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Liverpool has been struggling for form recently and it couldn't have gotten more terrible than this. Leicester stunned Liverpool with a classic come back. 3 quick goals in quick succession were enough to damage any title aspirations for Liverpool because City looked like they are running away with the title as it seems.
Leicester City has never won Liverpool since 2012 and this is the first time since 2014 that Liverpool would lose 3 consecutive Premier League games. The last time they did was in 2014 when current Leicester City manager; Brendan Rodgers was in charge of Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp is the 9th manager to play 300 Liverpool games in all competitions and the first Liverpool manager to lose his 300th match as well since Bill Shankly did in 1965.
Brendan Rodgers is the first former Liverpool manager to beat Liverpool in the Premier League since Roy Hodgson last did it with West Brom in 2012.
The game started well with Maddison's audacious and speculative attempt when he saw Alisson off the line but his effort was no threat to Alisson. Not long after, a long ball found Mane, he brilliantly held off his attackers and passed to Salah but it was cleared off.
In the 16th minute, Salah's volley went wide even though he was just 18 yards out. It was shocking, to say the least. He must have forgotten his shooting boots at home on the day. 4 minutes after, Salah got a low cross into the box which beat the goalkeeper. Mane managed to get a touch but it went wide.
In the 25th minute, Salah found Firmino but the ball was too close to the goalkeeper even though he tried to dink it over but was unable to get the needed touch on it.
Both had a series of attack but nothing meaningful came out of them. Hardy had a brilliant run in the 36th minute, received a good cross too but his header was tame and the goalkeeper saved it. Firmino also had his own attempt just 2 minutes after while he was aiming for the far low corner his effort was deflected for a corner kick. What a goal that would have been.
Both teams tried to get ahead before half time and Vardy had the chance in the 42nd minute when he was played through. His shot beat the goalkeeper but not the bar. His effort rattled the crossbar. If only the ball could go an inch lower, it would have been a brilliant goal.
The half time ended 0-0 but Liverpool had a real chance in the 58th minute when Arnold's freekick deflected and struck the edge of the post. In the 67th minute, the moment of truth came when Arnold had a pass at the side of the box given to Firmino, whose brilliant footwork sets up Salah and he produced a wonderful cool finish that he bent to the far left of the post. It was a fantastic finish. A goal like this is deserving to break the deadlock.
Leicester City came out fighting and a freekick was given at the side of the box. Maddison took it and the ball strolled into the net without a touch from anyone. It was insane and the game drew level to 1-1.
3 minutes after, Leicester City moved ahead when Vardy pounced on the miscommunication between Alisson and debutant, Ozan Kabak, who is on loan from Schalke. They both clashed and Vardy was on hand to guide the ball into the back of the net with ease. 2-1.
Alisson has now been guilty of making another mistake after making 3 against Manchester City where 2 led to goals. In the 85th minute, the game was taken far from the reach of Liverpool when Barnes ran into the box, coolly bends his effort into the bottom right corner of the post to make it 3-1. Liverpool fell apart at this point and there was no comeback to this.
Liverpool would again go back to the drawing board so they can arrest this decline. Leicester moved to second place to knock down Manchester United into 3rd place pending when United would take on West Brom. Leicester City showed their title credentials and they grew into the game. It was the kind of response you'd expect from any team with a winning mentality and they turned up on the day. What a good day in the office for Brendan Rodgers.
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