Here is Paul Wilson’s match report from Anfield.
Jürgen Klopp' verdict
When BT’s Des Kelly suggests that Liverpool passed Sheffield United to dath, Klopp replies: “That was the plan actually. I didn’t see a game against Sheffield United where the opponents controlled the game like we did tonight. That was our plan, to make their life as complicated as possible. The lads were exceptional... That was the important thing: keep this game not spectacular. Sheffield United are not used to that. They are used to winning the balls earlier.”
Chris Wilder's verdict
Sheffield United’s manager is miffed at a “really below-par performance” and says Liverpool did all the unglamorous bits of the game better than his team: “It was very unlike us. We didn’t lay a glove on them. We didn’t do anything that has got us into this position ... We made it difficult for them at our place but not here ... They won every first ball, every second ball, ran forward and ran back. They did it better than us... They played in second or third gear but still had the humility and desire to do that as world champions, European champions and obviously well on the way to being Premier League champions.... I wish Jürgen and Liverpool all the best. I love everything about them, the physical and tactical aspects. ”
Updated
Player reaction
Jordan Henderson: “The performance level has been really high for a long period of time but we just have to continue that. Keep doing what were doing. Keep working hard an concentrate on the next challenge, which is the next game.”
Van Dijk: “We’re doing alright. We just focus on the next game ahead of us. Sheffield are a very good side. We prepared for this very well and you could see that on the pitch. We were calm and composed.”
Henderson: “We can still improve. In the last few minutes they chad a good chance and we can’t afford that.”
And yes, now they are being asked about the possibility of going the whole season unbeaten? “I’m not really bothered about that,” sayd Henderson. “I’m just bothered about the next game. Not looking too far ahead. Let’s see where it takes us.”
Full-time: Liverpool 2-0 Sheffield United
Liverpool stroll 13 points clear at the top of the table, with a game in hand. They totally bossed this game against fine opponents, so much so that it felt like a dead rubber from the moment Salah gave them the lead in the fourth minute. Mane later made it 2-0 and United did well to keep the score down, though not well enough to even hint at stalling Liverpool’s title charge. It’s not looking like anyone can stop them.
90+2 min: Liverpool substitution: Elliot on, Salah off. Now let’s see him get a touch...
90+1 min: It’s stoppage time and his team are royally comfortable ... but there’s Divock Origi, making a decisive tackle in his own box. That’s one of the reasons Liverpool fans love him.
90 min: Here’s a stat that encapsulates Liverpool’s dominance: no team in the Premier League era, according to BT, has completed as many passes in a match as they have today.
Updated
89 min: Liverpool substitution: Lallana off, Robertson off.
88 min: Nearly! O’Connell blasted a cross into the six-yard box. McBurnie lunged at it and turns it towards goal from three yards ... but he hit it into the ground and it bounced u into the arms of Alisson!
88 min: United showing their gumption by finishing on the attack. Can they plunder a consolation goal?
86 min: Why has Klopp not made all his subs yet? Give Salah a rest and give us another look at Harvey Elliot.
Updated
85 min: A wild pass by Alexander-Arnold gives United a throw-in near the Liverpool corner flag on the left. Three seconds later, however, Liverpool are streaking forward on another counter-attack. but Egan makes a crucial tackle to stop them, this time.
83 min: The visitors win a corner! Lundstram’s delivery is good, forcing Van Dijk to head it out for another one on the far side. As the next one comes in, O’Connell is punished for a gentle shove in the back of Van Dijk.
81 min: After Egan heads away a cross by Alexander-Arnold, Robertson cracks a vicious shot towards goal from over 20 yards. Blocked.
80 min: Gomes scorches down the right wing - why not? - and wins a corner.
77 min: Sheffield United substitution: Besic on; Norwood off.
77 min: Liverpool substitution: Mané off for a well-earned rest and to a huge ovation; Origi on.
77 min: This match feels increasingly like a dead rubber ...
74 min: Wonderful, cutting one-two between Robertson and Mané. Mané tries to top it off with a goal from an acute angle, but Henderson foils him. He should have squared it to Firmino, who was free in front of goal.
Updated
72 min: I forgot to mention in the aftermath of the last goal that United made a couple of subs. They’ve replaced their strike force, for all the good that’ll do them. McBurnie and Sharp are on for McGoldrick and Mousset. “Yes, if Liverpool set all sorts of records, then we can stop football,” trumpets Matt Dony. “Alternatively, should it all go pear-shaped from here (which I’m still expecting!), then football will be over for me, personally. Not sure I could face next season. I used to see United fans being super-confident once they had a lead in the league. How did they do it? How did they silence the gnawing doubt? How were they not gibbering, fearful wrecks?” Liverpool fans were once like that, too, and then, well, things changed ...
