Liverpool Take First Place, Dominate Tottenham

 4-0 

Liverpool came into today's match with a chance to take the first-place position away from Chelsea.  Losing to Crystal Palace, Chelsea failed to get any points which left only a one point margin over Liverpool in second place.  Tottenham came into Anfield hoping to snap a two game losing streak against a surging Liverpool side.  However the Hotspurs had little to offer offensively and really struggled to slow down Liverpool's attack.

Liverpool took no time at all to get on the score sheet, exposing the weak Tottenham defense.  Raheem Sterling played Glen Johnson in behind the Tottenham back line and Johnson made a cross into the box.  Tottenham captain Younes Kaboul had a chance to clear the ball off the line, but he got it wrong and turned the ball into his own net off his heel (2').

The situation only got worse for the Hotspurs as starting centerback Vertongen had to come out with an injury.  Michael Dawson replaced him in defense and immediately put his team in trouble.  Attempting to make a backwards pass to Kaboul, Dawson failed to see Suarez lurking.  Suarez intercepted the pass and fired a left-footed shot to score a second goal for Liverpool (25').

The second-half was not any better for Tottenham who failed to offer any real offensive threat.  Instead Liverpool continued to dominate and added two more goals.  Fullback Jon Flanagan initiate a break and made a strong run forward before passing to Coutinho.  With loads of space, Coutinho was allowed to shoot and he beat the keeper from outside the box (55').

Jordan Henderson then added a final goal from a free-kick.  His shot was a low driven free-kick that skipped in front of Tottenham's goal.  Suarez was in position to get a flick on the ball, but he made a dummy on the ball and Henderson's shot ended up in the net (75').

Liverpool is the only team in the top-four to come away with a win over the weekend and now claim the top spot in the league.  Chelsea's loss to Crystal Palace had disastrous consequences and now they sit two points behind Liverpool in first place.  Liverpool travel to West Ham next week and look to continue this fantastic run in the Premier League.

Liverpool Slip By Swansea, Sturridge and Henderson Net Two

 4-3 

Swansea City came into Anfield for a Premier League match with Liverpool today as the Reds looked to keep pace with the rest of the top clubs in the table.  Chelsea, Arsenal, and Manchester City won matches yesterday putting the pressure on Liverpool to produce a positive result.

Liverpool came storming out of the gate and scored in the opening moments of the match.  Raheem Sterling was able to tackle the ball off Swansea rightback Angel Rangel to initiate a counter-attack.  Sterling saw the run of Sturridge and played a well weighted ball to beat the offsides trap.  Sturridge had to take a touch around the keeper coming off his line before finishing on an empty net for the opening goal of the game (3').

Liverpool extended the lead when Sturridge setup Jordan Henderson for a goal.  Sturridge came in across the egde of the box from the right and played a square-ball for Henderson who picked out the far corner for a second goal (20').

Swansea made a timely response and equalized in a matter of minutes.  From an almost mirrored image of the previous goal, Nathan Dyer drove across the egde of the box from the right and played a square-ball to Jonjo Shelvey.  Taking the shot first-time, Shelvey buried the ball into the near-post corner to get Swansea back in match (23').

The equalizer then came following a favorable deflection inside the Liverpool penalty area.  A Swansea free-kick was played into the box and Wilfred Bony managed to get a flicked header on the cross.  The forward's header did not have much power behind it, but it deflected off the shoulder of Skrtel giving the keeper no chance at a save (27').

Liverpool then reestablished the lead with a second goal by Sturridge.  Luis Suarez found space to work on the left and put the ball right on Sturridge in front of goal.  Sturridge scored with a header finish to put Liverpool back ahead (36').

Shortly after the half-time break Liverpool defender Skrtel gave Swansea a chance to again level the score when he was called for a foul in the box.  Bony was pulled down by Skrtel according to the referee and Swansea were awarded a penalty.  Bony scored from the spot and the match was level once more (48').

Liverpool's defense was rather on edge for the remainder of the match after seeing their lead lost twice already.  Despite some nervous moments however, the defense held strong and the Reds produced a winning goal.  Suarez created space to shoot following a great chest-trap, but defender Williams was in place to block his shot.  The blocked shot fell right for Henderson though, who he scored the game winner from the loose ball (74').

Liverpool have proven once again that their offense is nearly unstoppable.  The defense, on the other hand, shows more signs of vulnerability as the goals continue to be conceded.  All focus in on the Premier League for Liverpool going forward with a road trip to Southampton is next.  Swansea are still alive in the Europa Cup and a match at Napoli midweek.

