Liverpool took time to get going against Luton Town on Wednesday but won 4-1 to maintain its position at the summit of the Premier League. It made its struggles in the first half look like no big deal with a much improved performance after the break.
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The Reds were without 11 first-team players for the first time since before the beginning of 2016/17, at least, and perhaps ever. The starting XI was about as strong as Jürgen Klopp could realistically select, but there was clearly an air of ‘early round cup tie team’ to the side.
Yet although Liverpool started reasonably well, they went behind to Chiedozie Ogbene’s goal in the 12th minute. As with Ivan Toney’s strike for Brentford on Saturday, it came after Caoimhín Kelleher had saved an initial shot.
The Reds didn’t muster much of note in the first half, but they summoned memories of the recent Carabao Cup semi-final first leg win over Fulham by striking back with two goals in two minutes at the Kop end. Luis Díaz added the goal that his display in the second 45 merited, and Harvey Elliott also scored to ensure what had been an uncomfortable evening ended in a stroll.
WINNERS
It was looking like this section might be blank for a while, but thankfully several Reds turned up in the second half. Luis Díaz led the line well and scored against the Hatters for the second time this season, while Virgil van Dijk played as coolly as ever and bagged the equalizer. It was another decent runout for Conor Bradley, too.
LOSERS
Nobody stunk the place out, but Ryan Gravenberch didn’t deliver much during his time on the pitch. The goalkeeper and the defense won’t want to see a replay of the goal either, with Caoimhín Kelleher ultimately beaten by what proved to be Luton’s only on-target efforts in the opening 80 minutes.
PLAYER RATINGS
Caoimhín Kelleher — 6
Kelleher played a nice long ball to Diaz early on and tried to repeat it whenever he got the ball after Luton came forward. But saving shots is the priority, and he should have done better for the opening goal.
Conor Bradley, 7
Another decent outing for the youngster. Bradley got forward to support attacks when possible and created a great opening for Luis Diaz at the start of the second half.
Jarell Quansah, 6
The problem with assessing a defender in a game like this is that Quansah did well enough for the majority of the match but got stuck far too closely to his man in the move for the goal.
Virgil van Dijk — 8
A typically solid outing was crowned with the all-important equaliser. Virgil van Dijk will lead the Reds out of Wembley in fine form and full of confidence.
Joe Gomez, 6
It was not a brilliant night for Gomez, who was booked. He lost his man for the Luton goal and inevitably had a shot without scoring. Not poor, but not incredible either.
Alexis Mac Allister, 8
The World Cup winner hadn’t done that much for the first 56 minutes and then trebled his assist tally for the season in the space of 125 seconds. He makes the game look easy when he is at his best.
Wataru Endō — 7
Like many of his teammates, the captain of Japan was dribbled past more often than he’d have liked. Endō was tidy in possession, though, and played a nice lofted through ball to Díaz.
Ryan Gravenberch, 6
I missed out on the Dutch party enjoyed by Gakpo and van Dijk. Another match largely passed him by, unfortunately.
Harvey Elliott, 7
Elliott marked a fairly middling performance with a goal and was Liverpool’s leading creator of chances. Anyone thinking that the youngster is better suited to a substitute role rather than starting likely won’t have had their mind changed here.
Cody Gakpo: 7
He dropped too deep at times, which may well have been under instruction, but it meant he didn’t contribute too much in the first half. I made up for it with the second goal, though.
Luis Díaz, 8
The Colombian took responsibility for leading the Liverpool attack, setting a new personal high for Premier League shots (six) in the opening 35 minutes and reaching double figures by the end of the night. He should’ve done better with the first big chance of the contest, but he was Liverpool’s star man.
SUBSTITUTES
Andy Robertson, 7
He picked up an assist within three minutes of coming on and immediately made the left side of the team look far more threatening. It has to start at Wembley.
Bobby Clark, Jayden Danns and James McConnell
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