Match report
And with that I’m off. Andy Hunter’s match report will be with you very soon, but here’s a sneak preview of the first paragraph. Bye!
Huw Jenkins, the Swansea City chairman, slumped lower and lower in his padded seat in the Anfield directors’ box as Liverpool served up a Boxing Day rout. Jurgen Klopp’s team were a league apart from the struggling south Wales club and next season they will be unless Leon Britton, or whoever does replace Paul Clement on a full-time basis, can conjure another remarkable escape from relegation.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain isn’t happy with his own performance. It’s not often a player says something interesting and considered in a post-match interview:
I was a bit disappointed with myself. Happy I got the goal in the end. I managed to work hard through the 90 minutes, and the goal made it a bit better. We knew we had to step up second half, and I think we did that. I just want more out of myself, and there were a few moments when I thought I could have done better. We train every day and when you get into certain situations, you work hard to get into those situations, you want to do better. There was a few times today I could have done better, for sure. But 5-0 for the boys, I’m really happy with that. I just want to keep pushing myself to do better, which is why I’m not so happy. There was good quality all round, it’s a positive result and we can build from it.
But for a gorgeous opening goal, the first half was a massive disappointment. But eventually Liverpool got in the flow, and from there Swansea were in very deep trouble.
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Final score: Liverpool 5-0 Swansea
90+3 mins: Mignolet makes a save! A cross from the right, and Tammy Abraham’s header is looping in until Mignolet flings out a fist and pushes it behind! And the referee’s had enough – that’s the last touch of the game.
90+2 mins: The wall jumps, and Coutinho’s shot hits the top of it.
90+2 mins: Liverpool have a free kick, just outside the area, the perfect shooting position. Perhaps a little too close.
90+1 mins: As we enter the first of three minutes of stoppage time Solanke flings out a leg but can’t get his studs on Milner’s low cross.
88 mins: Lallana’s long-ranger floats high, and probably also wide. “I’m pleased to see Liverpool pick up maximum points, but Swansea are a likeable club and I hate to see them so deep in the relegation doldrums,” writes Peter Oh. “They’re in real trouble, aren’t they?” Oh indeed, of the deepest, darkest, foulest kind.
88 mins: And another chance! Coutinho chips the ball into the box, and Solanke’s volley flies a couple of feet wide of the far post.
87 mins: Nearly another! Can’s lovely pass finds Milner on the left of the area; he nudges it inside, off a defender to Solanke, who has no time and no space and whose shot hits Fabianski.
85 mins: Oxlade-Chamberlain has another shot, but this one is deflected wide off Olsson.
85 mins: Swansea win a corner! Mawson’s header loops wide. Goal kick.
GOAL! Liverpool 5-0 Swansea (Oxlade-Chamberlain, 83 mins)
Lallana has a chance, stopped by Mawson’s studs, but Swansea can’t clear. Oxlade-Chamberlain wins it, the ball goes to Alexander-Arnold on the right, whose cross hits a defender and bounces back to AOC, who hits a lovely shot that dips in at the far post!
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82 mins: Finally Solanke tries to get into the area, and is tackled. Swansea have the ball for several seconds, before giving it away again.
81 mins: Liverpool stroke the ball about for a while.
78 mins: Renato Sanches comes on for Swansea, replacing Fer.
77 mins: Lallana gets into the area, spins, goes back a bit, spins again, goes forward again and then shoots over.
77 mins: Swansea win a corner! Certainly one of the highlights of their half. Milner heads it clear.
75 mins: Liverpool’s final substitution brings Milner on in place of Robertson.
74 mins: Had Oxlade-Chamberlain completed his attempted return pass to Coutinho it would have completed an excellent move and Liverpool would have had another excellent chance. But he didn’t, because a defender intercepted.
71 mins: Alexander-Arnold, who has done most things well today and a few things brilliantly, chests down an awkward ball and in the same motion volleys it back to a team-mate to prevent it going out of play, earning a round of applause.
