Liverpool beat Luton 4-1 in the pre-leg of the 26th round of the Premier League at their own stadium. Jürgen Klopp was missing 10 important players from the A-team, which was especially evident in the offensive for a long time. Captain Virgil van Dijk, who in the 56th minute reacted to the hard-playing Hatters’ first-half strike, kicked things into the usual turnaround. Just two minutes later, Cody Gakpo completed the conversion, with which Alexis Mac Allister scored his second assist of the game.
The Reds stayed at the top of England’s top flight when they also beat Brentford 4-1 at the weekend. Mohamed Salah had an excellent return to the pitch, scoring a goal and assisting another against the Bees, but he was back on the injured list during the week. Liverpool wanted to add a victory in the non-traditional Wednesday against Luton, who, on the other hand, started to falter in terms of results after a great campaign in January.
The home team started the match at a great pace. In the first chance, Luis Díaz appeared, who broke away from the defender and aimed a shot at the back post just wide. However, after the initial onslaught of the reds, a shock came in the 12th minute. Tahith Chong fired from an angle, goalkeeper Caoimhín Kelleher cleared the ball, but only to Chiedozie Ogbene, who scored with a header into the empty net. Surprised, the team from the city of Beatles gradually took the initiative. This was evident when a sliding Díaz narrowly missed the post in a big opportunity.
After the change of sides, Gakpo emphatically won the ball in the penalty area of Luton, whose subsequent shot to the post was brilliantly deflected by goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski for a corner. He placed Mac Allister exactly on the head of Van Dijk, who equalized. Just moments later, Mac Allister served up another superb pass this time to Gakpo, whose close-range header gave Liverpool the lead.
Van Dijk could have embellished the home team’s fantastic five-minute goal after another cross from the Argentinian midfielder, but the visitors’ goalkeeper prevented the goal with an excellent reflex. In the 71st minute, Andrew Robertson broke through a Luton play and passed to Díaz, who raced past a defender to extend his team’s lead with an effort at the front post. In the end, Harvey Elliott added a goal with a technical shot into the top corner of the goal.
Liverpool thus confirmed the role of favorite and won three points. Due to cup obligations, both teams will not return to league action until March 2. The Reds take on Nottingham, The Hatters challenge Aston Villa.
2024-02-21 21:35:00
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