Luis Diaz led another Anfield second-half show, assisted once again by the supporters and the Anfield atmosphere.
Liverpool 4-0 Bayer Leverkusen
Champions League (4) | Anfield
November 5, 2024
Goals: Diaz 61’ 83′ 90+2′, Gakpo 63
The Anfield effect
Just as on Saturday against Brighton, Anfield inspired Liverpool to two goals in quick succession to help turn the game on its head.
The noise was ramped up in the second half, maybe even in an attempt to keep warm on the terraces as the night grew colder, but this raising of the volume had the same effect as it did at the weekend.
This wasn’t exactly the same as the Brighton game. The first half had been flat rather than poor, against a well-organised Leverkusen side, and at no point were Liverpool behind.
But as The Kop, and Anfield as a whole, created the noise, the Leverkusen coaching staff, Xabi Alonso included, gestured for their players to stay calm.
Three minutes later they were 2-0 down.
The assist for the two opening goals should go to the crowd.
Luis Diaz the striker
If you were told Luis Diaz was playing up front for Liverpool, and then asked to imagine what a goal might look like for Diaz, the striker, the first of a second-half hat-trick might well be it.
Prior to the goal Diaz’s hold-up play had been a bit wayward and his defending from the front a bit erratic, but he was always a potential threat.
That potential turned to reality when he gave Liverpool the lead with just over an hour gone.
What’s more, he was played in on goal by Curtis Jones, who was operating in the attacking midfield role close to the striker.
Arne Slot couldn’t have hoped for any better when he picked this lineup.
Diaz looked more at home in the position after his goal, making darting runs that might have been on the minds of the Leverkusen defenders as Cody Gakpo stole in at the far post to head Liverpool’s second.
Diaz then added two more goals of his own. Composed, striker’s finishes, you might say.
It’s safe to say the experiment worked.
A unique test
One of the charms of international club football is it creates matches between teams who rarely play each other.
This leads to unusual challenges and new tests.
Xabi Alonso’s Leverkusen were certainly one such test for Slot early in his Liverpool tenure.
Despite the result, you can see why Alonso is one of the more highly-rated managers in European football at the moment, and why there were lots of suggestions of him being the man to take over from Jurgen Klopp in the summer.
Leverkusen lined up in a 3-3-4 formation when attacking, before dropping to a 4-4-2 with some man-marking in defence.
Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen 3-3-4 in attack. pic.twitter.com/0s3OoBonXO
— James Nalton (@JDNalton) November 5, 2024
It gave them plenty of options to keep the ball, but also meant they were in good positions if they lost it.
There has been talk of tests in the league, with the recent games against Arsenal and Chelsea, and this was a different type of test, but one they passed with flying colours.
Less possession? No problem
Another aspect of Leverkusen’s game was their build-up play which meant they finished the game having had more possession than Liverpool, with 53%.
Much was said about Slot’s preference for adding some control to the chaos, but this was the third home game in a row in which Liverpool have been second-best in terms of the total possession number.
The Reds had 49% of the ball against Brighton, 43% against Chelsea, and now 47% against Leverkusen.
They won all three of these games, however, showing that even without the desired control, they can still pick up results.
Gomez unlucky not to feature
We are still learning which players Slot trusts more than the others, and also learning how he will go about rotating this squad.
When Ibrahima Konate went off at halftime in the Brighton game with a wrist injury, Joe Gomez performed impressively in his stead.
It might have been expected, even with Konate declared fit, that Gomez would keep his place on the back of his outstanding performance.
But Konate was straight back in to partner Virgil van Dijk in a strong starting XI for Slot.
It appears that Slot is keen to keep his centre-back pairing the same in the league and Champions League where possible, though there is always the chance he could rotate slightly against Villa on Saturday.
Will Gomez be one of the players coming in? He can count can himself unlucky if his display versus Brighton is his last meaningful action for a while.