68 mins: Now Liverpool can give some of their stars a rest. Solanke comes on for Firmino, and Lallana replaces Salah.
GOAL! Liverpool 4-0 Swansea (Firmino, 66 mins)
And another one! This is a self-inflicted wound – the ball is passed to Fer in midfield, and his first-time flick back towards his defence goes nowhere near any of them and instead sets Salah running into the box, and he squares to the unmarked Firmino, who can’t miss!
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65 mins: Robertson’s left-wing cross is headed out by Mawson, but Alexander-Arnold beats Ayew to the loose ball on the edge of the area, is carried by momentum into the box, and then crashes a shot into the roof of the net from 10 yards!
GOAL! Liverpool 3-0 Swansea (Alexander-Arnold, 65 mins)
That’s a first Premier League goal for Alexander-Arnold, and it nearly took the net off!
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62 mins: McBurnie’s full debut ends, as Tammy Abraham replaces him.
60 mins: Swansea do a shot! Routledge has too much space on the right, and his cross finds Fer, who half-volleys wide.
60 mins: Wijnaldum goes on a lovely run, starting with a saucy spin just outside his own area and ending when he runs out of steam just inside Swansea’s.
59 mins: Swansea do an attack! McBurnie crosses from the left and if it hadn’t been for Alexander-Arnold’s little touch Ayew would probably have been able to head tamely at Mignolet!
57 mins: And another chance! Robertson hits a long pass to Salah, bursting into the box, but by the time he reaches the ball Fabianski is only a yard or so away, and the shot hits the keeper.
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57 mins: That’s one they’ve worked at on the training ground, Salah looking ready to attack the far post but then running back to the penalty spot, Coutinho picking him out from the free kick, and the shot going wide.
56 mins: Olsson gets booked for bringing down Firmino, released on the left, by Alexander-Arnold’s ludicrous 50-yard pass.
GOAL! Liverpool 2-0 Swansea (Firmino, 52 mins)
There’s the perfect cross! It’s from the foot of Coutinho, from a set piece, and it’s just impeccable, looping over the entire defence and dipping onto the right foot of Firmino, on the corner of the six-yard box, who volleys in!
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50 mins: Chance! Firmino passes to Salah, who runs into the box, cuts onto his left foot – Fernandez allowing this to happen a little too easily – and shoots too close to Fabianski.
49 mins: Liverpool this time give the ball away foolishly in their own half, but the best Swansea can muster in response is an outlandishly optimistic long-ranger from Ayew.
48 mins: A lovely cross from Alexander-Arnold on the right, but it’s just out of Firmino’s reach. There have been a few nearly-perfect crosses today, but as yet no perfect ones.
46 mins: Peeeeep! The home side start half two.
Philippe Coutinho's last 14 starts:
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) December 26, 2017
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⚽️ Goal pic.twitter.com/YEfKqVroCJ
The players return from their dressing rooms. There have been no half-timely changes.
Half time: Liverpool 1-0 Swansea
45+2 mins: A beautiful goal, and then not a lot else until that very late chance for Firmino. Liverpool have lacked intensity and conviction, and for the most part defending against them has been fairly straightforward. But Swansea are offering almost nothing, but for occasional disastrous own-half possession-surrender.
45+1 mins: It should have been two! Mesa gives the ball to Salah, who finds Firmino. He makes space for an easy shot, but decides to check back onto his right, giving Mawson time to get in position, and then shoots wide!
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45+1 mins: There will be two minutes of stoppage time, or something like it.
44 mins: After some treatment, Can plays on. “McBurnie’s legs are the whitest, most undead looking things in the history of football,” writs Bill. “He needs to be careful he doesn’t get sunburn from the floodlights.”
43 mins: Can goes down with some kind of leg ache.
42 mins: It wasn’t a penalty. Carroll was marking him, and perhaps pulled him a tiny bit, but Salah then pushed his arm into Carroll’s torso and twisted himself unnaturally as if he was being held, but it was a situation he had entirely contrived.
