“Jürgen Klopp may have a vision for heavy metal football, but his defence is currently more like Spinal Tap. The deficiencies so glaring at Arsenal a week ago were more embarrassingly exposed as Burnley deservedly secured their first win since returning to the Premier League. For Sean Dyche, who argued English football is beguiled by overseas coaches to the detriment of home grown talent, there could have been no more satisfying scalp. Tactically and physically his side was superior to the visitors.” Telegraph

“Harry Kane’s 22nd league goal of the season earned Tottenham a hard-fought 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday, but their failure to secure a victory allowed Leicester to stretch their lead at the top of the table to seven points the following day with a narrow 1-0 triumph over Southampton. Spurs will be disappointed to have lost ground on the league leaders, but their performance on a difficult day at Anfield against a resolute Liverpool side didn’t really warrant anything more than a point.” Outside of the Boot

“Despite dropping points in the past two games from leading positions, Liverpool showed enough against Southampton – in a near-perfect first half – and Spurs (for the whole game) to suggest a team heading in the right direction. Progress is rarely linear. There will be downs as well as ups; form comes and goes. But the overriding impression is what counts, and right now that is of a side coming together nicely, if not yet perfectly.” Tomkins Times

“How does one top arguably the greatest night in the history of the club? The answer was twofold for many Liverpool fans: keep Steven Gerrard and mount another genuine title challenge. The former would be ultimately successful; although it looked for a spell as if it would end with the captain jumping ship to Chelsea, Gerrard’s genuine love for the club overcame his demons of self-doubt. The latter – attempting to wrest the Premier League from the Londoners and Manchester United – would be infinitely more challenging and it would take a few years of tweaking and consolidation before a genuine title tilt would become a reality.” Tomkins Times

“This article follows on from last week’s free piece, written in the aftermath of the 2-0 victory over Man United, which in turn took its inspiration from Jonathan Wilson’s quote (and here I merely paraphrase) about Louis van Gaal representing the past, and Jürgen Klopp the future. Football has its fashions – not merely superficial changes, but in terms of what’s effective – and yet not everyone keeps up with progress. And success doesn’t always belong to the team with the most radical style.” Tomkins Times

“Neither manager had any major selection dilemmas before the game. Garde was without several players but only a couple of them were genuinely missed – his only natural holding midfielder Sanchez and the target man Gestede. Interestingly though, the French manager changed the shape from his usual narrow 4-1-2-3/4-3-2-1 to a 4-4-1-1 here despite naming the same starting XI as in the last game against Norwich.” Tomkins Times

“With Leicester not having any major injuries and Liverpool rotating heavily for their FA Cup game, both teams’ starting XIs were predictable. There were no surprises in Ranieri’s or Klopp’s selection decisions. The Foxes continued with their regular starting XI with Okazaki once again preferred as Vardy’s support up front in their usual 4-4-2 formation. Meanwhile, the Reds welcomed back every player that was rested in the West Ham game on Saturday with Lovren keeping his place at centre-back to resume his partnership with Sakho. Interestingly, Klopp decided to go 4-2-3-1 but with Henderson on the right flank.” Tomkins Times

“In what proved to be the craziest game of the season up to now, Norwich’s selection contributed with high level of peculiarity. Neil made four changes from the team that started their last game against Bournemouth, which looked nothing major, especially ast two of the players who started here were regulars (Dorrans and Redmond). Naismith starting this game also wasn’t a surprise given he’s already well accustomed to the demands of the league following his period at Everton. It was only the inclusion of new right-back Pinto that raised eyebrows, more so given Neil’s pre-game comments that he wouldn’t rush to play his overseas signings so soon after joining the club.” Tomkins Times

“Neither manager made any selection surprises. Van Gaal fielded an unchanged starting XI, the only tweak being that Martial and Lingard swapped places down the flanks with the former now on the left and the latter back to the right (against Newcastle it was the other way around). Klopp made one change to his line up but it was hugely influential, as it brought about several other changes to how Liverpool played. With Lucas coming in for Ibe from the previous striker-less 4-2-3-1 formation, the Reds were now in a striker-less 4-1-2-3; instead of having both the wide men high and narrow, here Lallana and Milner were deeper and narrower.” Tomkins Times

“There was a stark reminder of just how young Liverpool’s current squad is when the players headed towards the Kop, hand-in-hand, saluting supporters after their 2-2 stalemate with West Bromwich Albion. Apart from Martin Skrtel and James Milner, the other nine players who embraced the Reds’ supporters at Anfield last weekend were largely fresh-faced and youthful, still learning their trade in the game. Jordon Ibe (20), Divock Origi (20), Roberto Firmino (24), Alberto Moreno (23) and Emre Can (21) were amongst the line of players who greeted fans after the full-time whistle, all of whom are under the age of 25.” Squawka

Tactical Analysis – Liverpool 2 WBA 2
“Klopp made only three changes following the midweek Europa League clash with Sion. None was a surprise, with Moreno and Benteke replacing Smith and Origi and Coutinho, coming back from injury, replacing Firmino who was given the break his recent displays suggested he is in great need of. Pulis’ WBA presented even less of a surprise in their starting XI. Gardner was expectedly chosen to replace the injured Sessegnon down the right flank. This was the only change as although Yacob was in line to make his comeback following a one-game suspension, he had to miss the game due to compassionate leave for bereavement. As such Olsson remained at centre-back with Evans ahead as the team’s defensive midfielder.” Tomkins Times

“Liverpool enhanced their sharp upturn in form under Jurgen Klopp further with a narrow 1-0 victory over Swansea City on Sunday. The Reds have lost just one game since the German took over the Anfield reins last month and their win against Swansea at the weekend was their third straight triumph in all competitions.” Squawka