Liverpool Crush Arsenal; Sturridge, Streling, Skrtel Score

 5-1 

Liverpool hosted Arsenal today for a wild Premier League match-up.  Arsenal came into the match at the top of the table with Liverpool eight points behind.  Playing at Anfield, Liverpool had a very danger attack and had the Gunners on their heels all day.

Liverpool could not have gotten off to a better start and scored in the first minute of the game.  An early set-piece allowed centerback Martin Skrtel to get forward.  Gerrard delivered the free-kick into the box and Skrtel was able to score with a volley off his shin (1').  The centerback scored again off a set-piece just minutes later.  This time from a corner-kick, Gerrard delivered the cross and Skrtel scored a well placed header floated to the back-post (10').

Liverpool then scored two more quick goals to stretch the lead.  Jordan Henderson tackled the ball off Özil in midfield and got the ball to Suarez pushing forward.  Suarez then played the ball across the face of goal for Raheem Sterling crashing the far-post.  Sterling finished with an easy tap-in to put Liverpool up three goals (17').

Daniel Sturridge scored the final goal of the first-half shortly after when Coutinho played him in-on-goal.  Coutinho's through-ball was weighted perfectly to allow Sturridge to split two defenders and beat the keeper with a first-touch finish (20').

Liverpool added one more goal in the second-half when Sterling scored his second of the match.  A long ball from the back by Cissokho put Sterling behind the Arsenal defense.  His first shot was stopped by keeper Szczesny, but the rebound came right back to him and Sterling finished with the extra chance (52').

After an hour of play, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger made all three substitutions at once, likely to save some players for the midweek match against United coming up.  The five goal deficit was obviously too much to overcome, but Arsenal did manage to get one back.  Gerrard missed his tackle on Oxlade-Chamberlain in the box to give Arsenal a penalty.  Mikel Arteta scored from the spot for the last goal of the match (69').  Aside from winning the penalty, Oxlade-Chamberlain was essentially non-existant though.  Fellow winger Santi Cazorla was also not a factor today in one of Arsenal's worst performances all year.

Today's win could be the most important match all season for Liverpool who still have a chance at the league title.  If they can continue to score goals at the current rate, very few teams will be able to keep up.  Arsenal are starting to show signs of slowing down and will look to bounce back against Manchester United on Wednesday.  Liverpool travel to Fulham next as the battle at the top of the table heats up.

Big Road Win For Liverpool, Crush Tottenham

 0-5 

Liverpool and Tottenham met at White Hart Lane for a Premier League matchup with big potential for the Reds.  First-place Arsenal lost the exciting match to Manchester City 6-3 the day prior, giving Liverpool a chance to gain on the league leaders.  Liverpool seized the opportunity and came away with a stunning win.

Through-balls were extremely effective against Tottenham all match with Luis Suarez, Raheem Streling, and Jordan Henderson getting behind the defense easily and often.  The first goal was scored when Henderson won a loose ball from defender Michael Dawson and played Suarez in-on-goal.  Suarez had to shake two defenders to work the shot, but scored and put Liverpool in front (18').

Henderson then scored later in the first-half following a barrage of shots by Liverpool.  Henderson took the initial shot that keeper Hugo Lloris saved well, but the rebound stayed in front of the Tottenham goal.  Suarez struck the rebound and Lloris made another big save to deny the goal, but again the rebound stayed in front of goal.  Lloris did all he could, however Henderson got a second chance and found the net for his first goal of the season (40').

The second-half did not improve for the Hotspurs and a loss of composure by Brazilian Paulinho left the home side playing with ten men.  Paulinho was caught with a high boot to the chest of Suarez and was send off with a red card.  From then on Liverpool was able to seemingly score at will and added three more goals after it was all over.

The young defender Jon Flanagan was next to score for Liverpool.  Suarez delivered the cross to Flanagan who scored with a well struck half-volley that caught a piece of the cross before finding the net (75').  Liverpool added two more when a pair of through-balls again beat Tottenham's back line.  First the substitute Luis Alberto played Suarez in-on-goal who finished with a chip-shot over Lloris caught off his line (84').  Then Suarez played Sterling in-on-goal who finished with a touch-shot for the last goal of the match (89').

Liverpool are now only two points behind Arsenal in the table with another winnable game against Cardiff City up next.  After that it will be two tough road tests against Manchester City and Chelsea.  The injuries to Steven Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge, among others, has not slowed Liverpool down yet as they remain in top form, but that could be a factor against the bigger clubs going forward.