Digging Deeper Into Liverpool’s 2-0 Win over Midtjylland

We dig into the Reds most recent win as their season chugs
along, however bumpily.

Another scrappy affair, another clean sheet, another three
points. Liverpool’s Champions
League campaign keeps rolling along on octagonal wheels while
everybody else is on squares, and we are absolutely here for
it.

Below, we take a look at some winners, losers and narratives
from the night.

Winners

Getting the Job Done: Listen, there’s no need
to pretend this was a thrilling contest. Liverpool rotated their
entire front line and did just enough to ensure all three points
stayed at Anfield, leaving them in pole position at the top of
group D.

Looking at some of the bonkers results in recent weeks and the
state of league tables around Europe, though, it becomes clear that
being able to manage the situation — a long unplanned break before
a hectic run of fixtures, followed by an absurdly brief pre-season
leading into a spectacularly condensed campaign — as boringly as
possible may be more than enough to win a title or two. Barcelona
sit 12th, Juventus 5th, and in the Premier League, Liverpool and
Tottenham are the only two members of the Big Six currently placed
in the top nine.

The Reds secured their 19th title in a season defined by their
ability to turn it up when they had to and cruising when they
could. Retaining that ability could prove even more valuable in
what promises to be a sensationally stupid year.

Diogo Jota: He’s quite good, the Portuguese
attacker! Another product of the recruitment team’s meticulous
scouting and assessment work, the former Wolves winger does not
have the look of a man who has trained with his team-mates for less
than six weeks.

He may occasionally appear to be playing in a slightly different
rhythm than his more established partners up top, but in six
appearances, the 23-year old has notched three goals — including
the 10.000th in the club’s history with his tap-in tonight — and
looked adept in all three spots across the front line.

The £40m fee — although offset by Ki-Jana Hoever moving in the
other direction — may have seemed high to some, but the young
attacker has hit the ground running on his quest to prove any
skeptics wrong. Long may it continue!

Losers

The Decision Makers: I know I just sang the
praises of the recruitment team, but when Dejan Lovren left this summer — a good
decision! — the call to not bring in a fourth choice centre-back as
cover for the notoriously injury prone Joël Matip and Joe Gomez appeared a risky one to most fans
cursed with some degree of foresight.

The Reds have been fortunate with injuries in recent seasons,
rarely missing more than one starter from any given position group
at a time, and almost never more than two starters concurrently.
The loss of Virgil van Dijk for the season immediately set the
alarm bells a-ringing, and when Joël Matip — predictably — began
missing time, moving world-class defensive midfielder Fabinho down
into the centre of defense was the solution.

After playing 91% of possible minutes this season, the Brazilian
pulled up with what looked to be a hamstring issue tonight, handing
19-year old Rhys Williams his first proper piece of top-level
football, and while the young Englishman did terrifically well on
the night, it would be unfair to expect him to anchor the defense
for any length of time next to still only 23-year
old Joe Gomez.

Hopefully, the physio team can work some sort of magic on Joël
Matip to get him back to fitness, and evne more hopefully-er, the
recruitment team makes some moves in January.

Credit to the Opposition

Midtjylland were exactly as advertised — and perhaps even a
little better — putting on a performance that was full of
well-drilled build-up play, impressive individual skill, some
sneaky clever set-piece plays, and — on at least two occasions —
genuine goal threat. On another day, they could have easily snuck a
point or three in their bag and brought them back to Denmark, and
given the discrepancy in resources between the two clubs, that’s
quite the feat.

What Happens Next

Chaos reigns, as the Reds continue blasting through the fixture
list, hosting David Moyes’ West Ham on Saturday, before traveling
to Italy to take on Atalanta for the first time in club history
next Wednesday, in what looks set to be a battle for top spot in
Group D.