Liverpool Open The Scoring Floodgates Against Villa

Only days after wondering what sort of formation and lineup combination the return of Daniel Sturridge could produce, we found out.  It would be a starting three up top with Sturridge, Coutinho and Firmino.  It paid dividends fairly quickly as well.

One of the few negatives was shown quickly.  Firmino tried to feed Sturridge in the 12th minute instead of shooting.  While the idea wasn't terrible, one could only hope that would not be the theme of the day and the offense would flow instead of trying to set up Sturridge in particular.

The fears were allayed fairly quickly after that initial chance though.  Liverpool scored in the first quarter hour and Sturridge got his first goal of the calendar year.  It came from a nice cross in by Coutinho and Sturridge nodded it in.

The Reds (or should we call them the Whites?...nah) doubled their lead about ten minutes later.  James Milner scored from a free kick in the 25th minute, though he had absolutely no intention to.  The Aston Villaa keeper took a few steps toward the ball, waved his hands at it, but nobody got a touch onto it.  Even as a goalkeeper, it was quite stunning to see something you might see on a high school field.

The half ended rather ignominiously.  Liverpool allowed a large amount of pressure as time ticked away.  Fortunately for them, Villa put a cross right into Simon Mignolet's hands after the good build up.  Then, to counter, Liverpool should have had a third but Sturridge was denied with a fantastic save by Mark Bunn in the 44th minute.

In the second half, Liverpool got off to a good start again, but it took awhile for it to pay off.  In the 58th minute, Firmino took the ball on the left, fed it into the middle and Emre Can finished it off for the third goal of the day.  Really, it was shoddy defending as there were three players that failed to close in on the German midfielder, but those are the situations that a team like Liverpool must take advantage of and they did.

Almost immediately following, the Reds fell asleep for a moment and it almost cost them.  Mignolet thwarted the cross and the defenders managed to dispose of the rebound.  But fear not Liverpool fans for this was Aston Villa they were playing.  Mere seconds after replacing Sturridge, Divock Origi made it 4-0.  The Reds quickly threw the interception into the path of the striker and Origi just tucked it past the keeper.

Then a bit of justice in the 65th minute.  Villa should have been given a red card for a clumsy challenge on Origi but only received a yellow.  Then, only three touches after the free kick, the ball hit the back of the net for the fifth time with Nathaniel Clyne getting the glory.  It wasn't long before Liverpool struck again too.

In the 71st minute, absolutely atrocious defending led to a goal by Kolo...Kolo Toure.  Even writing it strikes a strange chord.  The defender who had not scored in nearly five years, was left all alone just north of the penalty spot and went unchallenged on the header, which led to an easy tuck in for 6-0.

The amount of goals almost gave me writers cramp, but it was worth it.  These aren't the type of performances anyone expects every game, but it would be nice to see this offense a bit more often than not.  Liverpool can now focus on the Europa League with two matches coming against FC Ausburg in consecutive weeks.  That competition is not very prestigious any longer, but it is likely the only way to get a Champions League spot at this juncture, so all preparations must be made.  For now, let us bask in the offense which has not shone out from behind the clouds much this season.

Random Thoughts:
- It is somewhat crazy to think Liverpool went from a negative goal difference to positive in one game.  Now, they must find a way to keep it that way.  As long as you win more than not, it's not a huge stat, but it just doesn't pass the eye test when Liverpool are the only team in the top 10 that did not have a positive goal difference until now.

- This game was a perfect example of why Daniel Sturridge is so frustrating on many levels.  First, you saw his talent on display.  It was a good performance and makes you wish that the man could stay healthy for an entire season or at least the majority of one.  Then you also saw his reluctance to go full boar, most likely due to his injury history.  He put a foot toward a ball instead of going for a header early in the second and then pulled his run when he could have gotten on the end of an Alberto Moreno cross if he had kept going.  Nevertheless, it was a good sight to see his odd little dance.

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