8 months ago
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Photo by Marco Steinbrenner/DeFodi Images via Getty Images
After the Reds take a step and a half into the Europa League quarter finals, we dig into the winners, losers and narratives on the night.
Anybody associated with Liverpool Football Club could be forgiven for having half an eye on Sunday and the visit from a surging Manchester City, but the players thankfully managed to keep their focus, and despite a high-energy effort from the profligate Czech hosts, it was all very comfortable in the end, as the Reds won by a four-goal margin.
Below, then, a quick word on the winners and losers on the night.
Winners
He Only Scores Bangers: While Much has been made of Darwin Núñez and the chances he’s missed this season, as the Uruguayan has wasted more big chances than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues, he’s still putting up phenomenal numbers, in no small part because his of his ability to turn mediocre situations into goals.
The 24-year old’s brace tonight was spectacular, with the first a swerving effort from 20 yards reminiscent of his Carabao Cup banger against Bournemouth earlier in the season, and the second a clean-as-you-like half-volley into the far corner when a high ball from Alexis Mac Allister was allowed to bounce near the Sparta penalty area.
With 16 goals and 11 assists to his name, Darwin is now only three non-penalty goal involvements behind Erling Haaland this season, with fewer minutes played and better underlying numbers, and any fan, rival or not, who at this point still has doubts about whether the Uruguayan has been a success should be considered deeply unserious.
Triumphant Returns: Coming Exactly why Mohamed Salah was denied a goal on his return from injury — slotting home after being found in space by Dominik Szoboszlai — is as of yet inexplicable, since the Egyptian appeared to be well onside when the pass was played into him and no other Liverpool player was interfering with play at the time, but the 31-year old look fit and spry in his little cameo, offering a taste of what the Reds have been missing in his absence, and some hope that he’ll be ready to start on Sunday.
Szoboszlai himself got to round out the rout when he pinged the fifth of the night into the net after Angelo Preciado failed to deal with a Harvey Elliott through ball, and while the Hungarian definitely isn’t looking quite as sharp as he did before Christmas, his engine and quality on the ball will come in handy as the season comes to a head in the next few months.
Rotation: Joe Gomez was subbed off at half-time with what was rumoured to be an injury but confirmed by Klopp after the match to merely be a bit of rotation, while Ibrahima Konaté wisely sat down when he felt his hamstring early in the second half and should be fine for Sunday according to the manager.
Given their injury troubles and the packed fixture list coming up, being able to use the breadth of the squad and give players minutes to keep them in rhythm without running them into the ground is going to be of major importance for the Reds, and doing so while picking up quality wins bodes well for the club’s ongoing quadruple charge.
Losers
Cody Gak-no: Just a rough run of form for the kid. Touch, vision and decision making all seem to be hampered recently, and hopefully it’s not something serious that’s causing the drop in performance.
Credit to the Opposition
Came to play, Sparta Prague, and they gave their visitors all they could handle in periods, with only some heroic goalkeeping from Caoimhín Kelleher and some unfortunate finishing preventing the hosts from at least bumping their goals tally up by a couple, as their high-intensity, high-risk press caused the Reds all sorts of trouble.
The trouble with this approach, of course, is that doing it successfully against a team as good as these Reds is that it is very, very taxing, and by the half hour mark, the Sparta players just weren’t able to react as promptly or move their legs as quickly. As an illustration, the hosts held Liverpool to only two shots in the first 34 minutes of the match. Before the half-time whistle, they had conceded another ten.
What Happens Next
Oh just a season-defining visit from reigning Premier League champions and current head of the chasing pack Manchester City on Sunday. This fixture has produced some absolutely phenomenal football matches in the past decade, and hopefully, the Reds will be able to edge out their rivals and widen the margin at the top of the table.
