Ben Fisher's match report
That was more the Premier League we used to know, eh? It was certainly the Liverpool we’d become acquainted with. Cutting the unbeaten league leaders to ribbons one week, deservedly beaten by the basement side the next. Swansea were well worth that, they defended wonderfully – they looked so alert, well drilled and determined, and only when Firmino somehow failed to score at the very end were they prised apart in the second half.
For Liverpool, a question: do they have what it takes to tease their way past opponents who sit back and soak up now that Coutinho has gone? I wonder. This was as bad as I’ve seen them in ages. Sure, Salah had a chance, Mane too, and Firmino of course, but that was it for the entire 95 minutes. They looked slow and ponderous for the majority, doing next to nothing with their possession.
Much to ponder. Liverpool stay fourth but give Tottenham and Arsenal fresh hope. Swansea stay bottom but are now just three points off 17th!
Thanks for your emails, tweets and general company – see you again soon!
Full-time – Swansea 1-0 Liverpool
What a result for Swansea! What a disappointment for Liverpool! Who saw that coming?
Updated
90+5 min: Oh my word! Firmino hits the post! How did he miss? Van Dijk finds him right in front of goal with a perfect cross and an equaliser looks certain ... but he heads against the inside of the frame with an almighty thud and then the ball is put behind! Karius comes up, but Swansea somehow bundle it away again and that’s ...
90+4 min: Fabianski towers high to claim a Firmino cross and gets the biggest roar of the night.
90+3 min: Was that the chance? If it was, Salah has spurned it. Matip slips him in nicely just beyond the corner of the six-yard box, and if he plays it across someone could have a tap-in ... but he loses his head and bashes wide of the near post. It’s been that sort of night for him and his team.
Updated
90+1 min: They keep it going for the first one, after Firmino adjusts himself to sky a dropping ball high, high over the bar from 10 yards.
90 min: Swansea’s half is where literally everything is taking place now, of course, but they just look so comfortable. It’s been a superb rearguard action and the three centre backs have been brilliant. Can they keep it going for FOUR added minutes?
Updated
88 min: Firmino’s shot pings off a defender for the latest corner – again totally wasted. Liverpool have just hardly looked like doing anything. It’s been so unusually static.
85 min: Fernandez defends a Robertson cross superbly, as has been the way all night. Liverpool have another corner. It’s awful from Salah, drilled low into the first man. He gets another bite but Van Dijk’s header is harmless.
84 min: Brilliant from Fer, who uses brawn and brain to stop Salah working a chance on his left foot. Swansea are starting to think they really might do this. There’s word of a knock to Fabianski, by the way, so maybe he needs testing more ...
82 min: Good piece of pace and power from Gomez, who hasn’t had a great game. He surges down a tramline on the inside right but hammers wide. And oh, the stats I saw earlier were for shots on target I think, so please ignore me. Liverpool have had only three, out of 15 attempts, which says it all.
79 min: Swansea could maybe use a presence up top to chase things and hold them up. Here comes one now – Bony on for the willing Ayew.
77 min: There’s a seventh though, and it’s a nice grab down to his left from Fabianski after a sharp take and angled drive from Ings.
Updated
77 min: The stats say there’ve only been six goal attempts in this match so far. I have to say that doesn’t sound entirely unrealistic. It’s really been quite “challenging” in general. Again, Swansea won’t care and you’d never blame them for it!
Updated
76 min: I haven’t seen Liverpool this bereft of invention – or Swansea this lucid – for absolutely ages.
73 min: Danny Ings comes on for Wijnaldum. Can he be a hero? They desperately need a cutting edge.
@NickAmes82 So much for 5-3 Nick... I'm in real pain watching this... My contention is that Klopp is the Chauncey Gardiner of football. He's forever taken by surprise by two banks of 5 and never seems to have a rehearsed gameplan to cope with a defensive formation.
— Tony Crawford (@UrbanGriller) January 22, 2018
This has to be the worry, doesn’t it. All that pace, power and flair are one thing – but do they know what to do, especially now Coutinho’s gone, when opponents don’t allow space in behind?
71 min: Matip, to Can, to Salah, to Matip, and it’s a lovely rat-a-tat of a move ... ruined by a wild effort from Matip.
70 min: Ayew is sufficiently emboldened to cut inside and drill an exceedingly rare Swansea shot straight at Karius.
69 min: Then Can whacks an awful shot out of play. Liverpool seemed, 10 minutes ago, to be building up a head of steam but they’ve dropped right off.