70 min: It’s not that Sheffield United have played badly. It’s that they have been rendered so utterly helpless that this has never looked like a real contest. No one else has done this to the Blades this season. Liverpool are exceptional.
67 min: Alexander-Arnold flashes the ball across the face of goal. Firmino fails to make a clean connection, and it’s stabbed out for a corner.
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Sheffield United (Mané 64)
An excellent goal on the counter! it started with Alison, who rolled the ball out to Robertson, who zipped it on to Mané. The Senegalese played it to Salah in the D, then sprinted behind to accept the return pass. Dean Henderson saved his first effort but Mané leapt back up to ram the ball into the empty net from close range.
Updated
61 min: Penalty? Nope. Baldock’s challenge on Mane was good after a one-two between the Senegalese and Firmino. Liverpool have to settle for a corner. They take it short and resume passing it around. It comes to Salah about five yards outside the box on the right hand side. He chips in a little curler, looking for Van Dijk’s head. The Dutchman can’t reach it ... and the ball carries on and hits the inside of the post, before rolling across the line and into the hands of a relieed Dean Henderson!
60 min: The visitors make it into Liverpool’s half and actually work an opportunity to threaten Liverpool’s box. And then Fleck fires his cross into Stevens’ face, decking his teammate.
58 min: Henderson twirls away from two players in midfield and switches play to the other side. When it comes to Firmino on the left, the Brazilian cuts on to his right foot and lets fly with a curler from the corner of the box. It misses the far corner by inches.
55 min: Sheffield United continue to fend off Liverpool. But that’s all they’re doing. They can’t get out of their own half at the moment, which is very unlike them. Liverpool are lording it.
Updated
52 min:Alexander-Arnold chops on to his left foot and has a bang from 20 yards. Lundstram blocks.
49 min: O’Connell gets in front of Salah to cut out an incoming pass by Alexander-Arnold. Sheffiled United continue to defend well but have shown no sign yet in this second half that they can knock Liverpool out of their comfortable stride.
47 min: A handball by Basham gives Liverpool a freekick in a useful crossing position wide on the left. Robertson bends it right into the six-yard box. But Mane and Van Dijk can’t apply a killer touch. In Mane’s case that was mainly because Egan had his arms all over him. but the ref saw nothing awry and nor, presumably, did VAR.
Updated
46 min: Play resumes with a Liverpool kickoff as per the rules.
“If Liverpool get record points, win the FA Cup and Champions League and do an invincible season, does that mean they’ve completed the game and everyone stops playing?” Yes. And then we’ll all have to start watching baseball instead. Oh god, can’t Wolves or someone at least win the FA Cup?
“I am a Klopp sceptic,” announces Paul Griffin. “I think it’s all luck and this is the year it falls apart. In fact, I’m pretty sure he’s not even German. I met a man very like him in Padstow once. He was just a foot shorter, and darker, but otherwise identical, with no trace of a German accent, and didn’t even mention football. I’ll share my theory about the moon landings later if you like. It was all done with mirrors. And geese.”
Half-time: Liverpool 1-0 Sheffield United
Liverpool look to be on course for another win thanks to Salah’s early goal. Sheffield United have been decent but have seldom looked like they can pierce the home side’s almost regal poise. They need to find something special in the second half, otherwise Liverpool are just going to cruise on to victory.
44 min: Two fine tackles by Norwood and a defender, first on Mane then on Firmino, stop Liverpool from getting off a shot from the edge of the area. Then when a cross comes in, Basham leaps at it like a stage diver jumping into a crowd of thrash metallers, and heads it clear.
42 min: McGoldrick is everywhere: winning fouls on half-way, making tackles near the dugout, playing cute passes around the centre circle. Any game now he’s scoring to add a goal to his otherwise wonderful repertoire.
40 min: Gomez penalised for a foul on McGoldrick near half-way. “I see that Wayne Rooney’s debut as player coach has started with a assist on the opening goal of the match!” gasps Mary Waltz, who must be too polite to add “against Barnsley”.
37 min: The pace has dropped. Liverpool are in control.
35 min: The Blades are neither disheartened nor rash. They continue to play their usual game, confident that they will work more openings. And they might. But so will Liverpool.
