major events
77 minutes: Those changes have been made. Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez left, Szoboszlai and Jota came.
77 minutes: The game has slowed down a bit. Liverpool passes around their defense for a while, barely at walking pace, then back to the keeper, then back to the defence.
74 minutes: Liverpool are preparing one or two replacements. Szoboszlai is definitely getting ready to arrive, and obviously Jota too.
71 minutes: This time it is a red line. Nunez was offside by a narrow margin and the goal would not stand. This decision took three minutes and 14 seconds.
71 minutes: Seriously, the time it takes is ridiculous.
69 minutes: Of course, VAR will have to check it. And finally he realized that Salah was onside. So what about Nunez? Let’s draw some more lines!
68 minutes: Liverpool have the ball in the net again, but the linesman’s flag goes up! Again this is advice in the build-up; He swung it into the infield, Núñez tried to backheel it and missed, and Gakpo followed up to score.
67 minutes: Robertson’s cross is headed to Nunez, who could have had a back-post tap-in, but Stolarski dives to push it away.
64 minutes: Leicester replaced Winks and El Khanous with Oliver Skipp and Facundo Buonanot.
62 minutes: A beautiful move from Liverpool ended with Salah passing from the right to Núñez, whose first-time shot was well saved.
60 minutes: Half chance for Salah, who miscontrols on the edge of the area. Another chance for Leicester! Mavididi crosses low from the left, and Daka misses wide with his kick at the near post!
60 minutes: …Anyway, Dennis Law didn’t remember the game at all.
58 minutes: Westergaard is booked, and Robertson is booked for asking Westergaard to be booked.
58 minutes: So I finally got Dennis’ number and called him, hoping to hear a great story from a great raconteur…
57 minutes: Liverpool are looking quite comfortable at the moment. Anyway, I talked to Dennis Law about that game once. The first thing I had to do was contact him: I called Manchester United’s press office and asked the woman who answered my call if she knew how to find Denis Law. “You mean dad?” he asked. It was Diana Law…
56 minutes: Gary Naylor writes, “There can be some hard luck stories when a match is cancelled, which won’t let the fact that the game will be abandoned get in the way of a good story.” He cites this as the best example. Luton vs Manchester City in 1961 – Dennis Law scored six times and they lost 3-1 in the replay. I know a little…
53 minutes: Andy Flintoff (not him) fact-checks, “You’re right about Barnes preferring to go out and use his left foot.” “However, in the 4-4 vs Everton in 1991 (before Dalglish’s resignation) there was a famous goal which was from cutting inside and curling from the right.”
52 minutes: And finally the target is given!
51 minutes: The issue is Salah, he was very close to offside when the ball was played to him in the build-up. But there were so many stages in the game that it takes an age to get through them and beat them all.
Target Liverpool 2-1 Leicester (Jones, 49 mins)
And Liverpool ahead! It’s the kind of move that the league leaders do, keeping the ball, moving it into tight spaces, and eventually Mac Allister sends in a low cross which Jones heads in! VAR is, essentially, checking for offside.
48 minutes: Before this game Liverpool were only in fourth place in the first half of the league table. Only in the second half table are they four points ahead with two games remaining.
47 minutes: The first chance of the half falls to Nunez, who sidefoots over the bar from eight yards.
46 minutes: Peeeeeep! The players are back and the game is back on!
Matt Donny liked Gakpo’s goal. “Coutinho-esque from Gakpo. It feels good to watch,” he writes. Nick Smith also writes approvingly. “Shades of John Barnes?” He suggests. Liverpool fans loved it, didn’t they? They are two great players who may be missed (or they were great when they were there, one of them lost his way later). I think it was more Coutinho than Barnes: being a truly left-footed left winger, Barnes was less likely to cut infield and shoot with the right stuff.
“Loved Tom Gould’s story Colm Fordham writes, “The pea-souper match against Aldershot took place much earlier.” “It is unclear what the outcome of this match will be, but that brilliant strike from Gakpo has shown a faint ray of light in the dismal weather conditions at Anfield. It would be nice to see Federico Chiesa shine and ideally score the winner in the second half. I would also like to see more of Chiesa. Unfortunately for the Italians, the chances of leaving Salah out of the team do not look very good.
A poor half of Liverpool, But they definitely don’t deserve to end it all in arrears. If they improve in the second one, they should be fine.
Half Time: Liverpool 1-1 Leicester
45+3 minutes: The referee adds an extra 12 seconds for the goal, and then blows his whistle on a Liverpool attack, with the ball about 30 yards from goal. This sounds complicated.
Target Liverpool 1-1 Leicester (Gakpo, 45+2 mins)
Gakpo exudes a beauty Beyond Stolarski and inside the far post, and Liverpool are level!
45+1 min: The referee decided to give only two minutes of stoppage time, which did not affect anyone associated with Liverpool.
45 minutes: Liverpool hit the bar! Leicester made a rare attack forward, lost the ball and the home side rolled forward. It ends with Salah taking a left-footed shot towards the far post and going very close, but not quite, to the right.
44 minutes: From the free kick, Robertson’s cross went out of play. The crowd looks very quiet.
43 minutes: Second yellow card, this one for Ayew who jogs in front of Gakpo as the Dutchman cuts infield, stopping his run.
42 minutes: Alexander-Arnold, who has had a very poor game so far, blasts a shot wide and very high from 25 yards.
39 minutes: I fear Stolarczyk is pushing his luck in the restart. There are no concerns for the referee at the moment, but the yellow card will probably help the game.
38 minutes: We’re told Liverpool have attempted 27 crosses so far. Moments later, Alexander-Arnold sends in No. 28.
37 minutes: The first yellow card of the game was shown to Joe Gomez for fouling Daka.
36 minutes: Leicester are defending very centrally, which explains why Liverpool are finding wide space and doing a lot of crossing. Leicester clearly rely on their central defenders to win the majority of headers, which they are doing right now – Liverpool are winning volleys beyond the far post.
34 minutes: This time Liverpool went down the right, and Alexander-Arnold’s cross was headed goalwards by Robertson, but it was a tight angle and Stolarski saved.
31 minutes: Most of Liverpool’s best moments are coming through Gakpo on the left. This time his cross again finds Salah, but he is stretching to volley with the outside of his left foot and is unable to control it.
30 minute: And when he miraculously recovered and returned to the field, they scolded him again.