In a game that a glance at the Premier League table would’ve told us was the game of the season, Leicester City welcomed Liverpool to the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day. It was the 19th round of the campaign and the 19th game for the Foxes, while Liverpool still have a game in hand after missing the encounter with West Ham at the weekend due to the small matter of winning the Club World Cup.
Ahead of the Boxing Day cluster of fixtures, these two teams topped the table with Liverpool in front, and Leicester 10 points behind.
Team News
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers, who managed Liverpool from 2012 to 2015 and came agonizingly close to winning the title with them in 2013/14, was without the services of midfielder Matthew James who hasn’t played for a long time. Winger Harvey Barnes was a doubt following a problem he had picked up in the defeat away to Manchester City at the weekend, but he recovered in time and made the team. Ayoze Perez, who started the game at the Etihad, was dropped to the bench.
Kasper Schmeichel was in goal. Caglar Soyuncu and Jonny Evans paired up at the back, flanked by Ricardo Pereira and Ben Chilwell. Wilfred Ndidi anchored the midfield, with Youri Tielemans and Denis Praet further up. Striker Jamie Vardy was supported by Barnes and James Maddison from wide positions.
Jurgen Klopp in the Liverpool dugout was without defenders Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren, as well as midfielders Fabinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, all through injury.
Alisson Becker stood between the posts. Virgil van Dijk was joined by Joe Gomez in the heart of defence, while Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson were tasked with marauding up and down the flanks as usual. Jordan Henderson was the man to protect the back four in Fabinho’s absence, with Georginio Wijnaldum and Naby Keita joining him in midfield. Upfront, the usual front three were deployed – Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino.
The First Half
The visitors came into the contest strong, and when that happens, the opposing team usually doesn’t get much say. So it proved on this occasion too.
It seemed from the start that Chilwell would have difficulties on Leicester’s left side with the onsets of Salah and Alexander-Arnold, and after only a minute the Liverpool right-back whipped in a dangerous ball to the edge of six yards towards Firmino and Mane, but the two forwards failed to use it. Soon afterwards Salah threatened with a run in behind, but he couldn’t control the long pass well enough to prevent Schmeichel from claiming it. Another chance came to the Egyptian as Evans misplaced a pass in his own half, but he missed the target by far.
It all happened within five minutes from the kick-off, and as Leicester started pushing forward, Liverpool had a great chance in the 11th minute through Salah breaking in front of Schmeichel and going around him, but he went too far wide and failed to score from a tight angle. Minute 15 was running when Leicester lost the ball again in their own half and this time Henderson’s shot was deflected off target by Ndidi.
On the other hand, whenever Leicester’s defence was in place and Liverpool forced to organize a more patient attack, Kopp’s men mostly resorted to the usually effective diagonals by Alexander-Arnold, which this time rarely found the mark. Nonetheless, the home team were mostly contained in their own half and forced to look for the pace of Vardy on counter. But with Van Dijk and Gomez alert, it wasn’t working.
Leicester’s passing in the opposition half simply had to be perfect for them to get anywhere, and it wasn’t. Every millimeter missed was used by the visitors to nick the ball and move forward. Nonetheless, the Foxes had a decent half-chance in the 27th minute, but Robertson was there to tidy up.
One of the more notable things throughout the match was the relentless booing of Sadio Mane by the home supporters, probably for the way the Senegalese won the penalty which earned Liverpool three points against Leicester at Anfield earlier this season.
But in the 31st minute, there was nothing they could do to help their team who desperately defended their box from a proper onslaught, and eventually a great cross by Alexander-Arnold was headed in by Firmino.
0-1.
Mane, on the other hand, did fail to score from a clear-cut chance less than 60 seconds later after another mistake by Evans got him through. Schmeichel’s save was superb; but Leicester’s box was still under siege which they only occasionally managed to break through.
Keita was giving the players in blue a lot to worry about. The Guinean is truly beginning to look like the player that glided past opponents in the Bundesliga during his days with RB Leipzig, and the likes of Wijnaldum, Henderson and the front three are all proving extremely willing to aid his runs by offering options constantly.
When referee Michael Oliver blew the halftime whistle, it was hard to believe that this was a contest between the two top teams in the league. The fact that Leicester took no shots whatsoever – let alone on target – was a great indicator of what went on. Liverpool truly looked like the European and World champions. Rodgers had a lot to ponder at the break, probably aware how lucky his team were at that point to be just one goal down.