41 mins: Coutinho finds Salah in the area, but he can’t quite get the ball onto his left foot without being tackled. Moments later Firmino chips a cross from the left to the far post, and this too just misses Salah. He wants a penalty for something, but doesn’t get one and Swansea clear.
39 mins: Mawson does excellently to stick out a foot and prevent Salah’s one-two with Coutinho from ripping up the Swansea defence.
37 mins: McBurnie wriggles into the area and slaps in a shot. It’s blocked by Klavan, sent back in, and all looks a little bit threatening until Routledge takes a poor touch and the ball runs away from him. Goal kick.
35 mins: It’s like the penalty areas have invisible forcefields around them.
31 mins: For all the possession they’ve had, and all the fine attacking runs from fine players, Liverpool just can’t stop shooting from distance. Firmino is the latest, his 30-yarder bouncing wide.
28 mins: I apologise for not mentioning more things that the away team are doing. Swansea occasionally have the ball, but never do anything interesting with it.
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27 mins: Oxlade-Chamberlain buys a ticket for the long-range lottery, but his shot flies high.
26 mins: Liverpool’s decision-making in attacking situations is extremely frustrating. Salah bursts into the box from the right, and inevitably tries to curl the ball inside the far post, but Mawson has anticipated, and blocks.
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23 mins: Firmino intercepts the ball and passes to Can, who advances before shooting with insufficient power and accuracy from too great a distance.
20 mins: McBurnie’s first shot is from too tight an angle, and taken at too great a stretch, to seriously threaten, but it was on target. There was a moment, as the forward ran onto a ball bouncing towards the box while Mignolet was poorly positioned inside it having briefly also set off for the ball, when a first-time chip seemed on. Sadly, McBurnie was actually playing rather than watching on television, and didn’t spot it.
18 mins: Salah runs into the penalty area, and three defenders gang up to stop him. He might have found a pass, but he tries to wriggle through them and fails.
17 mins: Coutinho chips the ball into the box and the ball brushes Salah’s eyebrows, but is just out of reach of his forehead.
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16 mins: “Simon the penalty spot seems to my eyes to resemble a large polo rather than a ‘spot’,” writes Elliot Wilson. “Does it, or am I – and my eyes – getting old?” You may very well be getting old, but it is true that Liverpool’s spot is a small circle. In fact the phrase “penalty spot” is a misnomer, it being properly called a “penalty mark”. Any kind of reasonable spot/circle/cross/thing seems acceptable.
13 mins: Naughton takes out Firmino on Liverpool’s left wing, level with the penalty spot, and the home side have a dangerous free kick. But the cross hits the wall, loops up to Klavan beyond the far post, and his header back into the mixer misses the mixer. Goal kick.
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11 mins: A lovely pass from Salah finds Coutinho running into the area, but instead of shooting from an angle he heads for the byline and his pull-back hits a thicket of defenders.
10 mins: Fernandez does well to block Firmino’s cross, leap up, and reach the loose ball first. He then took a bit of a risk by brushing Firmino and crumpling to the turf – it was a 50/50 call, but it goes his way. Free kick.
19 - Philippe Coutinho has scored 19 Premier League goals from outside the box - one more than Robbie Fowler and second only to Steven Gerrard (33) among Liverpool players. Gifted.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2017
9 mins: Now Mignolet has to make a save, Routledge crossing from the right and Ayew climbing high and heading low, but close enough to the goalkeeper for it to be a pretty straightforward stop.
7 mins: Firmino won the ball from Ayew 30 yards from Swansea’s goal and picked out Coutinho, who shifted it forward to give himself space to whip his foot around it, and then whipped his foot around it, outside the centre of the area, 20 yards out. The shot curled beautifully into the top corner, with Fabianski nowhere.
GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 Swansea (Coutinho, 6 mins)
That is as sweet a strike of a football as you’ll ever see. I’d have that for Christmas dinner with a bit of brandy butter. Yum.
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5 mins: Swansea have the familiar two banks of four stationed on the edge of, and then about 10 yards from, their box, leaving two players to close down defenders while they wonder which of their marked team-mates they should try passing to. Another defender eventually goes long. Goal kick.
2 mins: Liverpool keep the ball for a bit, and then Klavan pings it long, looking for Salah’s burst into the box, but overhits. Goal kick.
1 min: Swansea, clad all in black, get the game under way, McBurnie getting the all-important morale-boosting early touch from the centre circle.
So Liverpool have played away from home on Boxing Day on 21 of the last 31 years. That seems a little rough.
1986 - Liverpool haven't lost a home league game on Boxing Day for 31 years, since a 0-1 loss vs Man Utd in 1986 (W7 D3 since then). Festivity.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 26, 2017
The players are in the tunnel. Exciting times, particularly for fans of the official Premier League anthem.
The managers have spoken, starting with Leon Britton on why Ollie McBurnie’s in the team:
I think Ollie’s done well. He’s played for the Under-23s, scored a lot of goals, and I just thought this was the right opportunity for him to get a first start. We need belief. We need the players to play at a very high level, giving everything, then we’ll see where we go from there.
And Jurgen Klopp on Swansea:
They’re not typical for a struggling team because they play football, they have their own style of play, not with 100% confidence because of results but they still do it. It’s really different. We will see, I don’t know what their plan is exactly, but if we do what we want to do then they have to react to our things.
I’m pretty sure those yellow things are bananas, though.
Here’s a picture from inside the Liverpool dressing room. What’s in the boxes? Maybe cashew nuts to the left, dried mango in the middle and unidentifiable brown stuff to the right?
Swansea also make four changes, with Oliver McBurnie making his first Premier League start, after seven substitute appearances this season.
Matip strolls straight into the starting XI after a month out with injury, one of four changes to the Liverpool of which only one – Jordan Henderson is injured – was enforced. “It’s very important for us that we can line up like this,” says Jurgen Klopp. “We could have lined up completely differently – they are all fit.”
The teams
Tonight’s protagonists:
Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Klavan, Robertson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Can, Wijnaldum, Salah, Firmino, Coutinho. Subs: Karius, Lovren, Milner, Gomez, Mane, Lallana, Solanke.
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Fer, Roque, Carroll, Routledge, Ayew, McBurnie. Subs: Van der Hoorn, Abraham, Dyer, Nordfeldt, Clucas, Rangel, Sanches.
Referee: Kevin Friend.
Here's #LFC's Boxing Day line-up to face @SwansOfficial... pic.twitter.com/CzB03yR58B
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 26, 2017
Here's how we line up against @LFC this evening...#LIVSWA pic.twitter.com/vszQZiBBTI
— Swansea City AFC (@SwansOfficial) December 26, 2017
Hello world!
So Swansea, with one top-flight away win this season, visit Liverpool, with no top-flight home defeats. Liverpool, unbeaten in 10 league games, against Swansea, with eight defeats in their last 11.
For all that, anything could happen. Well, Liverpool will probably win, but we can’t be totally certain. After all, back in the early days of this year Swansea pitched up at Anfield and won 3-2, taking the lead three times. Indeed, the Swans have won two of their last three games against Liverpool, after losing six of the previous eight in all competitions.
“We know it’s going to a very tough game with the players they’ve got,” said Leon Britton, who still occupies Swansea’s caretakerly hotseat. “Look at the amount of goals Liverpool score, it’s right up there with one of the best frontlines in the Premier League. I’ve experienced it as a player how tough it is to go there – the way they play their football and press, it’s high intensity football. But we went there in January and won in difficult circumstances when the team was low in confidence. So we go there knowing we can get a result.” They travel, in short, hoping that lightning does in fact strike twice, and ideally that it hits Mo Salah when it does so.
Meanwhile: “I don’t know how many it is now; I don’t think about or count this,” Jurgen Klopp said of his side’s unbeaten record. “But I really think performance-wise we are in a really good way; that’s what we need to keep. It’s not too easy to play this kind of football for the boys, it’s intense.”
An intense experience, then is in store for all of us. Which is, of course, just as we like it. Let’s share it together, shall we?
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