It was supposed to be different. All of the pieces were finally in place. For the first time this season, Jurgen Klopp was able to put his top four on the pitch together. The front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, and Mo Salah have already wreaked havoc on the opposition. And finally, Klopp was able to add Philippe Coutinho to the mix. The "fab four" were all in the starting lineup. The frustrations of the past were behind us.
And then the game began and the same old story played out. In the end, Liverpool tied Spartak Moscow 1-1. They earned a point. A point on the road, which is never a bad thing. But still, this was a frustrating game that again almost feels like a loss. The same story seems to be written after each match. Liverpool dominates the game, Liverpool concede a soft goal, Liverpool are unable to finish even though they get many chances, Liverpool drop points. It's easy to feel as though the glass is half empty after these matches.
From the beginning, Liverpool were dominant. Liverpool enjoyed 64% of possession to just 36% for Spartak. The Reds created many chances and finished with 16 shots while Spartak only had 3. Shots on target were 6 to 2 in favor of Liverpool. But the only stat that truly matters is the score which ended 1-1.
The story seems like a broken record to Liverpool supporters. The Reds dominate the game, look brilliant at times, but are unable to put away many goals. Then, they concede an easy goal and lose points. This paragraph can be used in most of Liverpool's games this season.
After dominating early, it was Spartak who opened the scoring. Yes, a defensive let down cost the Reds again, but this time not directly. It started when Emre Can played the ball sloppily, giving it way on the defensive side of the field. Spartak capitalized and for the first time put some pressure on Liverpool. Philippe Coutinho thought he had cleared the ball but was ruled to have committed a foul according to the referee.
This gave Spartak a free kick from about 25 yards out. Fernando stepped up for Spartak and put a curling shot over the wall and on net. Karius seemed to stand still and watch it far too long and when he finally dove for it, was late and Spartak scored the goal. After dominating the first 15 minutes and making this contest seem to be a major mis-match, Liverpool now found themselves down 1-0 after 23 minutes.
To say Loris Karius was poor on the goal is being nice. Especially after his comments the day before, basically saying he was going to use the Champion's League matches as a way to show Jurgen Klopp that he should be the Liverpool #1, Karius needed to do better. It wasn't a great shot. It wasn't a blistering shot. It wasn't even well placed. The shot came in to Karius left, but close to the middle of the goal then to a side. It should have been saved, but instead Karius moved late and conceded.
How would Liverpool respond? It didn't take long for them to answer. Just 3 minutes after conceding, Liverpool put the ball in the back of the net when Sadio Mane headed in a Trent Alexander-Arnold cross and Liverpool briefly thought they equalized. However, the flag was raised and Mane was offside. No goal.
The Liverpool pressure continued though and in the 31st minute they equalized for real this time. And it was a magnificent goal. Philippe Coutinho combined with Sadio Mane on a beauty of a 1-2, give-and-go which led to Coutinho scoring and the game being deadlocked again. Spartak were unable to handle the pace that the Liverpool front four were showing.
The rest of the game was an all too familiar sight for Reds supporters. Liverpool dominated, had chance after chance, but were unable to finish. Roberto Firmino, Daniel Sturridge, and Mo Salah all had excellent chances but all were unable to hit the net. The best chance came in the dying minutes when Salah put a strong header on net. Unfortunately it was almost directly at the keeper who still had to react quickly to put a glove on it and keep it out of the goal.
When the final whistle blew, Liverpool looked drained and supporters were left frustrated. A point on the road is still a positive, but when the game plays out like this and the three points were there for the taking it leaves you feeling defeated. Liverpool have to somehow battle through this feeling and find a way to push through as the schedule continues to come fast and furious.