Sheffield United and Liverpool opened the seventh round of the 2019/20 Premier League season by taking each other on at Bramall Lane on Stadurday.
The home side started the season with a string of decent results for a newly promoted team. They managed to book eight points from six games by beating Crystal Palace at home and Everton away, and squeeze a point away to Bournemouth and, most surprisingly, away to Chelsea. On the other hand they suffered defeats at home at the hands of Leicester City and Southampton.
Meanwhile, Liverpool began their fresh attempt at winning the elusive Premier League title by winning all six of their previous matches, with Norwich City, Southampton, Arsenal, Burnley, Newcastle and Chelsea all falling at the hands of the Champions League holders, which means they topped the table going into this clash with 18 points, five more than the second-place Manchester City.
Team News
Sheffield manager Chris Wilder had to make do without forwards Billy Sharp and David McGoldrick, with the former completing a three-game ban and the latter suffering from a groin problem.
Dean Henderson was in goal. Chris Basham, John Egan and Jack O’Connell formed a three-man defence. Oliver Norwood, John Lundstram and John Fleck operated in the middle of the park, with George Baldock (right) and Enda Stevens (left) playing wide as wing-backs. Oliver McBurnie and Callum Robinson paired up in attack.
Jurgen Klopp in the away dugout couldn’t count on Xherdan Shaqiri, with the former Stoke City winger out with a calf injury. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker was nearing a return from the injury he suffered in the opening round, but he still wasn’t ready. Divock Origi and Sadio Mane were both doubts, but both made it in time.
Adrian stood between the posts. Joel Matip and Virgil van Dijk were in he heart of defence, with Trent Alexander-Arnold on the right and Andy Robertson on the left. Fabinho, Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum played in midfield, and the usual trio of Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were upfront.
The First Half
Liverpool expectedly dominated possession early on, but the first chance of the game came to the Blades after Matip’s mistake in the fourth minute allowed McBurnie to run forward and shoot from just inside the box; but the ball ended up in Adrian’s safe arms.
Sheffield nicely absorbed the visitors’ pressure in the early stages and looked more than capable of threatening on counterattacks. McBurnie and Robinson proved well-versed in avoiding offside traps and latching onto passes in behind the Liverpool defence, but they couldn’t make any of it count.
After a while, however, Liverpool stepped up their counter-pressing game and successfully contained the Blades in their own half, until the 21st minute when the home team suddenly broke again and Robinson took a shot from the edge of the box – wide of the target.
The moment acted as a morale boost for Wilder’s men who were now playing with a bit more confidence. In the 28th minute, a mistake by Liverpool gave them a chance to besiege Adrian’s box for a while and they showed great determination to hurt the opposition, but Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson and Fabinho all had moments of great defending.
After half an hour, both Stevens and Fleck were lucky to avoid getting into referee Anthony Taylor’s book, as Stevens mowed down Salah and Fleck followed it up by kicking the Egyptian on the ground. The crowd in the stands was loud in support of the home team, and the noise seemed to be causing the players to play recklessly from time to time.
Four minutes later, however, Liverpool had a great chance. A perfectly weighed 60-yard pass from Van Dijk sent Mane running in behind and into the box, but the forward scuffed his shot. A well-worked team move set Robertson up for a shot from 20 yards straight afterwards, but it went wide.
The contest continued much in the same way as before, with Liverpool having most of the ball and attacking without much result and Sheffield occasionally trying to hit back, also without success. The referee still showed the home players some lenience by keeping the cards in his pockets, even when Egan deliberately brought Firmino down from behind near the middle of the pitch. It was all working very well for the Blades, who seemed quite capable of squaring up to the European champions.
But in the 43rd minute, Liverpool’s front three squandered a clear-cut chance. Salah took advantage of a defensive mistake and charged forward. He eventually employed Firmino who extended the pass to Mane on his left, and Mane hit the post from five yards. The ball bounced back to Firmino, but the Brazilian was then dispossessed by the lunging Basham.
The Second Half
The opening sixty seconds of the second half announced much of the same. Liverpool attacked from the start and Sheffield were forced to defend in numbers, before Robinson and McBurnie combined nicely to launch a dangerous counterattack which was eventually foiled by Van Dijk.
When Liverpool attacked, they were mostly forced to go wide and send crosses into the box, which was easy enough for the home defenders to deal with. They couldn’t establish their usual slick style of play; it simply wasn’t getting them past the closed ranks of the defence.
At the other end, Sheffield’s attacks seemed to be confusing Klopp’s usual way of defending. They were extremely mobile and creative as they switched positions and ran down channels. Liverpool forwards and midfielders seemed much less involved than usual, apart perhaps from Fabinho, and it often took much skill and alertness from the two centre-backs to keep their team from conceding. Fortunately for them, Van Dijk and Matip seemed fully capable of dealing with anything that came their way.
There was a moment that may raise some controversy in the aftermath of the game in the 54th minute. Liverpool were attacking down the left and Robertson neatly threaded a pass to Mane inside the box. Landstrum then slid in, missing the ball and catching Mane on the foot, but the referee wouldn’t give a penalty, nor was there any intervention from VAR.
