It wasn’t just Allen’s quality on the ball which impressed me though, his defensive work was just as good. His work rate is immense and it saw him frequently tracking back to snuff out City’s attacking moves.
On countless occasions he was nicking the ball of City’s forwards, while his impeccable understanding of the game allows him to read the play and make timely interceptions in midfield.
When Lucas went down on five minutes there was reason for concern, however Jonjo Shelvey fit into his holding midfield role seamlessly. With Jordan Henderson and Charlie Adam warming the bench and Nuri Sahin waiting in the wings for his Liverpool debut, Rodgers finally has quality in depth which he can call on at any time.
17-year-old winger Raheem Sterling also whipped the Anfield crowd into a frenzy with his exciting and raw talent.
The teenager showed an abundance of maturity in his performance, and as Rodgers said in his post-match press conference, it wasn’t as if his call-up to the starting eleven wasn’t warranted.
The youngster has pace to burn and is unpredictable in his wing-play. He’s a real showman down the flank and has the potential to develop into a world class player.
In addition to the displays of Allen, Shelvey and Sterling, there were also pleasing performances from Sebastian Coates and Martin Kelly. With all of those aforementioned names being under 22 years of age, there are positive signs for the future as Brendan Rodgers seeks to build on his young and exciting brigade of talent.