it was the introduction of the skipper or the fact we got a fourth shortly after he came on but we did seem to become a lot more solid at the back with him on. Like I said, it may have been the fourth goal just taking the wind out of their sails, especially with it coming so soon after the lifeline of the own goal.

Szoboszlai - looked good out there yesterday. Probably should have an assist to his name with the Salah goal as well as getting another for himself. I said after the Forest game that we're gonna need everybody for the push so for Dom to get a few more minutes in his legs will be vital. Be interesting to see what midfield Jürgen goes with when he has the majority of players available to him.

Clark - came on and done what you'd expect a young lad to do, worked hard. Didn't stand out for the right or wrong reasons. Since the defeat to Arsenal, he's played a part in six of the seven games - only one he missed was the win at Brentford. Probably playing more than anybody expected but isn't letting anybody down when he does.

Salah - could have easily had yet another goal to his name but it was chalked off for offside - rightly or wrongly I don't know. And just the fact that he's back out there gives me (and I'm sure everybody else) a real buzz for the next couple of months. Any team in the world is improved with a fit Mo Salah in it. Wether he starts at the weekend against City is up for debate but for me should. Let him do his stuff, get us up three up within half an hour and then bring him off at half time to rest up and do the same against United on Paddy's Day.

Overall, a good commanding win in a game in a difficult atmosphere that could have easily gone tits up for us. We didn't defend well but we came away with the win. The second leg doesn't need to be a special European night at Anfield now.

We go into one of the most important games of the season on the back of seven straight victories. We've got players returning to fitness. We've got plenty of positives to take into that City game and after it, we'll be sitting top of the table four points ahead of that small time club.

Keep doing what we're doing Reds and we win the F***ing lot.

I thought we took our chances well last night, really enjoyed the goals, in particular Darwin's first goal. Perhaps taking our chances better than the opposition, was the main difference between the two sides.

Moving on to Sunday, should give the lads plenty of confidence against City, especially being still top of the league.

I thought we took our chances well last night, really enjoyed the goals, in particular Darwin's first goal. Perhaps taking our chances better than the opposition, was the main difference between the two sides.

Moving on to Sunday, should give the lads plenty of confidence against City, especially being still top of the league.

We won't be top when the game kicks off. We need to win to be top on Monday morning as arsenal have steamed ahead in GD

I like Harvey’s energy, but I hope he’s more composed if he starts on Sunday.
At times last night, he looked like a 10 year old, running his socks off chasing the ball. At one point he started in our half, followed the ball to four different players, who all just passed it off before he got closer than 5 yds, and he ended up standing in front of their keeper, having covered about 75 yds, and got nowhere near the ball !
I mean there’s pressing and pressing 🤷‍♂️

We won't be top when the game kicks off. We need to win to be top on Monday morning as arsenal have steamed ahead in GD

And if we do that, citeh will be pissed off, and so will Arse, as they won’t be expecting us to pass them again !
Then they’ll realise, we’re here to stay 👍

And if we do that, citeh will be pissed off, and so will Arse, as they won’t be expecting us to pass them again !
Then they’ll realise, we’re here to stay 👍

Hopefully mate. We need to keep winning. It's the only thing that will break the others and keep us ahead. As we've painfully found out ... twice in recent years , draws don't cut it. If we can win this one we've 2 winnable home games to follow during which time city and arsenal play eachother which will be a win for us whatever happens. As long as we keep winning