Five minutes later, the visitors were awarded a free-kick around 30 yards away from the goal, and Alexander-Arnold and Salah tried to repeat the trick which served them well at Stamford Bridge, but this time the fullback failed to hit the target. At that moment, Wilder replaced Robinson with Lys Mousset.
Liverpool’s attacks were were now getting lamer by the minute, and Klopp felt he had to react as well. Divock Origi came on for Henderson, and he almost made immediate impact as he won the ball and set Salah up, but the Egyptian was crowded out. Sheffield threatened at the other end as Norwood let one fly from long range, forcing Adrian into a difficult save.
As for Liverpool’s formation, Origi was now playing on the left, Mane moved to the right, and Firmino dropped slightly to act as a number 10 behind Salah. But their passing, usually pretty much immaculate, was woeful. In the 67th minute, one mistake in that department allowed the home side to hit them quickly, and first Robertson stopped Fleck’s shot with a last-ditch tackle, and then Van Dijk did the same with McBurnie’s effort on the rebound.
But 20 minutes from time, luck failed the Blades. As they cleared a cross from Origi on the left, the ball fell perfectly for Wijnaldum to hit on the volley and the Dutchman hit it hard, straight at Dean Henderson in goal. The 22-year-old Manchester United loanee failed to hold it, and it wriggled through his arms and legs and rolled over the line.
0-1.
Naturally, the goal completely changed the complexion of the game. Liverpool now had time on their hands. They were taking things slowly, feeling a lot less pressure on their shoulders. The Blades were now slightly downfallen, which was quite understandable under the circumstances.
Seven minutes later, Another mistake, by Basham this time, enabled Salah to run at Henderson completely free. And just as it seemed inevitable to concede again, Henderson surprised the viewers once more – this time with a brilliant save.
There was nothing for Wilder’s men to do but play on as well as they can, and they pushed on. They were forced to take risks by attacking in numbers, and seemed a question of when, rather than if, it would lead to another clear-cut chance for the visitors. But there was still method to Sheffield’s approach as various player kept popping up in unexpected positions, confusing Liverpool players. They also pressed higher than before, and in the 83rd minute they forced Adrian to take too much time to take a goal-kick, resulting in a yellow card for the Liverpool goalkeeper.
Two minutes later, the home side had a fantastic chance to pull level. Stevens sent a powerful low drive across the box from the left and Leon Clarke, who had replaced Norwood earlier, got to it first but failed to keep his effort low enough. Klopp then withdrew Firmino and sent on James Milner.
Since he came on, Origi was doing very well on the left for Liverpool. He showed great dribbling skills on several occasions, and though he didn’t score, he threatened most seriously in the 88th minute as he cut inside and popped a shot just wide of the near post.
Sheffield had a few more attempts towards the end, but with time working fast against them they became less organized and were taking more of a gung-ho approach. The ball was being lobbed forwards at the first opportunity, but Liverpool’s defence remained focused and did their job. In the last of the four minutes of stoppage time, Mane made way for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the former Arsenal man had no time to make any kind of impact.
The Afterthought
The result was extremely harsh on the home players. They fought valiantly, they had a good plan and stuck to it throughout, quite apart from the task of keeping the league leaders at bay never being easy. Dean Henderson made a huge mistake in the middle of a very good performance which, unfortunately for him, turned out to be the deciding moment of the game, but he hopefully won’t be too hard on himself. Sheffield United won’t be bothered too much, though. Losing to Liverpool at this moment is far from disaster, and the excellent account they gave of themselves will only act as motivation going forward. They go to Watford next.
Liverpool, meanwhile, won’t be too bothered with any of it. All they will care about is the three points, and they’ll be delighted that they’ve managed to secure them regardless of the manner in which it was done. They were far from their best in this game, and while some of it can be put down to the excellent tactics and fierce battle spirit of the opposition, it’s not like they couldn’t do much better for themselves. But again, they won’t care just now. They’ve managed to keep their 100% record going, stretching the lead to eight points and putting pressure on title defenders Manchester City to follow suit. It’s Leicester City who they play next, at Anfield, on Saturday next.
Match Report
SHEFFIELD UNITED: Henderson 7, Basham 7.5, Egan 7, O’Connell 7, Norwood 7.5 (77′ Clarke 7), Lundstram 7.5, Fleck 7.5, Baldock 6.5, Stevens 7, McBurnie 7.5, Robinson 7.5 (60′ Mousset 6.5).
LIVEPROOL: Adrian 6.5, Van Dijk 8.5, Matip 8, Alexander-Arnold 6.5, Robertson 7, Fabinho 7, Henderson 6 (64′ Origi 7.5), Wijnaldum 7, Mane 7 (90′ Oxlade-Chamberlain N/A), Salah 7.5, Firmino 7 (87′ Milner N/A).
GOAL: Wijnaldum 70′.
YELLOW CARDS: O’Connell 63′, Adrian 83′.
REFEREE: Anthony Taylor.
DATE & VENUE: September 28, 2019, Bramall Lane, Sheffield.
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