Liverpool vs Stoke a few quick thoughts
Dan Tracey
December 28, 2016
1,916 Views
- Anfield would have been full of late Christmas cheer yesterday Evening as Liverpool eased to a 4-1 win over Stoke
- That win for Jurgen Klopp’s side sees them regain second in the table and they once again find themselves 6 points behind Antonio Conte’s Chelsea
- That win sets them up nicely for the New Years Eve trip to The Etihad to Manchester City
- But it’s ultimately a fixture that plays into Chelsea’s hands as at least one of their nearest rivals will drop more points
- With the form that Chelsea are in it’s simply a must win game for both sides
- But you could say that about every game that Liverpool are involved right now, they simply have to win just to keep pace with the league leaders
- And although yesterday saw a comfortable win in the end it wasn’t the best of starts as Stoke went ahead early on
- Jonathan Walters silenced Anfield after just 12 minutes to give the visitors the lead
- It seemed as if Liverpool had been caught cold after the excess of Christmas with the Republic Of Ireland international Walters on hand to head home at the near post
- The goal almost seemed to wake Liverpool up and they were soon back in the game thanks to Adam Lallana’s equaliser
- He continues his most productive season in a Liverpool shirt as he netted his 7th goal of the season
- Liverpool had the equaliser and now the nerves had been settled they look to take the game to Stoke
- And the went ahead at the perfect time with Roberto Firmino scoring just before the break
- The Brazilian may have made the headlines for the wrong reasons after his Christmas Eve Drink Driving charge but yesterday he was once again delivering on the pitch
- That goal changed the complexion of the game and took the wind out of Stoke’s sails
- With Liverpool’s tails up they never really looked in danger once ahead as they dominated the second half
- The result was all but wrapped up when Giannelli Imbula directed Divock Origi’s cross into his own net to make it 3-1 to Liverpool
- And there would still be time for a Daniel Sturridge cameo as he scored his second goal in the space of just over a week to add the gloss on a well earned victory
- Liverpool ran out 4-1 winners and bar the minor blip at the start of the game they never really looked troubled
- For Stoke it’s a return to the defensive lapses at the start of the season
- Then again you could say that it’s just the home side having that extra quality than opposed to Mark Hughes’ side being poor
- That defeat though actually sees Stoke drop a position to 13th due to now having a lesser goal difference than Bournemouth
- It’s no win in the last four for this Stoke side now
- They could do with ending that run just to make sure they aren’t looking over their shoulder at the bunch of teams below them
- With Pep Guardiola in the stands watching over Liverpool’s win he will have had to pay a lot of attention to this Liverpool side who have won their last three successive matches
- Not quite the run of form like Chelsea are currently in but the West London side are on a completly different level right now
- Saturday Night sees the first clash of Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola in the Premier League
- Expect there to be fireworks as we close out 2016 with a blockbuster of a fixture
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