Liverpool and Villa End their losing streak with 1-1...

Not quite what they were expecting but Liverpool finally end their losing streak with a draw against a very well disciplined defence from Villa.


The Line-Up


Doni starts for his debut in goal, the Brazilian should show some real ability and a good one to test against Villa as Mcleish sets up Heskey to return to Anfield and the new appointed captain with Petrov's absence, Gabby Agbonlahor.
In the back with Kelly and Johnson still out, Flanagan continues his first team appearance for the club. Liverpool sees the return of Daniel Agger on the bench with Carragher and Skrtel in the Centre of defence and the ever so offensive Enrique on the left.
Midfield we have Shelvey, Henderson, Gerrard and Downing. Shelvey is given another chance to play hopefully to show his worth while Henderson... well we'll see whether he's figured out what he's doing.
Curious to see as Maxi is again, yet to be used with his experience and ability to play well with Kuyt and Gerrard is brushed aside.
Up front we had the ever threatening Suarez and the return on Kuyt. Rumours of Kuyt have appeared as it seems he has been looking at his stay at Anfield as a big doubt since the arrival of Carroll, Suarez, Adam and Henderson, he hasn't really ahd the chance to play as often even though he was such a central piece of Anfield's pick-up last season.
The frustration is understandable since his ability to play great football is always seen but not always used this season.


The Game!


What can we possibly say? A start that should have been a great run of goals from Liverpool but Villa were not about to let anything go without a fight. Kuyt was the first to really have a chance but his 5 yard shot saw him blast it over the roof.
After a shot on target saw Doni work to slap away the ball, Bannan was the one to collect and a lay-off to Herd sees him take a brilliantly struck shot that curved away from Doni. A brilliant shot and there really wasn't anything Doni could do, though the question stands as to why Herd was able to get into so much space?


Following there were plenty to shout about as Villa continued their assault but Liverpool were reacting and countering extremely well, until the final third where the problem was a lot more apparent than their previous games.


A few penalty calls not given, and a terrible run of calls from the referee for both sides but more so for Liverpool (due to the amount of possession).


Second half Kenny must have said something as the team came back to life and the need for a win came back and saw plenty more shots but still nothing to land in the back of the net. Given was given a lot more work to do and with a high possession percentage of 70%, surely something would have happened!
Shelvey was taken off after a game that saw his performance seem too hesitant, for Bellamy, Downing was off for Carroll which didn't make much sense as he was doing exceedingly well compared to Henderson, although Henderson has had much more shots on target.
Enrique was taken off for the return of Agger as he held down Enriques position.
Flanagan played a much more positive role than his previous games and showed a real growth in his ability but still has a little bit of hesitant up against 2 or more players; a bit of nervousness if anything.
With all four strikers up forward, a goal was imminent but it still took too much time but a cross in from Gerrard met Agger who's header whacked the bar and into the face of Suarez who knocked it into the roof.
The late equalised riled up the kop and the team to continue pushing forward but with Villa happy with a draw, time was continuously wasted with injuries and substitutes.


Carroll had a chance to score but his header went over. Gerrard had taken a cracker of a shot but Given's was able to parry it away.


In the end, a draw was all that Liverpool were able to muster.


Analysis


A good game but there were so many issues with the refereeing on both teams. Two penalty calls were not given as Suarez sees Herd handle the ball but the referee was not convinced, it was a bit of a desperate attempt to keep Suarez at bay and it worked but not great judgement by Michael Oliver. Second saw Kuyt also claiming a handball but it was not to be. A simulation from Suarez was given as Oliver showed him the yellow card, replays clearly shows he was stood on. Second was for new fella Carruthers who was also stood on but was given a card for simulation so a poor refereed game for both sides. Disappointing referee, don't you think it's time for replays to be used to keep the game fair?


Other wise the game wasn't too bad but it took far too long for Liverpool to really make something of it.


Kuyt showed his hard-work ethics while Gerrard showed us all just why he's the skipper while Downing played a decent game, providing many balls but maybe his accuracy needs sharpening. Henderson attacked a lot more but still to really show structure or understanding of the players around him. Shelvey was far too defensive and seemed to give the ball away too much. Flanagan had done well but Villa saw him as a target to attack and aimed down the left hand side to try and take on the kid but his determination showed and really put up a fight.
Suarez moved in and out getting and holding the ball well but little support in the centre made it difficult.
Doni did really well for his first game, besides the goal as that goal really was impossible for him to save. No problems here with his performance at all and happy for him to play the next few games.


Main issue up front seemed to be the lack of movement. Kuyt was playing extremely wide and not really holding the centre as much. Suarez was always surrounded by 2 defenders at all times making it hard for him to run through. As much as he moves and makes space, no one is there to drop into it and attack the ball.
With the lack of movement, no space is opened which saw why the Villa defence didn't have to move and were able to stay in their positions to deter any attack.
Towards the end of the second half, this became even more apparent. Both Suarez and Carroll in the centre, Suarez moves across Carroll who holds the 2-3 defenders yet Bellamy still aimed for the tall fella rather than playing Suarez who was moving into an open space.
Suarez seemed to know how to play up front but the midfielders, Shelvey and Henderson don't seem to push forward to draw out the defenders and give themselves as option.
Gerrard was holding outside the box and occasionally pushing forward.
The midfielder they needed was Maxi.
He proved his worth at the end of the season where he was constantly in the box but furthest away to collect the spilled balls and taking cracking shots but always dropping into space to attack. An absolute shame he isn't being played.


The Reds weren't able to take away a win but managed to at least break their losing streak. Anfield still cries for a win. With only 5 wins at home, the once named Fortress seems to have lowered to a moat and a town hall. Rebuilding is necessary and looking at the bigger picture, Dalglish is yet to find someone to replace the spot once held by Alonso. Since his departure, Liverpool's attack has yet to have a real impact in a game and even more so, the experiment of players, mixture of pairings are causing the team to really breakdown. Henderson really wasn't the answer but with any player that has lasted until now, they all took time. There was a time where Skrtel was criticised, now a solid choice for centre back. Lucas, once booed every game, now a prized player who has been out for a while and we miss him. Although time is not what is given to Kenny at the moment with the need to bring more than just a trophies, a fourth position.


In a time where teams are buying their way to the top, the right player needs to brought over to the team and a player that wants to play for the team. At the moment, I feel we were too hasty with the purchase of players over the Summer.


But this game has shown that Liverpool still have fight in them and there is still time to prove their worth and true ability.
A game to watch is definitely the F.A. Cup Semi-Finals against Everton who are still in form after a tough away game against an inform home team at Norwich.
Lets see what the Reds can come up with.