Liverpool did their homework in the title race despite trailing 1-0 at half-time. In their 4-1 win over Luton, the Reds improved in the second half and turned the game around within two minutes
Clark, McConnell, Nyoni, Danns and Gordon – the five youngsters were Jürgen Klopp’s options off the bench in midfield and attack on Wednesday night. The quintet are emblematic of the Reds’ personnel problems, which were significantly exacerbated by the 4-1 defeat at Brentford: Jones (bone/ligament problem) and Diogo Jota (knee injury) had also joined the already lengthy injury list.
Darwin, who had also been substituted on Saturday with an injury and for whom Klopp had actually given the all-clear, and Salah were also missing. Rest for the League Cup final? “No. I said in the press conference that everyone who is fit tonight will be involved,” said Klopp before kick-off.
Luis Diaz initially unlucky
Despite the tight personnel situation, Liverpool started with a lot of pressure and enthusiasm. Luis Diaz twice let the early lead slip (3rd, 4th). However, the Hatters, who started unchanged after the 2-1 defeat to Man United, shocked the Reds in the middle of the opening powerplay: Ogbene was in the right place to head a rebound into the empty net (12′).
The hosts naturally remained dominant after going behind, but they hardly created any chances – despite Luton occasionally creating chances by losing the ball in build-up play. Only Luis Diaz, however, missed the equalizer for the third time (31′), so that they went into the dressing room with the score at 0:1
Kaminski prevents higher defeat
The front-runners came out of the break with more energy and penetration, so that the 1:1 was in the air. However, Luis Diaz once again failed to score (51′). The equalizer came five minutes later: After Kaminski had deflected Gakpo’s low shot goalwards, van Dijk headed the subsequent corner into the net (56′). The home side had no intention of celebrating, but instead raced back to the halfway line. 124 seconds later, however, it was a different story after Gakpo made it 2:1 (58′) – Luton were asleep after making their own substitution before conceding the goal
The double strike did not mean the end of the run: Kaminski then prevented both Gakpo’s (59′) and van Dijk’s (60′) brace. However, the goalkeeper had to admit defeat a good 20 minutes before the end. Luis Diaz, who had previously been unfortunate in front of goal, scored from close range (71′). A short time later, Kaminski won another one-on-one duel with the Colombian (75′). The final goal was scored by jubilarian Elliott (100th competitive game for Liverpool) with a superb strike into the corner of the net (90′).
Successful dress rehearsal for League Cup final
The win not only keeps Liverpool top of the table until the end of the matchday – now four points ahead of Man City and five ahead of Arsenal – but also marked a successful dress rehearsal ahead of Sunday’s League Cup final against Chelsea (4pm). Luton will face the next top team next week when ManCity visit Kenilworth Road in the last 16 of the FA Cup (9pm).
