Luton Town vs Liverpool in pictures
Liverpool were held to a 1-1 with Luton Town on Sunday night on what was a tricky night for Jurgen Klopp’s side. Former Manchester United star Tahith Chong opened the scoring at Kenilworth Road, tapping in from close range in the 80th minute after a swift counter-attack saw Luton break with numbers and venom. Liverpool then hit back late in added time through Luis Diaz, who rose highest at the back post to loop a neat header over the head of Thomas Kaminski and into the back of the net. Express Sport takes a look at five talking points from the match…
Resilient Luton
Hatters manager Rob Edwards will be ecstatic with how his side defended against Liverpool, and they could cause other top teams problems as the season goes on if they repeat this performance. Luton’s willingness to get bodies behind the ball and spend extended spells without possession will frustrate teams, with the pace of Chiedozie Ogbene providing a threat on the counter-attack.
Luis Diaz returns
Liverpool fans were pleased to see Diaz return to the matchday squad following his absence for family reason. The winger’s parents were both kidnapped in Colombia last week, with his father’s whereabouts still unknown – though the Colombian government have announced that the National Liberation Army (ELN) are responsible for the kidnapping. Diaz entered the fray in the 83rd minute, though his return was somewhat overshadowed by Luton’s opener. However, he ensured that he left his mark on the match with his late equaliser before showing a message that read ‘freedom for papa’ on his undershirt.
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Four Liverpool stars fail to meet the mark
Klopp has had several players that he has been able to rely on this season, though his most reliable players failed to meet the mark against Luton. Midfield duo Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai both struggled and were unable to create significant chances for their team-mates, with the latter being replaced early in the second half as a result. Similarly, forwards Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah looked like shadows of their former selves and both missed big chances in the second half that should have found the back of the net. The quarter have impressed previously but they were far from at their best on Sunday night.
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Jurgen Klopp angers FPL owners
Klopp left FPL managers fuming before a ball was even kicked at Kenilworth Park after benching Konstantinos Tsimikas in favour of playing Joe Gomez in left-back. The defender has been one of the most transferred in players in the Premier League over the past few weeks after Andrew Robertson was forced to undergo surgery, with FPL managers cashing in on the £4.5million asset. Tsimikas then entered the fray in the 65th minute to pile further misery onto his owners, who were forced to settle for just a point from their defender rather than him being auto-swapped out for a bench player.
Carragher fumes over Premier League rules
Jamie Carragher sympathised with the frustrated Luton supporters in the first half after right-back Ibrahim Kabore was forced to stand on the sidelines for 30 seconds while his side defended a corner. The defender blocked Nunez’s cross with his face and thus required treatment, though it meant that Luton were outnumbered in the penalty area.
Speaking about the newly-imposed Premier League rule, Carragher said: “This is not right, this is wrong but he has to go off here. He’s making a challenge to stop the opposition from scoring, they’ve now got to defend a corner and they’re a man down. This is not right. Luton shouldn’t be penalised for this, they’ve just got a defender making a block, doing his job. It just feels like set-pieces, it doesn’t feel right when someone’s got an extra body in the box as everyone’s got a defined role. It’ll cost the team.”
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