Despite Shaky Moments, Liverpool Dominate the Defending Champs

Thank goodness the international break is over.  The United States played quite well during their qualifiers and Christian Pulisic looks like the genuine article.  Still, without the club games to watch, it gets rather boring.

There was not much boring about Liverpool's start against the Foxes of Leicester.  Leicester opened up quite positively, but Liverpool managed to weather it.  Then, they built up their own attack.  The first goal came in the 13th minute.

James Milner brought it up the left wing.  Daniel Sturridge made a good run toward the flag, dragging opposition defenders with him.  This left Firmino relatively open toward the middle.  He took a great first touch that put the ball around the defender and at the top of the area, where he slipped it just under Casper Schmeichel.

Liverpool began flirting with a bit of danger afterward.  You expect a pushback following any goal, but Leicester began to string things together.  They just missed scoring an equalizer in the 20th minute when they flashed one just wide of the left post right in front of Simon Mignolet.

26th minute, it was almost 2-0.  Liverpool got a clever cross into the front of goal from the endline.  Sturridge got a solid right foot on it, but knocked it right into the sprawled out hands of Schmeichel.  It was a fantastic save, but Sturridge will, no doubt, feel he should have done better in the end.

The Reds were playing some great football, but couldn't seem to get the finisher.  They had wave after wave of attack for about five minutes.  Then the score came.  Another push up the field found Sturridge in the box.  He had a cheeky backheel back toward the spot.  Sadio Mane manged to just flick it over the keeper and into the net in the 31st minute.  In the end, it may have gone over the goal if it had not hit Schmeichel's hand, but it scored nevertheless.

Just when it seemed like Liverpool were putting a stranglehold on the game, their makeshift backline came back to bite them.  Lucas, playing centerback for some head scratching reason, was trying to roll a pass back to Mignolet.  He misshit the ball and then, due to pressure, toe poked it well past the keeper and right to Jamie Vardy, who smashed it into the back of the net.

The Reds were still up by a goal after that, but the game had switched.  Mignolet almost allowed the equalizer when he flailed at a cross and missed and the header just bounced off the crossbar and over.  Fortunately, Lucas made amends right before half.  Leicester got away with some fouls and sprung a break.  Lucas' sliding challenge avoided what would have been a three or four on two attack.

The first 45 was almost flawless in attack for Liverpool.  Sadly, the defending was hit or miss and the turnover was just unthinkable.  It would be up to the Reds to seal things up defensively in the second half and hopefully keep the attacking prowess going and reward the Kop.  The Foxes would clearly want their say in the match before its end too.

The second 45 began with a bit of a lull, but not for too long.  The first ten minutes or so went by with only a hitch or two.  Nothing major on either side.  Then, the Reds came back to life.

Sturridge was again denied by a strong save in close.  However, Liverpool kept on the front foot and would not let the ball out.  Just as it seemed the attack would peter out, the ball was laid off to the right for Adam Lallana.  The winger unleashed the fury on the ball and as the announcer said, if not for the net, the ball would still be sailing.  3-1 to the good guys in the 56th minute.

In the 61st, it seemed as though the opposition would bring it within one goal again.  Vardy was put in possession of the ball in a very dangerous area.  Just to the left, near the spot, the striker took a strong swing through the ball.  Mignolet had come out confidently, slid right into the shot and the save almost turned into a counter attack.

Honestly, Liverpool should have been up 4-1 in the 79th minute.  They had a good deal of buildup play from the wings.  The ball finally got popped into the area for Firmino.  It bobbled around a few times and then fell back to Jordan Henderson.  Normally a calm player, the captain just ripped it dozens of rows up into the Kop instead of into the upper netting.

It almost looked like the Reds would butcher another chance to go up by 4-1.  Schmeichel had come almost to the half line to make a challenge he was never going to win against Mane.  Mane then took a few dribbles and instead of going for a looping shot himself, he centered it to Firmino.

The pass was rather weak, but Firmino took a touch to get around the defender.  He still managed to push it into an empty net and take the three goal lead into stoppage time.  It would end up being a nice finish, but a bit scary in terms of doing too much with it.

Ultimately, Liverpool won quite comfortably.  There were a few nervy moments here and there, but if Lucas had not made that mind bogglingly strange error, then Liverpool would have had a clean sheet.  When it's all taken into consideration, three points and a dominant performance against the defending champions is a good result.

Nobody knows how Leicester will finish this season.  They are still defending champions and Liverpool took them to task.  Now, the Reds must just find ways to finish off the minnows since they seem to play so well against the sharks and the whales.

Random Thoughts:
- I do not like the round patches for the league on the sleeve.  The logo, when not up close, looks too much like the WWF Panda.  For some reason, round patches just look odd too.

- My, oh my.  What is going on with the back four?  We know Clyne will be good and Matip seems to have settled in quite well.  Lovren has his issues, but he is replaced by Lucas?  I know you want Lucas to get some games, but no.  Just no.  Milner seems to be adapting to his wingback role, but this just seems like a mess in the making that might cost the team points later in the year.

- There's no way of knowing how good other teams will be.  That said, this squad is shaping up a lot like the one that finished second in the league a few seasons ago.  I'm not saying they'll finish that high, but they have tons of scoring prowess and are shaky at the back.  If they can keep the offense rolling, then the wins could pile up.  If the defending becomes too much of a hinderance, it could be another up and down year, which we have already seen signs of.

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