THE Post-game Fist Pump!
Today is a triple fist pump Saturday! Another 3 points in the bag, first clean sheet since Sheffield, and City fell 14 points behind. Oh man what a day it has been. I do love those late winners, but watching the boys knock it around for the last half-hour while I kick back in the recliner and drink coffee was the most relaxing start to a Saturday I’ve had in quite some time. For today we’ll switch things up a bit and take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly.
THE GOOD
Liverpool Football Club. Yep that about covers it, but I’ll elaborate anyway. With a whopping 12 changes to the lineup in 2 matches, the Champions of Europe have flexed their muscle by scoring 8 goals and conceding only 2. Klopp has really built a machine to run smoothly through the roughest of schedules, and to persevere through crucial injuries. Focusing on today, the defense really stepped it up a notch. The back line held strong (mostly from the halfway line) conceding 0 shots on goal. Anytime the Cherries did began to counter, Virgil was there break things up. The clean sheet will go down as Alisson’s, but the real credit should go to the fact that they just didn’t let Bournemouth touch the ball. Possession was a staggering 74/26 in favor of Liverpool. As a team the Reds had an astounding 89% pass success rate. The game had some great moments and beautiful goals, but the highlight to me was welcoming back Naby Keita to the starting 11 in the Premier League. He had a goal and an absolute dime of an 
assist, but it gets even better. Naby had the 4th most touches on the team with 111 and a pass success rate of 94.7%. He also contributed 3 key passes and 2 shots on target. Defensively, he was just as strong, leading the team in tackles (3) and tying Gomez for the lead in interceptions with 2. Next, how about that slick finish from Ox to get his first league goal in almost 2 years? Lastly, congrats to Curtis Jones getting his premier league debut! The young scouser looked very comfortable and did well to take care of the ball. Moving on…
THE BAD
Bournemouth were completely lost without their young star, who happens to be our young star, Harry Wilson. I don’t think he’d have made much difference in the outcome given Liverpool are just on another planet right now. They rarely had the ball and when they attempted to get forward they were often caught offsides. There’s not too much else to say about the Cherries. Good luck to them going forward. Next on the bad list, Dejan Lovren left the match, but Klopp stated he doesn’t think its too serious. That could prove to be crucial going forward with Matip still out and Virgil has not had a rest since he missed the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Bayern. I doubt Virgil will take much of a rest if any during this run. Another solid defender may be on the shopping list for the coming transfer window. We shall see.
THE UGLY
This is Non-LFC, but I’ve got to put the Manchester City fans in the down right ugly colum
n today. It was despicable. Fred was getting pelted by lighters and water bottles while attempting to take a corner. It was later reported that the City fans were shouting racial slurs as well. Eventually, Anthony Taylor instructed the City players to appeal to the crowd to stop so the match could continue. I’m sure all the details are not currently known, but I wonder why Raheem Sterling or any of the City players for that matter immediately scold the fans for their behavior? I only mention Sterling by name due to him being the front-man in world football for the anti-racism movement. If there were in fact racial slurs being shouted, I would expect him to be the first one to say something to the crowd. It’s a problem. There really is no room for it…ANYWHERE.
On we go to Salzburg to secure a spot in the knockout stages of the Champions League. Still top of the league, and the goals are starting to come in bunches. Have a great rest of your weekend, and don’t forget to like and share so everyone can get some AmericanScouser content! YNWA!