Wow. How impressive was that? Leicester are our nearest challengers and we just went into their back yard and stole their dinner money. It was an absolute mauling and 4-0 flattered them. First versus second shouldn't look like this, but with the Reds in this mood Leicester had no chance.
This should have been our toughest game of the season but the lads made it look easy. We just went to the second placed team and didn’t let them have a shot on target. The most dangerous striker in the league didn’t get a kick and we put four past a team who had only conceded five at home all season. The best word to describe the performance is 'imperious'.
We were right on them from the opening whistle and never let up at any stage. Incredibly, we could have scored twice inside the opening 60 seconds. First Trent brought a save out of Schmeichel with a rasper from 25 yards. Seconds later Salah had the ball on the right and picked out Mané with a brilliant ball. It seemed a certain goal but Sadio got it all wrong and missed by miles.
Still, what a start. And it carried on. We created loads of chances and Leicester couldn’t get out of their own half due to the way we completely smothered them. We’re fucking horrible to play against when we’re in this mood.
Leicester are taking a lot of stick for how they played but in this mood we’d smash anyone. We’re the best team in the world and anyone having a go at Leicester should look at the league table. They’re pushing us harder than anyone else.
The only thing standing between Leicester and the kind of beating they themselves dished out to Southampton earlier in the season was our wastefulness.
Salah put one miles over from 18 yards and then messed up when he was sent clean through on goal. He went around Schmeichel but his touch was heavy and sent him too wide.
It was a similar situation to the one the other week when he scored with his right foot, but this was more difficult as there was a defender back covering and he was never going to be able to score from there. He should have taken a touch and tried to pick out Mané or Firmino really.
We were all over them though. Keita was picking the ball up and gliding past people, the two full backs were bombing forward, Firmino was finding space to operate in and any time Leicester played the ball forward it was won by either Van Dijk or Gomez.
We just needed a goal, and then we got one. Leicester cleared the initial corner but the ball found its way to Robbo and he immediately gave it to Trent in space. The ball in was brilliant, as you’d expect, and Bobby kept his eye on it and guided it expertly into the bottom corner.
Chilwell played everyone onside by dropping deeper than the rest of his defenders. If he held the line we might not have scored there. Poor from him. He’s a promising player but he didn’t have a good night and was left exposed too many times.
For some reason Brendan used Maddison on the left, which not only nullified the threat he poses but also meant Trent had all the room he wanted without having to worry about a winger.
Mind you, Trent’s job was made easier by having the pace of Gomez behind him. That safety net against Vardy basically ensured Trent could just go forward at will without worrying about the space in behind him.
Mané should have made it 2-0 when he ran through the centre and a lucky bounce led to him being clean through on goal. Schmeichel did well to make himself big but Sadio has to score there. Terrible miss.
I had mixed feelings at half time. I was hugely impressed with the performance but mildly irritated that the missed chances meant Leicester were still in the game. All it would take is one ball for Vardy to get in behind and all our good work would be wiped out.
We needed to be more clinical in the second half and we were. But not straight away. We had loads of good situations (usually from right wing crosses) but the second goal remained elusive.
Leicester finally began to get a little something going and it felt like the momentum had shifted a little in the minutes before we scored again. Alison didn’t have to make a save but they did have a couple of promising situations that might have troubled us.
Then we were awarded a penalty at just the right time. I’m usually on the side of defenders in handball situations but this is a clear penalty. The ball wasn’t smashed at him from close range and he wasn’t put off by the player in front flicking it on. Granted, his arm wasn’t in an unnatural position but it doesn’t matter because he leaned into the ball. There’s clear movement towards the ball, so it’s a pen.
You always get arguments over these decisions as it’s a subjective discussion. I look at it this way though. If that wasn’t given I’d be willing to bet most people would be saying it’s a clear handball, because it was. You don’t always get them, but I’d expect to get that one more often than not.
Leicester can cry about it all they like but when you’ve had such a chasing like that you’ve got to have some balls on you to argue about the officiating.
Schmeichel was crying about it afterwards and making out they were hard done by. He should just be glad Sadio and Mo didn’t have their shooting boots with them or he’d have let in ten, the big dope.