68 min: Can floats an awful ball out of play. Klopp purses his lips, and then replaces Oxlade-Chamberlain with Adam Lallana. Liverpool need new ideas now, and quickly.
Updated
67 min: Swansea have, for the first time this half, kept the ball for about 20 seconds. Then they lose it and the excellent Fabianski has to come out like lightning to head away from Salah.
66 min: Liverpool put a flowing move together and the away fans think Mane is barged in the box at the end of it, but no chance. Salah gets a corner though, only to aim it into Fabianski’s gloves.
Updated
65 min: Here is Carroll, who replaces Nathan Dyer. Dyer’s last action was a very diligent recovery tackle on Roberton.
64 min: It seems a wise idea for Swansea to introduce some fresh legs now, and they are about to – Tom Carroll is being given instructions.
62 min: Liverpool are hardly tearing Swansea apart but at some point this level of pressure is going to result in rather more than it currently is, if you see what I mean.
61 min: ... and Salah’s curled, dipping effort is tipped over smartly by a flying Fabianski! The corner comes to nought.
60 min: They’re finding a lot of those pockets in front of the box, now, and Ki bundles Mane over. Free-kick to Liverpool in a very dangerous area indeed. If only they had Coutinho! But Salah and Firmino are poised ...
59 min: Salah’s latest effort is deflected over. He scurries over to take the corner. Fer climbs all over an opponent at the near post but it’s deemed to be fine and he gets it away.
57 min: Then Wijnaldum pops one into Salah, who turns and slides one through to Firmino, but the weight of the ball is *just* in Fabianski’s favour. They’re probing incessantly now.
56 min: Oh what a tackle that is by Naughton, who tracks Robertson brilliantly and perfectly times his intervention just as the left back runs onto a Firmino flick and looks certain to score. Liverpool come again moments later and an inviting Robertson ball across goal just goes beyond his onrushing colleagues!
54 min: Salah curls well wide after finding a bit of space around the D. Not good. By the way, I was thinking before that happened that Clucas has been exceptional for Swansea tonight. And I (sort of) mocked him at the start!
Updated
52 min: Then Van der Hoorn is astute, again, in cutting out a Firmino through ball. Matip, looking frustrated, commits a foul in the aftermath. He’s on a yellow, remember.
51 min: Olsson snakes out a toe to stop Salah bursting through on the right of the box. Liverpool are starting to come on strong.
49 min: Van der Hoorn does very well there, though, to bump Firmino off the ball as he looks to get onto an Oxlade-Chamberlain pass. Rock solid there, and he took a blow to the ribs. The resultant corner is cleared.
47 min: Swansea are doing precisely that so far. As are Liverpool.
Peeeeeep! Second half underway
No changes. Liverpool need to sharpen up. Swansea need to keep doing what they’re doing.
Michael Cosgrove writes: “About whether or not Liverpool could challenge City, there’s a clue in Klopp’s pre-match remark that ‘It’s very important that we all show the perfect attitude tonight...’ There’s the difference as of now, because whereas City’s attitude has almost never faltered so far this season...”
Impressively, he wrote that only 12 minutes into the game.
Let me remind you that you can sign up for the one and only Fiver, your teatimely bag of laughter and woe, here:
Half-time: Swansea 1-0 Liverpool
Mane misses a big chance to equalise right on the whistle! Salah gets away on the left, crosses to his unmarked team-mate at the far post but, on the stretch, Mane can only volley wide. So that’s half-time. How about that? It’s hardly been a vintage half but that is exactly how Swansea wanted it. They’ve defended well, only really allowing those two chances for Salah and Mane, and have taken the one chance they wrought. Liverpool have dominated but just haven’t been anywhere near their best. I don’t think the pitch will be helping them, in terms of moving the ball slickly, but the speed of thought hasn’t really been there either – and we’re geared up for a fascinating second half. Are Liverpool, so wonderful against City, being Liverpool here?
44 min: Robertson is unhappy about something, after a skirmish with Ayew, and gets booked. Liverpool are rattled.
42 min: Collateral damage there, though, as Fernandez needs patching up on the sidelines while we press on. Did he clash heads with Mawson as they celebrated?
Updated
Goal! Swansea 1-0 Liverpool (Mawson 40)
Well! Clucas delivers the corner from the right, Van Dijk is up to meet it but can only head against Fernandez. It drops perfectly for Mawson, who has a decent nose for goal – he spins onto it and slams low into the corner, and Swansea have a big goal for their season!
