Liverpool Return To Winning Ways Knocking Off Burton Albion

Welcome back Liverpool fans.  I've been away for the beginning of the season.  I was out of the country for a wedding in Canada.

In the meantime, the team managed to come up with a huge 4-3 win over Arsenal.  They then dropped a terrible 2-0 decision to Burnley after that.  While these games were on the road, making them more difficult, it has been an incredibly up and down start to the new season.

Combine that with the rather dull showing while the Reds were in St. Louis and it has become a bit of a worry.  While the game in my hometown could be easily chalked up to a combination of being a preseason affair and a terribly humid day, it doesn't explain why the team continues to be so inconsistent.

That said, they did what they needed to do to advance in the EFL Cup.  On a side note, why in blue blazes did they change the name?  Has the competition fallen so low on the totem pole that they could not find a replacement sponsor when Capital One dropped off?

It's a minor thing, but even though the name Capital One Cup was less than palatable, EFL Cup just seems so plain.  I digress.

The game itself against Burton Albion was exactly what you would want from such a fixture.  The Reds got things off to a great start.  Sadio Mane did a little foot dangle before the cross that saw Divock Origi tap it in.

Firmino scored off a header in the 22nd minute, Liverpool got an own goal in the 61st and then Daniel Sturridge scored a brace at the end of the match.  It was a fine performance by just about everyone involved and a good jumping off point to prepare for Tottenham on the weekend.

Everything must be kept in perspective as Burton is a Championship side.  Barring another monumental failure by Liverpool, this was always going to be the result.  So, a 5-0 win in this kind of match is not going to mean that the Reds are off and running when it comes to the league.

Nevertheless, it was a good showing.  The players you want to step up and lead did and it was the kind of performance you want to see from Liverpool in these sorts of games where they outmatch their opponent as opposed to what happened last weekend.

Also on the positive side was Mane.  When he was signed, it was mainly a shoulder shrug for most people.  There were not any problems with the addition, but it wasn't someone people generally pointed to as being the missing piece.

So far, he's been the man the team can ill afford to lose the most.  He played against Arsenal and Burton and the Reds won and played with flare and style.  He was missing against Burnley and the team lacked that attacking spark.

He was man of the match in this EFL fixture and deservedly so.  Though he did not get on the score sheet for all of them, he had a hand in almost every goal.  He was still sprinting after challenges at the very end of the game.

Mane isn't one of those guys that's going to command tens of millions or hundreds of millions in the transfer market, but he fits in with this squad perfectly.  He's exactly the type of player that Jurgen Klopp wants to mold his entire team after.  Getting the current crop to play that way may still take some time.

Again, it was a good win but nothing to jump for joy about in the grand scheme.  Just entertaining football to view and take it for what it was.

The weekend will be a better barometer of what kind of season we may be in for.  For now, let's be happy with a win and be happy for a few days until the Reds invade London.

Random Thoughts:

- Much of this article was random thoughts, but let's get into a few more.  Apparently there is talk of loaning out Sakho.  I am not in favor of this at all.  He's not a great defender, but still has a leg up on the current group of central defenders.  He just needs to get his off field issues in order.

- Springboarding off that, there were fans who were honestly questioning whether Klopp belongs at Anfield because of the Sakho loan talk.  Question his tactics or his transfer policies, but to say he doesn't belong is just ridiculous.  He's shown quite well in his brief time.  Also, this insane idea that every decision or loss means the manager is terrible and must be fired is just sickening.  I understand that the game is extremely short lived in terms of who is in charge or playing on the field and change occurs all the time, but there is still something to be said for consistency.

- Nothing major happened in this game, but what happened to Moreno?  He was never going to win defender of the year, but he's been just north of dreadful in his league games so far.  He's got speed and skill.  However, maybe it just isn't there upstairs.

- While I'm very impressed with Mane, it also scares me.  Anytime a team is so reliant on one or two players to produce, it is worrying.  Sturridge is a ticking time bomb when it comes to injury and if Mane is that important to the squad, they can't afford to lose him either.  It would just be nice to feel like we could consistently rely on some of the other guys instead of just the odd performance here or there.

Walk On