He should be looking at an FA charge for what he said afterwards. Oliver “wanting to be a hero” and “couldn’t wait to give it”. Leicester shouldn’t expect any favours from Oliver the next time either, as he never forgets. Just ask Guardiola, whose disrespect at Anfield came back to haunt him when Oliver was the VAR official in the Manc derby.
What about Kloppo and his perfect timing though? Sending Milner on 30 seconds before we get a pen is genius. Of course Big Games James kept his nerve and buried the kick. Was there ever any doubt?
That goal killed Leicester and after that it was easy. Trent was getting all sorts of room out wide and that’s never going to end well for the opposition. He made the third for Bobby with a brilliant ball and then ran onto a Mané pass to make it 4-0 himself.
A word on the Firmino finish though. Fucking glorious that. The first touch, the calmness to take his time and the ability to casually stroke it into the top corner. Simplistically brilliant.
Made up for him to have gotten back in the goals over the last week or so. On a night when his two strike partners were wasteful as fuck it was vital that someone stepped up, and Bobby did that. That World Club Cup might have kick started his season as he’d blown hot and cold up until then.
Keita had made way for Milner while Salah was also replaced by Origi. Mo didn’t look happy, but it makes sense to get the front three a bit of a rest whenever possible. It was his turn. At the weekend it might be Mané.
At 4-0 we might have seen Curtis Jones or Neco Williams get a run out, as we don’t get too many chances to get the kids playing time in the Premier League. Unfortunately Klopp had to use his final change on replacing the injured Henderson with Lallana.
Hendo had been hurt by a late tackle by that Ayoze Perez loser, who had only just come on. Hendo let him know what he thought of it on his way off. I expected Robbo to extract some revenge but Perez wisely went nowhere near that side of the field.
Hopefully Hendo is ok. It didn’t look bad, he seemed fine afterwards and didn’t appear to be concerned. Looked more like a knock than a pull so I’d expect him to play at the weekend, although he might have to sit out one of the next two. A few of them might.
What a performance though. I can’t get over how good this team is, and the thing is, they haven’t even peaked yet. In their last 56 league games they’ve lost one. ONE!! It’s insane, we’re now close to eclipsing what Man City did two years ago.
I keep thinking that eventually we’re going to lose a game, and I still think we will. I’m not even thinking about going through the season unbeaten at this point, as we’re not even halfway through yet.
It would be nice to do that but right now it’s the last thing on my mind. Increasing our lead is the only thing that matters at the moment. Just keep churning out wins and putting the pressure on City to try and keep up.
They’ve got absolutely no room for error now and that’s going to make it incredibly tough for them. We’ve got a difficult run of games ahead but I’m beginning to think that tired legs aren’t going to be a factor.
Everyone thought this game was going to be a grind because we’re coming off the back of the trip to Qatar, but just look at how we played. It was our best display of the whole season.
The whole team were right at it in terms of work rate, organisation and pressing. Ok, Salah and Mané could have been sharper in front of goal, but this was one hell of a team performance.
It’s one hell of a team. The rest of the league will have watched this and been hoping to see Leicester give us a real test and maybe take points off us. The message sent out was emphatic though. No-one can touch us.
The travelling Kop sang “Now you’re gonna believe us, we’re Champions of the World”. Leicester embarrassingly responded with “Champions of England, you’ll never sing that”. Every time they sing that to clubs who have won more titles then them it makes me cringe, but this time I just laughed. Enjoy it while you can, because in a few months time it’s going to be completely redundant.
Star man is Trent but I was buzzing with how so many of them played. Hendo was great again, Naby is looking the business, Gini was quietly effective, Virg was imperious, Robbo was great and Gomez is now back at the level he was before his injury last season.
We’re fucking brilliant and we’ve still got Fabinho, Matip, Lovren and Ox to come back from injury, and of course we’re about to add Minamino to the mix.
What a time to be a Red.
Team: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Henderson (Lallana), Keita (Milner), Wijnaldum; Salah (Origi), Firmino, Mané:
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