32 min: Henderson zips a low pass to Salah, who wraps his foot around the ball and tries to sends it into the net ... but Mané can’t get out of the way fast enough and winds up blocking his mate’s shot. Or was that subconscious revenge for all the times Salah has declined to pass to him and instead shot from a ridiculous angle?
30 min: Henderson’s half-volley from 20 yards clips of the heel of Egan and goes out for a corner.
29 min: A ball from the deep, a flick on by Mane and suddenly Liverpool are in again! But Henderson makes another fine save to deny Salah.
Updated
27 min: A lull. “I’m fine with Liverpool winning the league - in fact, given the alternatives, I’d actually prefer it, sniffs Clive Jerram. “I just need them to lose one game on their way to doing it. As an Arsenal fan it’s all I’ve got left. But it’s not going to happen today, is it?” Let’s not write off Sheffield United just yet. But we can discount Arsenal’s chances of being the ones to inflict that defeat, right?
25 min: Liverpool set up camp outside the visitors’ box. They are probe patiently. United defend diligently, and Egan eventually steps in to nick the ball off Mané.
23 min: Nice move by Sheffield United. But Mousset’s low cross from the right is too close to the keeper. McGoldrick is aghast.
21 min: Henderson charges forward as Liverpool counter-attack, with four teammates racing alongside side him, all scenting visitor blood. Henderson chooses Mané ... whose control is uncharacteristically shoddy, and a momentary loss of momentum is enough for United to scramble back and cover.
19 min: Mané scuttles down the left and feeds Wijnaldum, who lashes over the bar for 16 yards.
17 min: Sheffield United never panic and are still vry much in this. but there’s a purr about Liverpool that suggests they could rack up a nice score today. Which, in a way, is a compliment to United. “I still remember learning the word ‘aghast’ back in 1975 when Tony Currie put Alan Woodward through on goal with a remarkable 50 yard pass and Gerald Sinstadt said ‘Liverpool aghast, caught by Woodward’ when Woody scored,” reminisces Phil Grey. “Sheffield United won 1-0. All these years later I’m still learning the occasional new word on the Guardian’s MBMs. Keep up the good work.” Yikes, I didn’t think you could hear all our swearing.
15 min: Baldock plays a raking pass through to Lundstram, who looks way offside. He slots the ball into the net just in case VAR spots a defender’s toe nail keeping him onside, but he’s out of luck.
13 min: Superb play by Mané, who uses power and guile to wriggle past Basham and another defender and scamper towards the area. but the visitors defend well and usher him back out.
11 min: Jordan Henderson pings a low pass in to Salah, who catches it with a beautiful first time shot from 12 yards. And Dean Henderson reacts to make a fabulous one-handed save!
10 min: Stevens dispossesses Salah in midfield but Wijnaldum soon wins it back for Liverpool, who now take a moment to steady themselves anew with some passing around the back.
8 min: McGoldrick unloads a fierce shot from 20 yards, forcing Alisson to palm it over the bar.
7 min: Egan booms a diagonal pass from deep to his fellow Irishman Stevens, who had raided forward from left-back. But the defender’s control lets him down and the ball trickles out of play.
6 min: United have to ride out a storm here. Liverpool are looking for another goal already ...
Updated
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Sheffiled United (Salah 4)
Van Dijk sends a customary diagonal pass over the top for Robertson. Baldock slips but might not have caught the left-back anyway. Robertson fires a low delivery across the six-yard box and Salah beats the defender to it and turns it first-time into the net. Simple yet deadly.
Updated
3 min: Alexander-Arnold rolls the ball infield from the right wing to Salah, who tickles it through to Milner in the box. Milner tries to bang a low cross in the six-yard box but Basham reads is well positioned to clear.
3 min: Liverpool stroke the ball around calmly, but United are well organised and prevent them from making any ground. “Yes, it will probably take a return of the bubonic plague to stop Liverpool winning their first league title in a generation now,” predicts Justin Kavanagh. “But the question that my inner headline writer is asking is Can the Blades Clip Klopp in Front of the Kop?” Sharp!
1 min: Liverpool v Sheffield United is go!
Team update
Keita injured his groin in the warm up and has been replaced by James Milner.
The players enter the arena. Liverpool are wearing all red, naturally, while the visitors in all white.
The last team to beat Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League were Crystal Palace ... 33 months ago.
