Saturday’s game at Elland Road finished Leeds United 0-3 Liverpool and gave us a lot to take in. Here are five things we learned from Leeds United 0-3 Liverpool.
Harvey Elliott
Only one place to start. Harvey Elliott appeared to suffer a horrible injury in the second half that led to him being stretchered off.
We don’t have any details, however, and won’t speculate on anything. Can only hope it wasn’t as bad as it seemed.
Get well soon, Harvey.
Full respect
Jurgen Klopp paid a lot of respect to Leeds United with his starting XI. First-choice back four, first-choice front-three and a very strong midfield.
It’ll be interesting to see how he handles midweek, then. Liverpool face AC Milan at Anfield in a huge Champions League game (they’ll all be in this group). Will he go the same again? Will he rotate a few?
Run, run, run
The energy in this game was sensational. Two teams that want to attack quickly, use the entire pitch, and hassle everyone on the ball.
It’s hard not to love it. One of those games to enjoy even in defeat.
We’ll mention the above point again, though. How will this affect the Milan game? There will certainly be some tired legs after this one.
Midfield control
Fabinho and Thiago both put in fantastic, controlled performances here. We’ve been looking forward to Thiago getting a full 90 this season and he delivered.
Fabinho, too, was brilliant after two weeks off, particularly after a harsh yellow card in the first half. These two can control midfields together, let alone with Jordan Henderson alongside them.
The more they play together, the better that trio should become. Hopefully, they become a regular occurrence before long.
The new 9
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came on in this one as a centre-forward. Or more specifically, a False 9. It seems he really might be a true backup to Roberto Firmino, then.
Divock Origi didn’t even make the squad, after all. Instead, Klopp decided to use Oxlade-Chamberlain in a forward role.
Was he perfect? No, but we’ll give him some more time in competitive games before judging him properly. This could end up being a divisive decision, though, given the lack of Liverpool’s transfer activity.