Updated
40 min: Much better there from an improving Swansea as Olsson received a sweeping pass out left and delivers a lovely cross that’s hacked behind. Ki’s corner is deep, headed back by Van De Hoorn and whacked out by Van Dijk for a second flag kick. From which ...
37 min: Naughton is now jeered, slightly, by a section of the crowd after spooning cross behind goal from a nice position. Can’t do that; they won’t get into too many decent areas.
36 min: Swansea show something now, and Van Dijk clear a Clucas free-kick out to Naughton, who slashes terribly high and wide.
33 min: Now a lovely, intricate move ends with Salah lofting a ball through to Matip – yes, Matip – but the centre back can’t take it in his stride and backheels the ball up into the air. It’s only half cleared and Oxlade-Chamberlain, on the edge of the box, smacks a meaty effort that Fabianski does well to hold.
32 min: Liverpool are starting to find “areas” and, in one such decent position just outside the box, Can lets the ball get away from him a bit carelessly.
30 min: First big chance for Salah – and he should score! Van Dijk is allowed to maraud 20 yards into the Swansea half and chips over a straight, but well-weighted, ball that the back line can’t reach. Salah watches it over his shoulder 12 yards out and, with nobody between him and Fabianski, volleys over the top! It’s a difficult skill, that, but on his current form you expected the net to ripple.
Updated
29 min: Mane sweeps wide to Gomez and there’s a chance to deliver a teasing ball from the right. But Gomez doesn’t do that; rather, he trickles a terrible ball into Fabianski’s grateful embrace.
28 min: I hate myself for saying this but it’s been so drab thus far that I almost understand why people like working themselves up into such an unholy froth about transfers rather than the real thing.
26 min: We’ve very much in a pattern of Liverpool dictating possession now, but there really aren’t many pockets of space once they reach the final third and nothing much is coming off. Swansea look very well drilled. It’s still very quiet out there.
Updated
23 min: ... from which Van Dijk rises like a salmon at the near post and glances the ball possibly off his shoulder, before seeing it fly across goal and just wide.
Updated
22 min: Salah basically wins himself a free-kick by stopping playing after a pull from Mawson. Think he was justified to though. It’s a free-kick on the right in a decent area, a chance to put one into the box anyway. Oxlade-Chamberlain does exactly that, and Naughton has to concede a corner...
20 min: There really isn’t a lot else to report at the moment. That Mane glimpse aside, Swansea have been comfortable. They look compact, and keen not to allow much space in behind – which is of course the key – without looking very likely themselves.
18 min: Ayew finds the net from an angle after being found superbly by Clucas, but the ball has already gone out behind the left byline. It’s a corner to Swansea and a good delivery by Ki, but Karius punches away.
@NickAmes82 thank goodness you’re there to follow.. wife’s birthday can’t watch on tv.
— Ian Smith (@ianlfc53) January 22, 2018
And quite rightly. On early evidence this game would be no present.
@NickAmes82 Is it just me or is it eerily quiet? Like football being played in church.
— Hubert O'Hearn (@BTBReviews) January 22, 2018
Not just you. It’s all a bit flat. I’ve covered two or three games at the Liberty this season, actually, and the impression I’ve got is that the home fans have pretty much lost all heart. I understand why.
14 min: Out on the pitch, Mawson is quick to clear a dangerous whipped cross from Robertson.
14 min: “Not much to do with game, I know, but still - good to see a mention of Cyrille Regis and Jimmy Armfield at the start,” writes Charles Antaki. “Five Live has just broadcast a warm and affectionate tribute to the latter; very touching. His commentaries were wonderfully humane and forbearing, sometimes to the point that you thought that the game he was talking about hardly deserved it.”
Amen to that. My first memories of listening to football are of listening to Jimmy Armfield. The feelings they evoke are magical.
Updated
12 min: And now Liverpool win their first corner, Salah getting involved again to earn it. Van Dijk and the rest of the cavalry are up, but Clucas heads away unchallenged before Firmino puts a harmless ball back in.
Updated
11 min: Firmino plays the ball behind Salah as, for a second, Liverpool break menacingly. They’re finding some sort of rhythm now but it’s still been a pretty slow start to this one.
9 min: First glimpse for Liverpool, as a delightful diagonal ball from – I think – Matip catches Mane running beyond a static back line and Fabianski is out alertly to smuggle the ball away.
