Liverpool suffered to beat bottom-placed Sheffield United (3-1) and regain the lead in the Premier League before going to rival Manchester United on Sunday, defeated on Thursday at Chelsea (4-3) by two goals conceded in time additional.
. Anfield, the show after the cold
The Reds did not seem in their right mood, much less dashing than usual, but they snatched a late victory which put them back on the throne with 70 points, ahead of Arsenal (2nd, 68 pts) and Manchester City ( 3rd, 67 pts).
It took a missile from Alexis Mac Allister (76th, 2-1) and a placed header from Cody Gakpo (90th, 3-1) to get rid of the dead last, worst attack and worst defense in the championship.
The team had “a good attitude” but “our football was not very good at certain moments”, summarized Jürgen Klopp to the BBC. “We had to dig deep within ourselves, but that’s normal.”
Liverpool made a specialty of winning late and this once again saved the German coach who, before bowing out, dreams of winning a second national title after that of 2020.
The locals, however, opened the score very quickly thanks to the grinta of Darwin Nunez, who came to block a clearance from goalkeeper Ivan Grbic (17th, 1-0) to score his eleventh goal this season in the Premier League.
It was nevertheless a small brightening in a fairly dark sky. The Reds struggled to attack and seemed in difficulty when Sheffield approached Caoimhin Kelleher’s cage, author of a save after a minute of play.
The goalkeeper saw his defender Conor Bradley, unhappy, deceive him with a header from the “Blades” that was off target but deflected (59th, 1-1).
Mac Allister pulled the Reds out of a rut with a powerful strike, confirming he was the Reds’ man in form with three goals and four assists in the last six league matches. Gakpo provided further relief when he headed home an Andy Robertson cross.
. Chelsea crazy
On Sunday (4:30 p.m.), Liverpool will defend their first place against their historic enemy, Manchester United, probably traumatized by the stunning defeat suffered on Thursday at Chelsea.
The “Red Devils” managed to recover from a catastrophic start, with two goals conceded in less than twenty minutes, until taking the advantage in the 67th minute in a stunned stadium (2-3).
Even the injury exit of French central defender Raphaël Varane, then that of his replacement Jonny Evans, did not seem to shake the visitors, who were formidable when exploiting opposing defensive errors.
But ultimately, the Mancuniens surrendered in added time on a penalty (90th+11) then a final strike (90th+12) from Cole Palmer, the brilliant 21-year-old recruit arrived this summer from Manchester City.
The Stamford Bridge stadium shook with joy and a totally unexpected liberation, as spectators were closer to whistles than cheers.
“2-0 for us and, as I said last week, we are making stupid mistakes. When we saw that there were eight minutes of injury time, it gave us a boost. Crazy!” commented Palmer on TNT Sports.
Chelsea move up to tenth place, with two games in hand to play, and push back the bad memory of the 2-2 draw conceded on Saturday against Burnley, in numerical superiority and after having led twice.
For Manchester United, sixth, it will be difficult to escape the nightmare experienced in London. We will also have to find solutions in central defense, already deprived of the injured Victor Lindelöf and Lisandro Martinez.
Not ideal before welcoming the second best attack in the championship to Old Trafford.
