Xherdan Shaqiri rose from the bench to secure three vital points and bragging rights over rivals Manchester United after his double sealed a 3-1 win at Anfield.
Sadio Mane had expertly opened the scoring in the 24th minute after athletically finishing from Fabinho’s delicately lofted ball into the box.
The lead would only last nine minutes, however, as Alisson spilled a Romelu Lukaku cross to allow Jesse Lingard to slot home United’s equaliser.
But the home side were rewarded for their attacking and possession dominance as second-half substitute Shaqiri’s two deflected strikes, one in the 73rd minute and the second in the 80th minute, saw Liverpool return to the top of the Premier League.
Naturally there are a myriad of talking points to arise from the game, and here are two from Liverpool’s perspective.
AUTHORITY AND VALIDITY
Jurgen Klopp
Liverpool will not go away. Whether it be in testing circumstances against eternal rivals Manchester United, or in the title race with Manchester City, Jurgen Klopp’s 2018/19 side is unrelenting.
The host’s 36 attempts on goal to United’s six, is a telling statistic – although it may say more about visitors than Liverpool – and it is an indication of their perseverance.
Attacking chaos has hallmarked Klopp’s Liverpool in recent years, but this season they are more authoritative, aggressive and dominant.
Rather than battering teams with wild and repeated blows, it’s a smothering and then onto the next victim. There is no prolonged joy in isolated successes, just a cold transition onto the next task at hand in a long line of tests on their way to ending a lengthening league title drought.
It’s a game-by-game mentality, not in the sense of hoping from the best from each fixture but expecting and then executing just what’s required before then moving on.
They remain the only unbeaten side in the league having already played against all members of the top-six elite and while that record will be broken at some stage, you can be sure it will require maximum fight from any challenger to do so.
There is a genuine contest for the Premier League title, City know it and most importantly, so too do Liverpool.
ALISSON’S TIMELY REMINDER
Lingard scores from Alisson’s error
There was a timely ego check for Liverpool supporters on Sunday. Alisson has been lauded for his displays since signing from Roma in the summer and while he is undoubtedly a significant upgrade on previous Liverpool goalkeepers, there are areas of his game for refinement.
Indeed, the worrying statistic of a second error leading to a Premier League this season – only Bernd Leno and Asmir Begovic (three) have made more such mistakes – is not exactly what is required from a world class operator.
On this occasion, Liverpool weren’t punished in terms of points, yet after propping him for an impressive performance against Napoli in the Champions League, hailing him as the world’s best goalkeeper is premature.
The sample size is still too small to consider the Brazilian truly better than the likes of David De Gea or Jan Oblak.
And blunders like his spillage of Romelu Lukaku’s cross provide a reminder of that. At 26 years old – young in the life span of a goalkeeper – and in his debut Premier League campaign, there is justifiably going to be areas for improvement. Liverpool supporters should remember that.