The Second Half
Not a lot changed in the opening minutes of the second period. It was still very hard for Leicester players to keep the ball under control, and even harder to get it across the halfway line. However, they did get further up in the 49th minute and this time Tielemans took a shot from around 20 yards – blocked by Gomez.
The only thing that seemed to be working properly for the Foxes for most of the game was their last defensive line. Soyuncu and Evans were both culpable a few times on the ball, but when facing a Liverpool attack, they stood firm. They won countless individual battles and made countless clearances. It was by no means an easy day at the office for the two centre-backs. In the 55th minute, Firmino had a great chance to score again as Robertson outsmarted Pereira on the left and tried to find the Brazilian on the edge of six yards, but Soyuncu did enough to thwart his effort.
In the 58th minute, Rodgers made his first move as Marc Albrighton stepped out to replace Barnes.
The first sign of trouble for Liverpool came in the 62nd minute. Leicester defended a corner and cleared the box, and Vardy was off, running down the left flank at full pace. He was eventually brought down by Gomez just outside the box, for which the young defender was booked. The free-kick was wasted by Maddison, but the moment acted as a confidence booster for the Foxes and they suddenly started playing more determinedly, looking finally capable of creating a chance.
Passes forward started finding Vardy and the former England international mostly knew how to make use of them, keeping more to the left and trying to target Gomez as opposed to Van Dijk. But whenever he had enough support, there was danger at the other end with few men left in front of Schmeichel. Soyuncu keeping his head was hugely important at this point.
In the 70th minute, Klopp replaced Keita and Salah with James Milner and Divock Origi, and then Soyuncu, probably Leicester’s hero up to that point, suddenly turned into the villain. A cross came into the box, and the Turk clearly played the ball with his arm, leaving the referee in no doubt as the whistle sounded and his arm pointed to the spot.
Having just come on, Milner stepped up and made an easy job of beating Schmeichel.
0-2.
Frustration surfaced among the home players. They quickly lost the ball from the kick-off and Maddison was forced to pick up a yellow card by taking out Firmino, right before the Brazilian wrapped the game up. The Reds moved forward in numbers and attacked down the right. Firmino combined nicely with Milner and the vice-captain released Alexander-Arnold on the flank, whose low cross found Firmino completely unmarked about 10 yards from the goal. From there, the forward made no mistake.
0-3.
After picking up two assists, it was only right that Alexander-Arnold should get on the scoresheet too. Four minutes had gone after the third goal when the young fullback was employed by Mane some 20 yards out, and his low shot was too strong and too accurate for Schmeichel to save.
0-4.
Perez replaced Praet immediately afterwards, and the first contribution to the game he made was injuring Liverpool’s captain. Unable to continue, Henderson made way for Adam Lallana.
Leicester played a lot more aggressively late on, probably trying to save at least some of their pride, but even they probably had no real hope of changing the scoreline in their favor. It was simply too late. The three minutes of stoppage time were spent in Liverpool keeping the ball in the opposition half for fun.
The Afterthought
This game can be described only as a brutish demonstration of force from Liverpool. There is plenty of talk about whether this will finally be the season when they end their 30-year wait for the Premier League title, but at the moment, none can foresee anything or anyone stopping them. Football can be a strange thing and Klopp himself insists the race is far from over, but this was a true champions’ performance.
Leicester are left to lick their wounds after getting properly knocked out at their own ground, but they can take comfort in thinking that no other team in their place would have fared any better against Liverpool when they’re this good.
The difference between the two teams in the table is now 13 points, and Manchester City will have a chance to overtake the Foxes when they face Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux on Friday. However, it shouldn’t be forgotten that the Wolves took all three points from the Etihad earlier this season.
Match Report
LEICESTER CITY: Schmeichel 7, Soyuncu 7.5, Evans 7, Chilwell 6.5, Ricardo 7, Ndidi 5, Tielemans 7, Praet 6 (72′ Perez 5), Barnes 5 (58′ Albrighton 5), Maddison 6, Vardy 6.5.
LIVERPOOL: Alisson 7, Van Dijk 8, Gomez 7.5, Alexander-Arnold 8.5, Robertson 7.5, Henderson 7.5 (82′ Lallana N/A), Wijnaldum 7, Keita 8 (70 Milner 7.5), Mane 7, Salah 7 (70′ Origi N/A), Firmino 8.5.
GOALS: Firmino 31′, 74′, Milner (P) 71′, Alexander-Arnold 78′.
YELLOW CARDS: Gomez 62′, Maddison 73′.
REFEREE: Michael Oliver.
DATE & VENUE: December 26, 2019, King Power Stadium, Leicester.
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