1. Liverpool’s attack – not their defence – lets them down
SO FAR THIS season, Liverpool’s defence has perceived seen as being their main area of weakness.
Only three Premier League teams have worse records than the 11 goals the Reds have conceded, although almost half of those came in the one match earlier this month against Man City — a virtual non-contest at the Etihad once the visitors were reduced to 10 men with over the half the game to play.
Last night, however, Jurgen Klopp’s side faced a different issue. Their domination of possession and territory was so overwhelming that they played as if they were the home team, while Spartak Moscow rarely looked like scoring, as they seldom ventured into opposition territory.
For the Russians though, it was surely a deliberate tactic. Liverpool are at their best when they are counter-attacking teams. Spartak will have seen how Klopp’s men tore apart the far more ambitious Hoffenheim time and again in the qualifying round, with the Anfield club ultimately emerging from that tie as 6-3 aggregate victors.
On a regular basis last season and to a certain extent in the new campaign, Liverpool have been conspicuously poor against the so-called weaker Premier League sides such as Burnley and Swansea.
When teams defend deep, the speedy likes of Sadio Mane and Mo Salah are far less effective, as these players tend to thrive when there is plenty of space to exploit, while midfielders such as Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum are more adept at winning the ball back rather than splitting open defences.
So last night, Spartak wisely sat back, played deep and only sporadically got bodies forward.
It may have been a deeply negative performance for the home side, but the Russians will undoubtedly be happy with a point against arguably the best side in the group.
And while they defended well and slowed the game down expertly in the second half in particular, the hosts also enjoyed a degree of good fortune.
Jurgen Klopp was right to bemoan his side’s lack of ruthlessness. As well as having 64% possession, they had 16 shots and six on target, but still managed to come away with only one goal. By contrast, Massimo Carrera’s team had just four shots in total, with two on target, but succeeded in earning an unlikely point.
Consequently, on Tuesday night, it was largely Liverpool’s slightly one-dimensional and wasteful attack, rather than the much-maligned backline, that let them down, even if Loris Karius did not cover himself in glory for the game’s opening goal — a curling free kick that ended up nowhere near the corner of the net.
2. Mendy news mars Man City’s win
Man City already look in a strong position to qualify from their group, as they retained their 100% Champions League record with a deserved 2-0 win over Shakhtar Donetsk last night.
However, the hard-fought victory was overshadowed to a degree by the worrying news about Benjamin Mendy.
City bought Mendy for €57 million from Monaco in the summer and the 23-year-old France international was expected to be a key player for the club this season.
However, after last night’s game, Pep Guardiola suggested it was likely to be months rather than weeks that Mendy would be absent for, comparing to the injury to that of fellow City player Ilkay Gundogan, who recently returned from a nine-month layoff.
It is sad news for a player who seemed to be adapting well to the Premier League, with his pace, athleticism and crossing ability providing his team with plenty of attacking threat.
But the player, who was named in the Ligue 1 team of the season after he starred for Monaco’s title-winning side, now appears set to be sidelined for a lengthy period, with Guardiola even suggesting the club would consider dipping into the transfer market for a new left-back in January to compensate for Mendy’s unexpected issues.
3. Few strikers in Europe are in better form than Harry Kane right now
Yes, it was against poor opposition last night, but is still hard not to be impressed when watching Harry Kane in action.
The 24-year-old’s hat-trick against APOEL means after his usual freakish lean period in August, Kane has now scored 11 goals in all competitions in his last seven matches.
Those are the kind of stats generally reserved for Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in La Liga, rather than English football, where games are more competitive and closely fought overall, compared with the frequently one-sided matches in Spain.
And this current phenomenal run is far from an anomaly. Last night was the ninth hat-trick of Kane’s career and sixth in 2017 alone, with the striker only expected to get better in the coming years.
Thierry Henry recently suggested Kane was not yet world-class, comparing him unfavourably to Sergio Aguero, and arguing that the Argentine international has, unlike the Spurs man, proven himself over a number of years.
But while Aguero may have two Premier League titles, in contrast with Kane, who has yet to win a major trophy, on goals alone, the Tottenham man has been as impressive as any English-based player in recent times.
Indeed, as Opta point out, Kane has 34 goals from 30 apperances in 2017 — comfortably ahead of his nearest English-based challengers: Aguero (24 from 33), Romelu Lukaku (24 from 28), Dele Alli (18 from 34) and Alexis Sanchez (17 from 33).
4. Cristiano Ronaldo continues to astound
It was telling indicator of the standards he has set that eyebrows were raised when Cristiano Ronaldo recently went two games on the bounce without scoring.
Normal order resumed on Tuesday evening, however, as the Portuguese superstar grabbed a brilliant brace to hand Dortmund their first loss in seven home games against Real Madrid.
In his 150th European fixture, Ronaldo added to his status as the highest scorer in the history of the European Cup/Champions League with 109 goals — Lionel Messi (96) and Raul (71) are now well behind him in second and third place respectively.
He is truly a phenomenon who, at 32, shows no sign of slowing down, while it would be foolish to bet against him inspiring Real to a third consecutive Champions League title this season.
Ronaldo surprised some critics last year when the star suggested he wanted to retire at Real Madrid aged 41, an idea that seemed far-fetched at the time.
However, similar to Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, the former Man United player is a freak of nature athletically, and someone who should continue to defy the perils of age for a number of years yet.
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