Liverpool 2 - 2 Leicester City (Premiership), Thursday 1st January 2015
Ticket = £51
Petrol = £20-50 (£41 divided by 2)
Programme = £3
Pie and tea = £5-80
Parking = £5
Total = £75-30
Our new year began with another visit to Anfield, where we haven't actually been since the late win over Swansea in the League Cup. It often ends up that we have a glut of games, then nothing for ages. We drove across to Merseyside this time, as we were heading up to Cumbria after the game. Unbelievably it took 2 hours via the M62, which beats our previous best of 2hr 15 mins!
There's no disguising the fact that Liverpool have had a disappointing season thus far. Although they had managed a couple of wins and a decent draw against Arsenal, Liverpool's performances have a disjointed feel to them so far. There have definitely been sparks of brilliance, and we saw a lot of promise in the 4-1 win over Swansea, but this team is a shadow of what they were last year.
Leicester came here off the back of their first league win for ages, having lost something like 8 games in a row before that. This game was an intriguing one, with the away side looking quite prepared to mix up the play, looking to both get the ball on the floor and through the sir when required. Despite Liverpool's early dominance of possession and creating a few half chances, Leicester nearly led when a cheeky free kick rattled the post.
After that Liverpool were in the ascendancy. Coutinho looked particularly strong and influential - he has significantly improved on the physical side of his game and can now cope with the more robust tackles he faces.
However for all their effort, Liverpool couldn't break the deadlock. That is until an unfortunate Leicester defender was penalised for handball after slipping on about 22ish minutes. Gerrard converted the resulting penalty at the Anfield Road end. The home side were buoyed by the goal and were pretty much camped on the edge of the away box for the remainder of the half. They made it 2-0 when another handball resulted in another Gerrard penalty - this time to the keeper's right.
The second half ebbed and flowed, and was a real contest in the middle. Surely Liverpool wouldn't blow a 2-goal lead?! By sheer willpower, Leicester forced their way into the game and the home side's fragile defence must have given them some encouragement. David Nugent - who had been at the centre of many Leicester attacks - made it 2-1 with a superb angled volley inside the box. This was a moment of real quality as he had managed to get power and accuracy on a difficult first time shot. Liverpool looked like they were ready to crumble, and Leicester inexplicably brought themselves level when a simple run and square back allowed their striker to slot in from the edge of the box. This was a poor goal to concede, and I was left scratching my head as to where the defence had been. After that either side could have won it, and there were several nervy moments (mainly when Leicester crossed the ball!) before Liverpool scraped home. This game was perhaps typical of their season, with plenty of sparky attacking play counterbalanced by schoolboy defending, and an inability to defend a lead. It will be interesting to see how they fare in the cups this year given that their league form is so erratic. I wonder what I'll be writing about this time next year!
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