-There’s a new manager, but Liverpool’s confidence in the final third is still woefully lacking…
Liverpool have drawn seven of their past eight matches, and while the defence has occasionally been leaky, it’s predominantly the fault of an inability to score goals. In that time we’ve bagged more than once on just one occasion, and it’s no surprise that Daniel Sturridge started up top that day. As mentioned, Liverpool had 32 attempts on goal last night, but could only score when the ball fell to Emre Can two yards out. The attacks lacked imagination, guile and quality. They were stale, and although Rubin were under the cosh, they didn’t have to do anything other than defend sensibly to keep us at bay. Without being too disrespectful, this was a poor Russian outfit who are hovering around their domestic relegation zone. So what does that say about a full-strength (bar injuries) Liverpool side? Klopp’s clearly been working on our pressing out of possession, but with the opposition letting us have the ball – we looked totally inept. The ball would go wide, it’d come back central, it’d go wide. Then it’d be lost and we’d start again. Coutinho is not himself and Divock Origi is not yet a Liverpool starter by a long shot. Klopp’s biggest task is to get Liverpool’s playmakers expressing themselves and creating proper chances, while making sure his beleaguered strike-force start firing as well.