In case you don’t want to bother with the lovely preamble and sparkling correspondence from fellow readers, here are the teams again:
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Milner*, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mané
Subs: Adrian, Milner, Lallana, Jones, Origi, Philipps, Elliott
Sheffield United: Henderson; Basham, Egan, O’Connell; Baldock, Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram, Stevens; Mousset, McGoldrick
Subs: Jagielka, McBurnie, Sharp, Verrips, Besic, Osborn, Robinson
Referee: P Tierney
- because Keita got injured in warm up.
Updated
BT are showing a nice interview at the moment with Sheffield United’s Lundstram and O’Connell, who are best friends and such big Liverpool supporters that they travelled to Madrid together last season to cheer on the team in the Champions League final.
“What truly delights me about the Blades’ remarkable season is that it makes computers look like fools,” hurrahs Hubert O’Hearn. “Remember that pre-season BBC special where some quaking can of data – no, not Danny Murphy, the one behind him – ran a Monte Carlo program of 10,000 simulated seasons and hacked out a fur ball saying Sheffield would finish dead last, threatening Derby County’s unfortunate modern standard of ineptitude? Well so much for that. Vive les carbon units!”
Chris Wilder explains, with a chuckle, why he had to bring John Lundstram back into the side today: “He’d have absolutely killed me if I’d left him out of this, being a Liverpool punter and a scouser.”
And just to show, for Andrew Sparrow’s benefit, that anyone can make a mistake ... “Did I hear you referring to Sheffield United’s goalkeeper as Wayne Henderson?” blurts L Keet. “Getting Dean Henderson mixed up with a goalkeeper who last played for Grimsby and retired in 2009 is an impressive one. You must be a keen lower league follower.” Or drunk (I’m a keen lower league follower).
“Two years ago today we were playing Bury at Gigg Lane,” booms Andrew Sparrow. “Chris Basham and Jack O’Connell both played in that game as well. Whatever tonight’s result, the mighty Blades have come a long, long way in two years.” I’ve got news for you, Andrew: we’re in 2020 now. So that was three years ago. But your point is righteous one.
Teams:
Klopp and Wilder have fielded their strongest available lineups. Keita is back for Liverpool, while Sheffield United are buoyed by the returns of Lundstram and McGoldrick. We have the Premier League’s two meanest defences in action here, but both rearguards (especially the full-backs/wingbacks) contribute plenty to their teams’ attacks - and both have strikers (Firmino/McGoldrick) who are not prolific but are definitely brilliant. Does that mean there’ll be goals? Or not? This promises to be fassinating and/or fun.
Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-ARnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Robertson; Keïta, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Mané, Firmino, Salah
Subs: Adrian, Milner, Lallana, Origi, Philipps, Elliott
Sheffield United: Henderson; Basham, Egan, O’Connell; Baldock, Fleck, Norwood, Lundstram, Stevens; Mousset, McGoldrick
Subs: Jagielka, McBurnie, Sharp, Verrips, Besic, Osborn, Robinson
Referee: P Tierney
Updated
Preamble
Hello. Jürgen Klopp and Chris Wilder were nigh-on flawless in 2019 and now aim to pull off the luminous feat of making 2020 even better. For Liverpool that means ending their long, long wait for a Premier League title. For Sheffield United that means ... finishing in the top half in their first season after promotion? Qualifying for Europe? Reaching the Champions League? All those achievements are varying degrees of probable. As we said: luminous!
If Liverpool win today, they will go 13 points clear of Leicester at the top of the table and with a game in hand. There are no certainties in sport but, actually, the title would be pretty much in the bag and only a kinghell attack of the yips could thwart them then. So Liverpool’s real motivation now is to wrap up the domestic title as early as possible so that they can commit fully to retaining their European crown. The double is on!
Mind you, if Liverpool are greedy - and they’re looking mighty hungry for trophies these days -, they might eschew any domestic easing-off and aim for a season of invincibility on the home front while winning the Champions League again. Ridiculous? Yes. But that would just make it more glorious.
The thing that makes it possible - not probable - is that Liverpool have developed a remarkable efficiency, often managing to rationalise their output so that they do just enough to win. The match at Bramall Lane in September was a case in point: the Blades matched them for most of the game before Liverpool prevailed 1-0 thanks to a rare and shocking moment of inefficiency from the home team’s goalkeeper, Dean Henderson. Sheffield United can take encouragement from how well they played in most of that game, and how fluent and formidable they have been in most matches this season, but they will also know that today they will need to be faultless to win. They can do it. Which does not mean that they will. But they might. These two teams have redefined the laws of probability.
All of which is to say: it’s up for grabs now...
Updated
