Liverpool Snap Losing Streak with 5-1 Win

Liverpool snapped their winless run vs Frankfurt yesterday and for the first time in a while, they looked like the team fans thought they’d be at the start of the season. A team with control as well as penetration. The 5-1 win may well serve as a catalyst to get their league form back on track and start competing seriously again. The first surprise of the night was that star forward Mo Salah started on the bench, with Arne Slot opting for a 442 with Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike at the top, flanked by Cody Gakpo on the left and surprisingly, Florian Wirtz on the right. Dino Toppmoller went for an unusual 343, a deviation that meant Can Uzun also started on the bench.

Both teams started brightly but Liverpool quickly took control of the game, testing Michael Zetterer twice in quick succession in the 7th and 9th minute, they continued to dominate until the 15th minute when Frankfurt got a free kick in their half to ease the heavy pressure they were under. The first substitution of the match came in the 18th minute as Jeremy Frimpong had to go off after a suspected injury, he was replaced by Connor Bradley. Just 3 minutes after the substitution, Frankfurt took a shock lead through Rasmus Kristensen, moving the ball from back to front almost effortlessly as they cut through the Liverpool press before Mario Gotze found Kristensen on the right who drove into the box and buried the ball in the bottom right corner past Giorgi Mamardashivili.

Liverpool were undeterred though as they kept pushing and finally got their first goal of the night in the 35th minute with Hugo Ekitike finding the back of the net against his former club on his return to his previous stomping ground. It was a composed finish after Andy Robertson’s pass found him all alone with acres of space to run in a counter situation and he took the ball past the last defender before finishing coolly. That goal was the turning point for Liverpool and they never looked back, taking the lead just 4 minutes after equalizing through the captain, Van Dijk, a brilliant header from Cody Gakpo’s corner. Just a minute before half time, it was 3-1, another goal from a corner, Dominik Szoboslai inswinging corner was finished with a bullet header from Ibrahima Konate that left Zetterer rooted to the spot.

Federico Chiesa came on at the start of the second half to replace Alexander Isak who had another quiet game bar the shots at the start of the game and Chiesa had an opportunity just 3 minutes after he came on but his shot was too high. Liverpool kept dominating the game and they had chance after chance to make it 4-1 but those chances weren’t converted. Frankfurt were just hanging on by a thread and without Can Uzun, they looked rather blunt going forward, Toppmoller tried to change this with a couple of subs between the 59th and 65th minute with Jonathan Burkardt, Fares Chaibi and Can Uzun himself, he also brought on defender Nnamdi Collins to replace goalscorer Rasmus Kristensen.

The subs were perhaps too little too late as not much changed with them, the chances continued to pour in for Liverpool, Ekitike should have scored in the 63rd minute but fired straight at the goalkeeper while Connor Bradley had a shot tipped on to the bar just a minute later. The 4th goal finally came in the 66th minute with Florian Wirtz getting his first of two assists on the night after setting up Cody Gakpo for a relatively easy finish to put the match completely beyond Frankfurt. The 5th goal came just 4 minutes after the 4th with Dominik Szoboszlai getting his second goal contribution of the night with a powerful shot into the bottom corner from outside the box after Florian Wirtz passed him the ball. Mo Salah finally came on in the 74th minute to replace Hugo Ekitike with Alexis MacAllister also coming on in place of Cody Gakpo and Joe Gomez coming on in place of Ibrahima Konate. Salah almost scored 2 minutes after he came on, forcing a save from the goalkeeper after latching onto a through ball from Federico Chiesa but he might perhaps have passed to Florian Wirtz instead as the German was completely free for a tap in and he chose not to. Chiesa got one more chance to score that the goalkeeper saved and Salah again failed to score as he sent a shot over the bar in the 90th minute.

For Frankfurt, it was an all too familiar scoreline as they won their first group phase match 5-1 vs Galatasaray and proceeded to lose the next two by the same scoreline to Atletico Madrid first and then Liverpool yesterday, a result that leaves them at 22nd on the standings. For Liverpool meanwhile, the win was a great one and it should serve as a confidence boost for them in their next match away at Brentford in the Premier League, it also takes them to 10th on the Group Phase table with 2 wins from 3 matches.