The Liverpool manager will have been pleased to progress tonight but there were some worrying moments
And so, a tense night at Anfield ends well in the end. That has not been the case much this season. When Liverpool have dominated and led by just a goal (or two, in some cases) your worst fears have generally come to fruition.
Not so tonight, as the Reds held on fairly comfortably, barring one or two scares late on in both halves.
Tonight, we got to see a make-shift centre back pairing of Lucas Leiva and Mamadou Sakho who did fairly well together. With Lucas to organise and distribute from the back, Sakho seemed to be freed up to use his one strength which is defending. The big Frenchman made some good tackles but still managed to make things look hard. But let’s take the positives from this: we now have 3 clean sheets in a row.
Further upfield, things were more frustrating, as the Reds first-choice midfield and forward line created some great chances but, on the night, failed to put them away. That, in itself, is somewhat concerning.
But that is something that can be worked on ahead of the Capital One Cup final. For now, the team have progressed to the last 16 of the Europa League and Reds fans will have the prospect of a big European tie to look forward to.
For now, check out our player ratings from tonight through the link below.
[ffc-gallery]Click to see our player ratings.[/ffc-gallery]
