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World News for Thursday, November 26, 2020
Source: goal.com
2020-11-26
Deadly December awaits Liverpool
With a loss in November, Liverpool’s December became much more difficult.
The Reds’ perfect start to their Champions League campaign ended, ended at the hands of Atalanta at Anfield.
Revenge was sweet for the Italians. Defeated 5-0 in Bergamo three weeks ago, Gian Piero Gasperini’s team rallied in Merseyside, inflicting a 2-0 loss that keeps Group D open, at least for now.
The victory here would have brought Jurgen Klopp’s men to the knockout stages with two games to spare. Instead, with Ajax beating Midtjylland in Amsterdam, Liverpool now need a result when the Eredivisie team visits next week to guarantee qualification.
A loss would leave them vulnerable, needing something from their last group game, as they have in each of the last three seasons.
It means Klopp, with his resources already depleted from injury, will have less room to comfortably rotate his squad during the busiest month of the season.
Liverpool will play 10 times between November 28 and January 2, and as it stands, none of those games will be free hits for the Premier League champions.
Klopp chose to make changes here. Five of them, in fact, from Sunday’s impressive win over Leicester City.
There were chances for the Williamses, teens Neco and Rhys, and chances for Kostas Tsimikas and Divock Origi, as well as a comeback for Mohamed Salah.
The result, however, was a disjointed performance that got what it deserved. Liverpool were largely second best, creating little offense and ultimately succumbing to two goals in four minutes of the second half, courtesy of Josip Ilicic and Robin Gosens.
Klopp made a frustrated gesture on the touchline, unhappy with most of what he saw.
Tsimikas, who only made her second competitive appearance, had a lot of earache, as did Origi, whose form is still disappointing. The Belgian is doing little to push for greater inclusion, right now.
It took Liverpool 43 minutes to fire a single shot and when it arrived Salah deflected it well. The home team struggled to string together any notable moves, their pace lacking against a team that clearly learned the lessons from the first game.
Liverpool had looked to change the game from the bench in the last half hour, but when Klopp prepared four substitutes, Andy Robertson, Fabinho, Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino, Atalanta scored.
Ilicic and Papu Gómez had been the main threats to the Italians, and it was they who combined, with a Gómez center slipped home by the Slovenian star at the far post, with the Reds behind sleeping.
It got worse moments later, when another installment from Gomez saw Robertson beaten in midair by Hans Hateboer, Gosens in hand to mark his team’s second.
There was no response from the home team, who ended the night without a single effort on goal. Second best, for once, on his own soil.
The damage doesn’t have to be that bad. Liverpool should have enough to get what they need against Ajax (or Midtjylland), but it will frustrate Klopp who, having made an understandable bet with his national team, his replacements failed to deliver.
This was the toughest home loss Klopp has suffered as the Reds’ coach – the last time they lost by more than one goal at Anfield was under Brendan Rodgers, a 3-0 setback at the hands of West Ham in August 2015 .
He’ll be expecting better news from the treatment room this week, with Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stepping up his rehab. Perhaps, too, we will see Thiago Alcantara on the field again soon. It has been quite a long wait.
They head to Brighton on Saturday, an early start, in case Klopp’s latest barrage against broadcasters has been missed, and we can look forward to a more familiar team at Amex Stadium, with crucial league points at stake.
A more family-friendly team and a more family-friendly performance, Klopp will expect.
This was Liverpool, but not as we know them.
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