Updated
7 min: Mawson brings the ball out well and tries to slip Ayew down the left, but it’s not a good pass and runs out. The Swans are enjoying good possession so far though and look keen to use the wings.
5 min: It’s a little slow and sloppy from Liverpool so far. Mane is caught offside rather needlessly. Very early days but Swansea have settled quite well.
3 min: Clucas wins a nice early header but it won’t fall for the breaking Ayew. It’s a circumspect start here.
2 min: The pitch in Swansea does, at least, look better than the bog they had to face Spurs on but it is far from perfect. The lighting seems a bit dull and drab too.
Updated
Peeeep! Swansea, right to left, start us off
The applause was thunderously observed, and now off we go.
First of all, a minute’s applause for the sadly-departed Cyrille Regis and Jimmy Armfield. Two wonderful, inspirational men.
The teams are out at the Liberty Stadium, matey handshakes are being exchanged ... it’s almost showtime.
@nickames82 For Liverpool to be a credible challenger to City (or United, Chelsea) they need a big dose of consistency. They can annihilate the best team in the land but also have back-to-back home draws against Everton & West Brom (and generally draw way too much)
— Brendan Large (@brendanlarge) January 22, 2018
That’s true.
Jurgen Klopp: “It’s very important that we all show the perfect attitude tonight because I think life can be quite a challenge.”
Carlos Carvalhal on Swansea’s 3-5-2: “We analysed the opponent, we are doing better game by game, we have an interesting dynamic even if we are far away from what we want.”
It gets easier for Swansea after this, right? Not really. They have some FA Cup respite against Notts County, but then they’ve got Arsenal at home and a trip to in-form Leicester. Where is the run they need going to come from?
@NickAmes82 Hi Nick, enjoy the game. As a Brighton fan we're getting to the stage where we need the teams below us to lose every match. So I'm saying 5-3 Liverpool, the 3 a hat-trick of hilarious Karius blunders- Lastly I'm waiting for Van Dijk to be officially nicknamed 'Dick'!
— Tony Crawford (@UrbanGriller) January 22, 2018
Yes, Brighton are dropping like a stone. Your prediction may not be a million miles off ...
Half an hour til kick-off, then. I’ve seen one or two suggestions elsewhere that Liverpool are the most credible challengers to Man City, in the medium term. Do people agree? Or has United’s move for Sanchez put them in the box seat for a proper go at it next term?
Also, spend your pre-match with this lovely read from Amy Lawrence, which follows the sad death of Jimmy Armfield:
You have time to listen to *almost all* of today’s fresh Football Weekly if you get on it NOW:
Tonight's teams
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, van der Hoorn, Fernandez, Mawson, Olsson, Ki, Fer, Clucas, Dyer, Ayew. Subs: Bony, Narsingh, Nordfeldt, Carroll, Bartley, Roque, McBurnie.
Liverpool: Karius, Gomez, Matip, van Dijk, Robertson, Can, Wijnaldum, Salah, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mane, Firmino. Subs: Milner, Klavan, Lallana, Mignolet, Ings, Solanke, Alexander-Arnold.
Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
Your headline moment here is a Liverpool league debut for Virgil van Dijk!
Hello
Amid all this transfer excitement, some football should be breaking out shortly. Who needs Alexis Sanchez or Henrikh Mkhitaryan when you’ve got Mohamed Salah? Sadio Mane? Sam Clucas?
On paper this one has slash-and-burn away win written all over it. It’s so tough to imagine Swansea keeping Liverpool out, assuming Jurgen Klopp’s side are on half the form they were during that evisceration of Manchester City eight days ago. They are rattling the goals in, scoring at least twice in each of their last seven games, and even though any long-term effects of Philippe Coutinho’s departure are yet to play out they have enough about them to reduce anyone in their path to an absolute state. It is a long, long time since Tottenham did that to them, on 22 October, and that was their most recent defeat.
So you fear for Swansea. But! There’s still a notion, although increasingly quaint, that anyone can beat anyone in This Premier League Of Ours – and they’ve certainly perked up a bit since Carlos Carvalhal took charge. They’ve lost just once in their last five – FA Cup win over Wolves included – and performed reasonably well last time top opponents, Tottenham, came to the Liberty Stadium. But the fact remains that they’re six points from safety and need to start stringing a few wins together. And what better time to turn an entire season around than tonight!
Do send me your hopes and dreams for the next couple of hours via email or that there Twitter. Enjoy!
