“After half an hour of Wednesday’s Champions League game at Eintracht Frankfurt, Liverpool were facing the prospect of losing five straight matches for the first time in 72 years. Trailing to a crisp strike from former Leeds United defender Rasmus Kristensen, Arne Slot’s decision to make five changes and leave Mohamed Salah on the bench looked questionable. But three goals in nine first-half minutes transformed this match, which Liverpool’s head coach will hope can be a defining moment for a team that has been struggling to find its identity after a summer of change. One of the new arrivals, Hugo Ekitike, drew Liverpool level, scoring on the counter-attack after a piercing through ball from Andrew Robertson. …”
NY Times/The Athletic
Eintracht Frankfurt 1 Liverpool 5: Ekitike impresses, a new system and set-piece goals
Leave a reply
“This season, Arsenal’s in-possession shape has mainly featured a 
“The advanced plans to stage a La Liga match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December spectacularly and suddenly crumbled on Tuesday. Villarreal executives learned the game would no longer take place in the middle of their 2-0 home Champions League defeat by Manchester City, while Barcelona were shocked out of their celebrations having just beaten Olympiacos 6-1. …”
“Chelsea thrashed Ajax in the pouring rain in London on Wednesday night to record back-to-back wins in the Champions League. Manager Enzo Maresca rang the changes and he was rewarded with a superb attacking display, though the visitors were reduced to 10 men early in the first half after a wild challenge from Kenneth Taylor on Facundo Buonanotte. Goals from Marc Guiu, Moises Caicedo and a penalty apiece from Enzo Fernandez and Estevao had Chelsea 4-1 up at half-time before Tyrique George added a fifth after 48 minutes. In what was Chelsea’s 200th Champions League match, it was as comfortable an evening as they could have imagined — though still one packed with incident. Here, Mark Carey and Simon Johnson analyse the action. …”
Scissors Kick 