LIVERPOOL 2-0 FC PORTO: MATCH REVIEW

Liverpool beat Porto 2-0 at Anfield last night to make it five wins from five in this season’s Champions League group stage. Second half goals from Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah secured the victory as a slightly weakened Liverpool side proved too much for the Portuguese giants. Read on for a review of the game.

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https://made4liverpool.com/2021/11/24/player-ratings-liverpool-2-0-fc-porto/

° The lineup. It was perhaps stronger than expected, with just the 4 changes made to the side that despatched Arsenal with ease. Williams, Konaté, Morton and Minamino came in for Trent, Van Dijk, Fabinho and Jota as the spine of the team was given a rest. I did think Alisson would also get the night off in my predicted lineup:

https://made4liverpool.com/2021/11/23/liverpool-vs-fc-porto-predicted-team/

° Captain Alisson. As it turned out, Ali started and skippered the side for the very first time. He was voted as the 6th man in line for the captaincy earlier this season, and he spoke of his ‘honour’ post game, as he relished in the achievement. Fittingly, he crowned it with a clean sheet, his 8th in 16 appearances this season.

° Wobbly start. Porto had four presentable opportunities to take the lead in the opening 15 minutes, with Liverpool suffering a sloppy start to the game. Evanilson (twice), Taremi and Otavio all made a mess of chances (with Otavio’s open goal miss the worst of the lot), and let the Reds off the hook.

° Classy Thiago. It was Thiago that got on the ball after the wobbly start to get his side playing. He dropped deep to pick up possession and was adept at evading the press to pick forward passes. He was denied an exquisite assist by a close offside call first half, before breaking the deadlock with a stunning strike. Deservedly MOTM.

° Morton’s CL debut. The 19 year old was handed his CL debut just days after he had made his PL debut off the bench against Arsenal. It was another confident display as the youngster kept it neat and tidy in the middle of the park, saving his side with a crucial interception in the box first half. One 60 yard pass to Salah led to the second goal, and he never looked out of place.

° ‘Group of Death’. Liverpool have absolutely tormented the supposed group of death, breaking their record points tally in a single CL group stage. A trip to San Siro awaits, and they’ll be aiming to become the first English side in history to win all six group games. The Reds have flexed their muscle in Europe this term.

° Terrifying trio. With a chasm threatening to open between Chelsea, Man City, Liverpool and the rest of the Premier League, it is perhaps no surprise to see the three teams stamping their authority on the continent as well. Chelsea moved top of their group with a fantastic 4-0 drubbing of Juventus on Tuesday.

If that sent out a message to the rest of the continent, then Manchester City followed up with a message of their own, outplaying and overwhelming a star studded PSG to also go top. Then you have Liverpool, who have won more points and scored more goals than the other three teams in their ‘group of death’ put together.

These three are possibly the three best teams in Europe right now, with Bayern Munich the only side that can hold a candle to them. Not only are these three (led by world class tacticians in Tuchel, Pep and Klopp) going hammer and tongs at it for the PL title, expect them to duke it out for top honours in Europe too.