Liverpool's Boxing Day Match Ends In Victory

Merry Christmas to all the Reds fans out there.  Hopefully you all had a wonderful holiday spent with family, friends or perhaps some alone time if you had too much of the prior two.  On to the point - Liverpool.  The Reds came out very nicely against the league leaders, Leicester City.

Outside of a quick chance in the first two minutes, a header from Jamie Vardy about halfway through the first half and a huge save from Simon Mingolet against Mahrez late in the half, it was mostly Liverpool in the attacking third.  Liverpool looked like a classic LFC squad playing against what Leicester would normally be thought of as.  It was pure dominance by the team in Christmas red.  Unfortunately for the Kop and for fans around the world, Liverpool could not find the back of the net in the opening half.

They had plenty of opportunities.  Divock Origi was extremely lively in the striker role.  Coutinho was causing loads of problems in a roaming role when on attack.  There were lots of good runs and pushes toward goal.  Yet, again, Liverpool could not find paydirt.  Their best chances included a header from Sakho, a shot from Origi that almost snuck past Kasper Schmeichel on the near side and another on the far side that just skimmed wide.

The big question would be whether Liverpool would rue their missed chances to poach a goal against the team that was top of the table.  Unfortunately for the Reds, their best attacker couldn't make it through the entire half.  Origi, though very inconsistent game to game, looked the most likely man to score out of the entire 22 on the pitch.  He picked up an apparent injury and could not finish the half, ceding his position to Christian Benteke who has been out of form and out of the lineup.

Liverpool continued their offensive play in the second half as well.  With the scoreline being what it was, Leicester pushed forward into a few more counters, but it was still mostly Liverpool in possession and in the offensive third.  Then, with a little under half an hour left in the game, Liverpool finally found a little gold.

Benteke managed to find a bit of space toward the top of the box and was found with the cross.  The big Belgian had to stretch to reach the ball, but got the perfect amount of touch with his right foot to slide it past the defenders and beat the keeper.  Anfield rose to life with that tally and though Liverpool stayed on the attack, it was now on the much maligned Liverpool defense and goalkeeper to keep the three points.

The team would need them as the Foxes started knocking on the doorstep.  Mingolet managed a top notch save in the 74th minute, only to struggle on a couple ensuing set pieces.  Sakho was in perfect position, whether by design or luck, and saved a potential goal, allowing Mingolet to claim it off his thigh in the 82nd minute.  The Liverpool defenders held off mad scrambles toward the end of regulation and in fact went the full 90 without conceding.

Liverpool almost butchered the game in stoppage time however.  The Leicester keeper was joining the attack and not only did Benteke fail to score on an empty net - allowing the block from a defender - but Leicester almost created a score at the death.  In the end, it was an incredibly hard earned three points and Liverpool were the deserving victors.  They changed their own formation to force Leicester into unfamiliar situations, they had tons of energy and performed every facet of the game well enough to get the win.  While the Boxing Day match was a bit too much of a boxing match toward the end of the game, it was still a good performance by the Reds and a good way to cap off the holiday.

Random Thoughts:
- Christian Benteke is quickly becoming Mario Balotelli without the attitude and distraction.  You can tell the talent is there, but it is quite incomplete right now.  While the missed goal in stoppage time was the cherry on top, Benteke is simply an enigma right now.  Coming into the year everyone said Origi was the incomplete forward and Benteke was already more of a finished product.  Based on performance and the clear opinion of the manager, that situation seems to be reversed right now.

- The Brazilian duo of Coutinho and Firmino are also a bit maddening.  Coutinho was fantastic in the first half only to disappear, aside from his near goal skimming off the top netting, in the second half.  Firmino has flashes, brief glimpses but little more.  Much like Benteke, you can tell the skill is there but he still struggles to adjust to the English game.

- Outside of one or two minor mistakes, Dejan Lovren had a very good game.  He will likely never shake his current status with many Liverpool fans but his performance against the Foxes was exactly what many expected from him when he signed.

Walk On