Liverpool breeze past Sheffield United to complete year unbeaten in Premier League

Liverpool 2-0 Sheffield United: The champions of Europe and of the world are another game closer to claiming the status they have coveted above all for three decades: champions of England

Melissa Reddy
Anfield
Thursday 02 January 2020 22:59 GMT
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Jurgen Klopp lost for words after Liverpool's Club World Cup win

There was a feel of popped corks and clinking glasses at Anfield as Liverpool toasted to a year without defeat in the league after ousting Sheffield United 2-0 in their first fixture of 2020.

Manchester City were the last team to inflict a top-flight loss on Jurgen Klopp’s juggernaut a staggering 12 months and 37 games ago.

The Merseysiders are now 13 points clear with a game in hand, as they relentlessly hunt down the major honour to have narrowly eluded them in 2019.

A club-record haul of 97 wasn’t enough to seal the title last season and that painful near miss has sparked a state of no surrender from this side. Liverpool can afford to drop points, but refuse to.

The champions of Europe and of the world are another game closer to claiming the status they have coveted above all for three decades: champions of England.

Liverpool picked up another injury with Naby Keita hurting his right groin in the warm-up on Thursday night to be replaced by James Milner. The Guinea international joins Xherdan Shaqiri, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Fabinho, Joel Matip and Dejan Lovren on the sidelines, but the response to all these setbacks has been phenomenal.

The pre-match change could have hamstrung the hosts, but instead they took the lead on four minutes. Virgil van Dijk pumped a classy long ball – his trademark – to Andy Robertson on the left and his low pass across the box saw Mohamed Salah get in front of John Egan to convert.

Liverpool could have extended their early advantage through the same scorer, but Dean Henderson foiled the Egyptian’s stellar first-time shot from 12 yards with a fantastic one-handed save.

The visiting goalkeeper thwarted Salah again after the forward met Sadio Mane’s flick-on and while the league leaders were largely in control at the interval, more was required to cause Sheffield United great discomfort.

David McGoldrick has attempted the most shots in the top flight without scoring this season, but his importance to Wilder cannot be understated.

His work out of possession, effective use of the ball and appetite to be in the mix of everything was an important tool in trying to ruffle a regal home defence with Joe Gomez immense again.

Gini Wijnaldum, the shielder supreme, was also excellent along with captain Jordan Henderson in gaining command of the game.

But Liverpool needed to be quicker with their passing and more assured with their link play in the second stanza, with Klopp ordering as much from the sidelines.

They duly upped the ante and when Salah’s chipped curler evaded the intended recipient Van Dijk and everyone else, the opposition stopper was relieved that it came off the inside of the post and into his hands.

Salah and Mane were superb in the routine win

That comfort didn’t last long with Liverpool derailing Sheffield United’s well-drilled defence with a superbly worked goal that began with Alisson rolling the ball to Robertson.

The left-back fed Mane, who carrying it forward and sprayed a pass to Salah in the D, continuing his run for the return ball. Henderson managed to keep out his first effort, but the Senegal international shot back up and reacted quickest to blast in the rebound.

Oliver McBurnie snatched at and spoiled a chance late on in a rare moment of disconcert for Liverpool in the second half.

Wilder’s team are terrific with so many varied threats, but they were well nullified here. "They won every first ball, every second ball, ran forward and ran back," the visiting manager conceded in his post-match TV interview.

"They had the humility and desire to do that as world champions. I love everything about them!"

And so Liverpool made it five consecutive Premier League clean sheets for the first time since September 2007 as the rest of the division has to strain their necks to look up at the pacesetters.

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