It was back to business for both Liverpool and Swansea after FA Cup and Europa League duties took centre stage in the past week. This afternoon's match at Anfield was incredible, and yes, another high scoring one it was after the Reds narrow victory against Fulham in a high scoring encounter last time out. There were only two changes to the side that were knocked out of the FA Cup by Arsenal as Glen Johnson returned from injury, meaning that a rather impressive performer in Aly Cissokho dropped out of the Starting XI. Meanwhile Jordan Henderson came back in to replace Joe Allen.
Liverpool made extremely hard work of a game that many would have thought would have been a relatively easy game to win. However it didn't seem that way as the Reds opened the scoring in the third minute of this one, with Daniel Sturridge now finding the net in eight consecutive matches as he latched onto one of the passes of the season from Raheem Sterling. The winger had caused Garry Monk's side more trouble, with his shot forcing Michel Vorm to make a smart save at his near post. Liverpool's passing was extremely poor today, despite Sterling's assist to a Sturridge goal, while also not looking too comfortable with the ball. Every time Swansea broke, they looked like scoring as the home side's defence wobbled, almost conceding shortly after getting their 1-0 lead. But then after 20 minutes of play, goalscorer Sturridge came in from the wing, with the ball kindly falling to the feet of Jordan Henderson just who fired from outside the box and finished brilliantly to make it 2-0. The midfielder had said in an interview after the match that goals were a part of his game that he was trying to improve on, and he certainly showed that with his first half goal.
This encounter was one that you just couldn't take your eyes off, as proved by an instant Swansea City response that saw former Red Jonjo Shelvey curling the ball into the top corner of the net just three minutes later to make it 2-1. The atmosphere around the ground had turned on its head in the space of five minutes, despite the ex-Liverpool player earning applause for his fine finish as well as a lack of a celebration. Feelings of anxiousness and fear flew around Anfield and among the thousands of fans as well as the players, as they kept failing to keep hold of possession and ended up looking rather weak defensively when the visitors had the ball. One of those worrying defenders was Martin Skrtel, as he lashed out at his former team mate and scorer Shelvey after winning the ball, conceding a free kick
Jonjo Shelvey, despite scoring just his second goal in the League this season, came off to replace Jose Canas and perhaps a substitution that delighted the Liverpool fans with the threat more superb and sublime shots being lifted for the second half. Straight from the off after the break, it seemed that Garry Monk's team talk made more of an impact on his Swansea side than Brendan Rodgers' half time discussion for his side. Anyone that has caught the majority of Liverpool's matches this season will know that Martin Skrtel has a tendency to grapple opponents inside the box fiercely and almost conceding his side penalties, but the Slovakian defender kept getting away with his actions. He wasn't so lucky this time round, as referee Mike Jones spotted Swansea scorer Bony being brought down with the help of vice-captain Daniel Agger.
One player who I felt had not been good enough for the Reds today was their Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez. He had several opportunities to score plenty of goals this afternoon, but took none of them. At one point, the Premier League's top scorer got into a one-on-one position with Vorm and took an extra touch that forced him wide, but had he not taken that extra touch, he probably would have scored. He has now gone a full month without finding the back of the net, with his last goal coming in Liverpool's 4-0 derby victory over Everton at the end of January. His side came very close to gifting Swansea the lead for the first time in this one, as efforts from De Guzman were sent over the bar and then onto the boot of Mignolet. Kolo Toure's absence had boosted the confidence of fans as Daniel Agger returned to the side. But Rodgers recognised the poor defensive performance of the Danish International and on came the Ivorian to try and prevent the conceding of any more goals on what had been a thrilling match. Deliveries from Steven Gerrard via a free kick and a corner failed to find a clean chance at goal in the box as Liverpool came close to retaking the lead for the third time. They did eventually take the lead for the third time,
Liverpool have now scored 7 goals in two games and are the League's highest scorers with 70 goals. We are however defensively poor as many will know and as Summer looms larger, the call for a new and commanding back line grows louder. Despite scoring more goals than anyone else in the Barclays Premier League, the Reds have now conceded one more goal that West Ham, who are 10th and have let in 34 goals in this campaign. Liverpool don't have to worry about falling further away from their title contenders, replicating victories that Arsenal, Chelsea and Man City all picked up on Saturday afternoon. It's as you were with Liverpool 4 points of the pace and 6 points clear of Spurs who are stuck in 5th after losing 1-0 to Norwich later in the day, as they look to cement a place among Europe's elite next season. If they are to play Champions League football next season they have to stop conceding as many goals as they have been doing, while they also need to sharpen up on marking opponents from set pieces. Liverpool's 'Goals Against' rating has increased by 0.50 since the start of February according to ESPNFC.com, which is rather poor considering the opponents they have faced and, on one occasion - against Arsenal, the manner in which they won.
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