Wednesday 20 September 2017

Liverpool Knocked Out At The King Power

Sports - Football - League Cup - LCFC 2:0 LFC

Leicester rediscovered their winning ways, seeing Liverpool fall once again after dominating most of the play and wasting chance after chance, the League Cup clash ending 2-0 at the King Power Stadium.


Click here for my full ByTheMinute match coverage.

It was an impressive comeback by the Foxes after being dominated in the first half. The stats speak for themselves. The Reds didn't make their chances count and their defence made them trip and fall once again.

Both sides had made a lot of changes, as normal for the early stages of the cup competition. But it was the substitutions during the match that cost dearly, top for the hosts, flop for the visitors, the Reds eliminated OUT of the League Cup, first hurdle, third round.

The match started very competitive, a professional clash, high-tempo but missing the edge, the Reds on top but with still no lead at the break, Craig Shakespeare's men holding on solid and strong.

Andy Robertson created a lot with some fine runs and crosses, Philippe Coutinho showed some of his good old magic with some awesome moves and Dominic Solanke shared plenty of chances with both of them.

But LFC just could not find a breakthrough. Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain looked more clumsy and wasteful, frustrating to watch, losing the ball too many times.

Why Jürgen Klopp opted to replace Coutinho with youngster Ben Woodburn after the break, hell knows. The Brazilian had created most and produced most quality and chances.

And the Reds were punished for their wastefulness just past the hour-mark.

Substitute Shinji Okazaki, who had come on for an injured Leonardo Ulloa not long after the interval, made no mistake. It was a scruffy finish after a couple of headers and Liverpool failing to clear a corner, Vicente Iborra the last one to head it straight into Okazaki, who put in the rebound.

Klopp then took off Georginio Wijnaldum and gave Danny Ings a run-around. Another questionable move, especially looking at the contrasting experience... And score-line!

Islam Slimani doubled the score a few minutes later with an unstoppable beauty, a left-footer into the top left corner, from the edge of the box. That was game over.

Simple: Liverpool hadn't taken their chances. Leicester have. The Coutinho substitution didn't help. And the defence was lacking and leaking once again.

Danny Ward made a couple of strong saves late one, denying Okazaki a double and Demarai Gray, who both starred for the home side.

Liverpool's defence let them down once again, no marking, too much space and question marks everywhere.

It will be the same clash again on Saturday, Liverpool back at the King Power Stadium, for the Premier League evening kick-off. Leicester will be on a confident high after this win.

The line-ups will surely change a lot, but will this trend of frustration, misses and leaks stop for the Reds??? It's getting too much!!! It's just not good enough! Beam me back to the Arsenal game, please! :-S #FFS

Was soll das Jürgen?!?!?! Scheiß-Dreck-Kack!!! -.- #COYR #ARGH

Leicester Goals: Okazaki 65' & Slimani 78'.

Leicester Line-Up: 12 Hamer, 18 Amartey, 16 Dragovic, 5 Morgan, 3 Chilwell, 11 Albrighton, 21 Iborra (booked 90'), 25 Ndidi (38 Choudhury 84'), 7 Gray, 19 Slimani, 23 Ulloa (20 Okazaki 55').
Subs not used: 8 Iheanacho, 13 Musa, 17 Jakupovic, 26 Mahrez, 29 Benalouane.

Liverpool Line-Up: 52 Ward, 38 Flanagan, 12 Gomez, 17 Klavan (booked 75'), 26 Robertson, 14 Henderson, 16 Grujic (booked 57'), 5 Wijnaldum (Ings 73'), 21 Oxlade-Chamberlain, 10 Coutinho (58 Woodburn HT), 29 Solanke.
Subs not used: 1 Karius, 7 Milner, 18 Moreno, 50 Markovic, 66 Alexander-Arnold.

HT Stats: LCFC 0-0 LFC
Possession: 24%-76%
Shots: 2-13
On target: 1-3
Corners: 2-3
Fouls: 3-5

FT Stats: LCFC 2-0 LFC
Possession: 30%-70%
Shots: 8-20
On target: 5-3
Corners: 4-6
Fouls: 9-10
Yellow cards: 1-2

Referee: Stuart Attwell
Man of the match: Shinji Okazaki
Ground: King Power Stadium

Click here for my previous LFC match report.

All pictures, stats and facts were taken from the BBC match report, BBC Radio and Sky Sports match coverage.

No comments: