Klopp is not happy.
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And here’s Andy Robertson
“Once you start going slack, you get what you deserve. West Brom came with a gameplan, they were happy with 1-0 at half-time. You know when you come up against a Sam Allardyce team that they want to stay in it as long as they can and take the one chance that they get, and they’ve done that. They got what they deserved and we got what we deserved.
“The first half was good. We dominated the ball, stopped counter-attacks, counter-pressed really good, created a lot of chances, and then second half it was as if we didn’t want to do it again. We all went slack. I think every one of us made a mistake in the second half, which can’t happen. Go and win the game 1-0. Go and keep a clean sheet and get the three points. It’s something we’ve got to learn from. Credit to West Brom for the way they played in the second half.”
Here’s Sam Johnstone
“We dug deep, we ran for 94 minutes. It was tough at times, especially in the first half. It’s a great point and it feels more like a win. We believed in ourselves a bit more in the second half and thankfully we got the goal. To be honest I didn’t have that much to do in the game but it was good to make that save [from Firmino] - it was a great save.”
That’s the first time since January 2019 that Liverpool have failed to win a live Premier League match at Anfield. They also drew at home to Burnley after they had wrapped up last season’s title. Bogeyman Sam has got them again.
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That is an astounding result for West Brom, not least because it was thoroughly deserved. Liverpool scored early through Sadio Mane and had 82 per cent of the possession in the first half. But they didn’t create any more clear chances and West Brom - who were only interested in defending in the first half - started to come into the game.
Alisson made one typically brilliant save from Karlan Grant before Semi Ajayi headed a late equaliser. That sparked the inevitable onslaught, and Roberto Firmino almost won the match with a header that was superbly saved by Sam Johnstone. The upshot is that Sam Allardyce is unbeaten on his last four visits to Anfield, with four different clubs: Sunderland, Crystal Palace, Everton and now West Brom.
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Full time: Liverpool 1-1 West Brom
Never fuck with Big Sam.
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90+3 min Henderson’s flighted cross is claimed with authority by Johnstone. If West Brom hold on, it’ll be a deserved point.
90+2 min “Klopp wanted five subs and now only uses one due to injury and the next when it’s too late,” says Barry Owens. “Maddening sometimes.”
90+1 min Four minutes of added time. Divock Origi is on for Firmino. West Brom respond by bringing on Branislav Ivanovic for Conor Gallagher.
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90 min: Great save by Johnstone! Oxlade-Chamberlain curls a deep cross to Firmino, who powers a header back towards the far corner. Johnstone springs to his left to fingertip the ball round. That was a sensational stop.
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89 min Gallagher makes a terrific tackle on Oxlade-Chamberlain and West Brom break. Ajayi - the centre-half - plays a one-two and charges down the right wing. His cross is too close to Alisson but what was that.
88 min Liverpool score more late winners than any team in England, maybe Europe, so this game is far from over.
87 min “Big Sam has a very satisfied look on his mug,” says Mary Waltz. “’Bielsa my arse’.”
For all the pantomime and the pints of wine, he’s a brilliant manager.
87 min West Brom have reparked the bus.
86 min “The fate of Coutinho?” sniffs Hugh Molloy. “What, winning the league twice with Barca, scoring in a 5-1 Clasico win over Real, then the league, cup and Champions League treble with Bayern the next year?”
I still think the grass was greener at Anfield.
85 min Alexander-Arnold’s cross takes a wicked deflection and almost bounces over Johnstone, who backpedalls smartly and leaps to grab the ball.
84 min Oxlade-Chamberlain volleys into orbit. Liverpool have been asleep for most of the game but they are wide awake now.
83 min Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain replaces Curtis Jones. Surely Sam Allardyce, Liverpool’s bejowled bogeyman, isn’t going to deny them at Anfield again?
Pereira took a short corner on the right, got it back and curled a booming cross towards the far post. Ajayi towered over Fabinho and planted a header back across Alisson. It hit the inside of the post, bounced across the line and spun into the net. It was an avoidable corner, too. Jones played a poor pass to Williams, who had little option but to head it behind.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-1 West Brom (Ajayi 82)
West Brom have equalised - and it’s been coming!
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81 min Furlong, who has had a terrific game, hammers a superb ball across the face of the Liverpool area. This has been a really encouraging performance from West Brom. I thought they’d stay up as soon as Sam Allardyce was appointed; I’m even more confident now.
79 min Robertson gives away a needless corner. Pereira curls it in and Fabinho bravely heads away under considerable pressure from Ajayi.
78 min Another change for West Brom: Karlan Grant is replaced by Charlie Austin.
78 min Alexander-Arnold curls the free-kick over the bar. That was a really good effort, though Johnstone probably had it covered.
77 min Henderson is fouled 30 yards from goal by Gallagher...
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76 min Possession: Liverpool 78-22 West Brom.
Shots on target: Liverpool 1-2 West Brom.
Goals: Liverpool 1-0 West Brom.
75 min “Hi Rob,” says Peter Oh. “If Andy Robertson hasn’t yet picked up the nickname Robbo-Kop, he really ought to for the way he laid down the law on Furlong in front of the Liverpool faithful a moment ago.”
74 min Ajayi wins a corner for West Brom, who have probably been the better team in the second half. The corner is clipped straight into the ultra-safe hands of Alisson.
73 min West Brom make a change. Matheus Pereira replaces Callum Robinson.
72 min: Big save from Alisson! Hahaha, West Brom almost equalised! Sawyers boomed a long pass over the defence towards Grant, who did Williams for pace and moved into the area. Alisson, immaculately positioned, saved the shot with his legs. He is one of the best goalkeepers I’ve ever seen in one-on-ones.
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71 min Robertson crosses, West Brom clear. Robertson crosses, West Brom clear. Robertson crosses, West Brom clear. Robertson crosses, West Brom clear. Robertson crosses, West Brom clear. Robertson crosses, West Brom clear.
71 min “I predicted a wipe out pre-match,” says Mary Waltz. “As an Everton fan who is suffering from the delusional thinking that we can catch Liverpool, Big Sam has got me hoping for a miracle draw. C’mon you Baggies!”
70 min Liverpool have still had only one shot on target. What a peculiar game.
68 min Robinson breaks down the right, looks up and picks out Diangana in space on the edge of the area. He makes a mess of a volley that bobbles well wide. That was half a chance.
66 min “I think Salah should remember the fate of Coutinho,” says Jorg.
65 min The second half has been very scruffy, which is a credit to West Brom. There’s been no hint of an imminent equaliser, but they are on course to avoid the pasting that looked likely in the first quarter of the game.
63 min Andy Robertson’s cross-shot is brilliantly blocked by Furlong. Not that it matters - Robertson was offside.
61 min Jurgen Klopp loses it with the referee after a foul is given against Rhys Williams. Klopp is booked, rightly so - he’s been out of order a few times this season.
60 min Matip leaves the field after 59 minutes 21 seconds. Rhys Williams, who was generally terrific against Spurs, comes on to replace him. He’ll be playing a fair bit in the next few weeks.
60 min Rhys Williams is going to replace Matip in the 60th minute, which means no clean sheet points for Bobby. FPL? FML more like!
59 min Matip is still being treated, and if the poor bloke can hang on for another 60 seconds I’ll get clean sheet points in my Fantasy League team. Hang in there, Joel! Don’t give up on us now!
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59 min “Eadie!” shrieks Felix Wood. “Still the best dribbler I’ve ever seen (at least in my mind’s eye). FourFourTwo once (in 96?) A supplement called Twenty under Twenty. Featured Rio Ferdinand and Michael Owen, and then maybe Dozzell? And then a string of non-hits. It was brilliant. Then my sister drew moustaches in biro on the photos and I’m definitely not still annoyed.”
Jason Dozzell would have been nearly 30 by then. Kieron Dyer maybe, if you’re into the whole Ipswich thing.
58 min Oh dear. Joel Matip has done his groin and it looks like he’ll need to go off.
56 min O’Shea is booked for a perceived foul on Henderson.
56 min West Brom have been good since half-time, and Liverpool look a bit confused by it all. I’m sure they’ll snap out of it but at the moment it’s a fairly even game.
55 min “While Gini is clearly considering his options, I really don’t get the impression the same applies to Mo,” says Philippa Bowe. “I listened to his interview and saw how it was then translated into Spanish and, frankly, barely a strong wind in a very tiny teacup.”
53 min Fabinho shanks a clearance out of play, which gives West Brom the opportunity for another long throw. Furlong hurls it into the area and Fabinho heads it away. West Brom keep the ball alive until Matip heads it back to the keeper.
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51 min Furlong’s cross is taken down smartly on the edge of the area by Grant. He turns and hits a reasonable shot that is comfortably saved by Alisson. That means both sides have had one shot on target, which is faintly absurd given the possession stats.
50 min Salah plays the ball to Firmino, who conceives a very clever return pass but then overhits it. Had he got the angle right, Salah would have been through on goal.
49 min West Brom increase their total of completed passes by 10-15 with a decent move. Eventually a poor cross is easily claimed by Alisson.
48 min Jordan Henderson completed 85 passes in the first half, almost twice as many as the entire West Brom team (46).
47 min “Evening Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “Wishing all MBMers a very merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year when it comes. 2021 is going to be some year. I agree Andy Robertson is a magnificent player and a fine human being, though he’s only the second best left back to have played for Dundee United.”
Julian Dicks played for Dundee United?
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46 min Henderson almost scores in the first minute of the second half. Wijnaldum chested down a clearance and teed up Henderson, 25 yards out. He cut across the bouncing ball to hit a lovely shot that swerved just wide of the post. Johnstone didn’t move.
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46 min Peep peep! Liverpool begin the second half.
A bit of Liverpool news here. I don’t really understand why he, Mo Salah or anyone else would want to leave the best team in the world. I understand that people sometimes want a new challenge, but they’ll never have it better than this.
“‘The Boy’s a Bit Special’ was marvellous,” says Felix Wood of the erstwhile FourFourTwo feature. “As a QPR fan I was very excited when Kevin Gallen featured one month. Then I realised they’d done a slightly different version called ‘the name’s a bit special’. It was a very long time ago, and obviously I’m not sad enough to remember who else was on the list, although I do happen to remember it was Kevin Francis and Pilkington and I’m definitely not still annoyed about it.”
I’ve just had a look to see who the inaugural TBABSs were. There were eight in the first issue: Peter Ndlovu, Bryan Roy, Stefan Schwarz (aged 25), Nicky Summerbee, Robbie Elliott, Jason McAteer, Bruce Dyer and Darren Eadie. I thought Ndlovu and Eadie were going to be stars.
Half time: Liverpool 1-0 West Brom
A half chance for West Brom on the stroke of half time. Grant plays a good ball down the inside-left channel to release Phillips in the area. He decides not to shoot and instead puts in a lame low cross that is cleared by Robertson.
Peep peep! Liverpool lead, as expected, through Sadio Mane’s superb goal. West Brom barely crossed the halfway line but defended so well that Mane’s goal was the only shot on target.
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44 min Robertson beats Robinson neatly and puts in another dangerous cross that is kicked away by O’Shea.
43 min Alexander-Arnold’s cross is headed on and over the bar by Salah. Liverpool haven’t really threatened in the last 20 minutes.
41 min According to the official Premier League site, Liverpool have had - and you’ll like this - 85 per cent of the possession.
40 min “Curtis Jones (19) is 99% undroppable for the greatest team on planet Earth?” wonders Paul Quigley.
At the risk of Grinching, I wouldn’t go that far. He’s pretty impressive but if Liverpool were playing Bayern in the Champions League final tomorrow, and Thiago was fit, I don’t think Jones would start. I’d say he’s still the fifth-choice central midfielder, though Fabinho’s secondment makes him fourth choice for the rest of this season.
39 min West Brom break two on three, but Diangana’s pass towards Grant is terrible. Alisson comes out to clear.
38 min West Brom have done pretty well defensively, even if the game has been almost comically one-sided. Their plan, as Jamie Carragher points out on Sky Sports, is to keep it at 1-0 for as long as possible and hope human nature kicks in in the last 15 minutes.
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36 min “Ha!” says Matt Dony. “I did actually type ‘male’ (24 mins), then deleted it cos I worried I looked like one of the (many) spanners who were moaning BTL about it...”
35 min “I feel very passionately that Andy Robertson is the Player of the Season so far,” says Pete Tomlin. “I can’t think of a more consistent player in the Premier League plus he’s led Scotland to the Euros. It would be great to see a wing back win an award this season. Do you agree?”
Yes. I think he is pretty wonderful. The understandable focus on his frankly terrifying intensity sometimes obscures the precision of his crosses and cutbacks. He’s the perfect full-back, Jordi Alba with a healthy infusion of Julian Dicks.
34 min Robertson’s free-kick is headed away as far as Salah, who swishes a half-volley over the bar from 20 yards. It was sweetly struck but Johnstone had it covered.
33 min A rare attack from West Brom ends with a mishit long-range volley by Sawyers.
32 min Furlong has had a very good game at right back. He also scored a belter at Newcastle recently. If this was 1995, and by heaven I wish it was, he’d be a prime candidate for ‘The Boy’s a Bit Special’ in FourFourTwo.
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31 min “Hi Rob,” says Mike. “A belated Merry Christmas and happier and healthier days for all wishes for 2021. Could we see Liverpool ping their way to a record for passes in a Premier League match today? How about time spent in one half of the pitch?”
It would surprise me not one jot.
30 min Alexander-Arnold whips the free-kick well wide.
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29 min Jones is fouled by Furlong 22 yards from goal. Henderson, Alexander-Arnold and Salah are all over the ball.
28 min Firmino’s long-range shot deflects behind for a corner. Robertson’s corner is headed away and West Brom break .
26 min The darts should be good tonight.
24 min “Yup,” says Matt Dony. “Mane has a ridiculous ability to instantly make space away from the defender. That’s what makes him definitively the fifth best footballer in the world.”
The fifth best male footballer, Matthew.
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23 min Another driven cross from Alexander-Arnold is put behind by Furlong, who again did well to get in front of Mane.
21 min Henderson’s cross is headed just wide by the stooping Mane, who looks right on top of his game.
20 min Alexander-Arnold moseys infield and thrashes a left-footed shot that is blocked by O’Shea. Liverpool’s dominance is verging on the illegal.
19 min Alexander-Arnold’s driven cross takes a deflection and flies across the six-yard box, just in front of the stretching Mane. Furlong did well to get his body in front of Mane.
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18 min Robertson’s corner is surprisingly missed by Salah, 10 yards from goal.
18 min Robertson’s cross bounces off Salah and almost falls again for Mane. Furlong puts it behind for a corner.
16 min This is brutally one-sided. West Brom could become the first team in history to have a minus possession percentage.
14 min That’s twice - today and for his goal at Crystal Palace - that Mane has controlled a difficult ball and beaten the defender in one movement. Almost every other footballer on the planet would have needed two touches.
Sadio Mane gives Liverpool the lead with a high-class finish. Matip curled a flat pass into him on the edge of this area. He took it beautifully on his chest, away from Ajayi, and thrashed the ball past Johnstone on the half-volley. Lovely goal.
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GOAL! Liverpool 1-0 West Brom (Mane 12)
And it’s goodnight from West Brom.
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11 min Mane plays a nice reverse pass to the relentless Robertson, who surges into the area and hits a cross that is blocked. Andy Robertson is an incredible footballer; I was unpleasantly surprised by how low he was in the Guardian 100.
10 min Furlong’s long throw is headed well wide under pressure by Ajayi. West Brom should threaten from set pieces when they get the opportunity.
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9 min West Brom win a goal kick. Sam Johnstone whips out a copy of War and Peace, thumbs through a few pages and then boots the ball downfield. I don’t blame him, I’d do the same.
8 min In a surprising development, Liverpool are completely dominant. West Brom would take a 2-0 defeat right now, and probably say thank you.
6 min Robertson flashes another dangerous ball across the face, this time just in front of the stretching Fabinho.
6 min West Brom are almost playing with four centre-backs: Gibbs and Furlong are very narrow. So far they have done well.
4 min West Brom’s formation is essentially 4-5-1, with Callum Robinson and Diangana on the wings.
3 min Robertson curls a dangerous ball across the six-yard box. Salah retrieves it and finds Henderson, whose chipped cross is headed away by Ajayi.
2 min I’m surprised Jurgen Klopp has gone with his strongest available team, given the imminent fixture congestion. But he’s the best manager in the world and I’m not, so we shouldn’t judge him too harshly.
1 min Peep peep! West Brom kick off from left to right and win a throw-in.
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Liverpool is still in tier 2, so there are 2,000 fans at Anfield. They greet the arrival of the Liverpool team with a heartfelt chant of “Championes”.
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Team news
Liverpool (4-3-3) Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Matip, Fabinho, Robertson; Jones, Henderson, Wijnaldum; Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Substitutes: Kelleher, R Williams, Phillips, N Williams, Milner, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Shaqiri, Minamino, Origi.
West Brom (4-5-1) Johnstone; Furlong, Ajayi, O’Shea, Gibbs; Robinson, Phillips, Sawyers, Gallagher, Diangana; Grant.
Substitutes: Button, Ivanovic, Peltier, Grosicki, Harper, Krovinovic, Edwards, Pereira, Austin.
Referee Kevin Friend.
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Pre-match reading
Preamble
Hello and welcome to live coverage of Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion from Anfield. Liverpool have had a good Christmas period so far, and they haven’t played a game. Yesterday’s draw between Leicester and Manchester United was the perfect result for Liverpool, and means they will go five points clear at the top if they win today. Now, about that exciting title race we were promised...
A Liverpool win looks a formality against a West Brom side who are fighting for survival, though the presence of Sam Allardyce might induce one of two pangs among Liverpool supporters. He was the last manager to win a Premier League game at Anfield, with Crystal Palace in April 2017, and drew 1-1 with Everton on his last visit later that year. Everton had 21 per cent possession that day.
Can Liverpool’s bejowled bogeyman do it again? Probably not. But it’ll be hilarious if he does.
Kick off 4.30pm.
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