Liverpool vs Leicester

FS: 3-1

Goals; Salah 67′, Maddison 78′, Vardy 81′, Barnes 85′

King Power Stadium

Saturday 13th of February

A third defeat in a row has left Liverpool supporters despairing, with the Reds’ tag as “Mentality Monsters” looking lost during their 3-1 defeat to Leicester.

The champions were beaten by the Foxes on Saturday, despite Mohamed Salah’s superb opener giving them a second-half lead.

Just when it seemed as though Liverpool may be on the road to recovery, Leicester scored three quickfire goals in seven minutes, aided by VAR and yet more individual errors.

The loss leaves even a top-four finish under threat, with the Reds’ hopes of retaining the title now well and truly over.

The good…

The mere presence of a natural, highly-rated centre-back in the defensive line was a positive and there’s no reason for Liverpool not to go with two central defenders in defence from now on.

Trent-Alexander-Arnold put in a promising display – one which at times raised the possibility of him being useful in midfield at this moment in time.

One of his passes, in particular, was something you might expect to see from Thiago.

With Fabinho back fit and back in midfield – hopefully soon – Liverpool should have a different, more solid look about them.

Having a proper centre-back playing made a difference for much of the game, regardless of what happened with him and Alisson.

Finally, Liverpool’s performance for 70 minutes was actually pretty good – the result shouldn’t make that meaningless. Then they imploded.

The bad…

It was a performance littered with defensive mistakes and lack of organisation at the back.

From Thiago’s reckless tackle to Alisson’s failed intervention, the individual errors are a result of uncertainty throughout the defence in the absence of key players.

Henderson started very well with the ball, but for a player who is there, according to Klopp, more for his experience and organisational skills, these things were sorely lacking at the back as demonstrated by each of Leicester’s three goals.

The manner of the capitulation was all too predictable sadly – at 1-0, I just knew the Reds weren’t going to win.

I’ve essentially been turned from a doubter to a believer, and back to a doubter again! The players are performing like that too, looking at the way they fell apart mentally.

As I have mentioned Thiago’s tackle was completely brainless and annoyed me more than any moment in the game – he was poor in general, but maybe wasn’t fully fit, it should be stressed.

The miscommunication between Alisson and new signing Ozan Kabak was woeful and the general end product was sorely lacking, aside from Salah’s goal.

VAR also deserves a shoutout. I have no doubts that James Maddison’s goal would’ve been ruled out against ANY other team.

Liverpool are cursed on all fronts this season – we just have to suck it up and wait for August.

And is a top-four finish in doubt?

In Liverpool’s defeat to Manchester City, I mentioned that Liverpool’s focus has switched from title challenge to top-four finish, but I still expected them to be solidifying a place in the top four rather than chasing one.

At the end of this round of fixtures, they could be very much part of the chasing pack.

Once focus moves away from a title challenge, a top-four finish isn’t always guaranteed. Finishing outside the  Champions League spots seemed unimaginable last year, but it is now a real possibility.

Hopefully, this will be enough of a wake-up call to spark a turnaround in fortunes.

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