Elliot comes in for Fabinho, whose wife is expecting their first child. Henderson fills in the holding midfield spot. Injuries to Diaz, Jota and Firmino means Oxlade-Chamberlain, preferred over Carvalho, is playing on the left, with Nunez getting the chance to play centrally. New signing Cody Gakpo is not ready to feature yet. He would fill in that left-side spot really nicely.
Leicester opt for a double defensive midfield of Ndidi and Soumare with Tielemans on the bench. Dewsbury-Hall continues to fill in for the injured Maddison while Perez does the same for Praet. Daka continues to start over Vardy and Iheanacho.
A collective lapse in defence allowed Dewsbury-Hall to run through undeterred and put the ball past Alisson to give Leicester an early lead. But with the match at Anfield and still so many minutes of the game to go, Liverpool were still favourites to win the game.
However, Liverpool’s midfield play and forward end-product did not seem to justify that. Leicester defended well and broke up play often. Nunez was starved of the ball in the first half.
It took a huge slice of luck for Liverpool to equalise, as Faes botched his clearance from an Alexander-Arnold cross in the most farcical manner possible.
It got even more absurd, when just a few minutes later, Faes scored an own goal again. You don’t see that often. Nunez did well to put himself through and chip Danny Ward. The ball hit the post, but Faes was right on cue to finish it off with another bungled clearance. Oh my.
The second half saw more chances for Liverpool, who strived throughout to double their lead rather than defend it. Leicester did not have much in the way of attack, with their tactic of targeting the sometimes-defensively-suspect Alexander-Arnold through Barnes not going to plan.
Liverpool were the better side overall but not by much. Deserved win but not good enough if silverware is to be coveted.
Player Ratings
Starters
Alisson 7/10
Did well as sweeper and passer. Not much saves to make.
TAA 7.5/10
Better defensive performance this time.
Matip 7/10
None of his impressive maruading runs today but I guess you can’t have that every game, especially when Leicester played enterprisingly on the counter.
van Dijk 7/10
Solid.
Robertson 6/10
Not his best game but did okay.
Elliot 6/10
Okay enough.
Henderson 6/10
Not playing in his usual position.
Thiago 8.5/10
MOTM. Excellent in individual situations. Drew a yellow card and offered the only bit of flair and grace in an otherwise disjointed game.
Salah 6/10
Missed a couple of good chances but the social media slander will be focused on Nunez. At his prime he would have scored in this game. When Liverpool are back at full strength plus Gakpo coming in, it may be time to drop Salah.
Nunez 7/10
FPL-assisted the winner. Took shots and had good chances, but it was not his day for scoring. Not involved enough in the game. He feels like he will be firing on all cylinders once he gets enough confidence and into goalscoring mode.
Chamberlain 5.5/10
Played on the left as he’s no longer considered good enough to play in his preferred central midfield spot. Didn’t do much productive.
Subs
Tsimikas 7/10
Filled in well for Robertson
Keita 7.5/10
Did good when he came on. Would like to see him start games now.
Gomez NIL
Bajcetic NIL
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