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Defending disease costs Liverpool again

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The surprise news before the kick-off was the unavailability of Jurgen Klopp at Anfield, as the German was suffering from appendicitis.

There was one change to the lineup that featured against Leicester in midweek, with Allen replacing Lucas in the midfield. The team shape was pretty much the same 4-3-3 with Firmino leading the line and Can coming in that holding midfield role.

Well, as far as the performance is concerned, it was complete contrast in both the halves but again, our Achilles Heel was an anxious defence which ultimately cost the Reds two valuable points against a relegation-threatened side.

It was a 4-3-3 system to start with but injuries to Lovren and Allen forced Zeljko Buvac to change the system into a 4-2-3-1 with Can and Henderson holding the midfield; Ibe, Lallana and Milner in behind Firmino.

So, let’s take a look at both the shapes and analyse the performances of players on every front and take up a few points regarding a disease in the Liverpool team: ‘the defence’:

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The attack again was very pedestrian for the first 40-odd minutes but improved with much sharper movement and purposeful closing down, especially from Firmino. The Brazilian was again menacing in that striker role.

Lallana had a decent game, if the overall game is seen. He looked dazed in the opening parts of the game but in the second half changed his game and closed Sunderland down in tight spaces.

Milner had a good game in both the flanks. I say both flanks, as he changed flanks from right to left after the introduction of Ibe. The veteran was again good in pressing the opposition fullbacks and not allowing them to clear the ball in right direction and his delightful cross set up the first goal. His sloppy passing does frustrate his supporters though.

The midfield was again a cause for concern, as the transition play was not sharp from both Can and Henderson especially. The captain is still returning from a heel injury and a few plays of his were very disappointing and seemed to slow down the whole team’s tempo. His main liability at this moment is hiw long range passing; the pass is either slow or just behind the player that takes sting out of the whole movement.

The back four was untested for most of the game but when it came under fire, failed miserably. Mignolet got his wall totally wrong from the free-kick that allowed Johnson to score and get Sunderland right back in the game.

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This was the situation with that free-kick, as Mignolet was covering the far post alright but the positioning of the wall is questionable to me. It was a five-man wall with three of them totally out of the frame of the goal, so the Belgian should have called the wall to be more towards the right-hand side (from figure it’s the left-hand side) so that he has less area to cover in the near post. Johnson swung in the free-kick towards that expected gap in the near post and Mignolet failed to keep that out despite getting under it.

For the second goal, the question should be raised to Sakho and the way he defended Defoe. Inside the penalty area, if you become that tight to a striker, you will have to pay for it with a goal. He allowed Defoe to turn and shoot without being hassled.

So, another capitulation by Liverpool giving away two points, to concede twice after being 2-0 up till the 80th minute against a relegation-threatened side at home sounds poor. Mignolet again was error-prone and it remains to be seen whether he is a first choice Liverpool keeper after the summer.

Klopp was going through his appendicitis surgery while the game went on, but he would not be a happy man at the hospital after hearing his team succumb like this. Now, the irony is till the 77th minute (before the scheduled walkout from the fans), Liverpool were coasting to a comfortable victory, as soon as Anfield went half empty, the Reds conceded two in 8 minutes. It will be stupid to say that players were distracted but it did affect the atmosphere and probably a bit of a game too.

As the banner rightly said: ‘Football without fans is nothing’.

By Mizgan Ahmed on 7th February, 2016

Twitter – @mizgans

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