The Reds dominated the first half of action, particularly up the right side through Carragher and Maxi Rodriguez, and they were unlucky to not score. Paul Robinson had an incredible half — and game — and single-handedly prevented a blowout.
Blackburn showed very little going forward. Their only goal came, predictably, right after Liverpool scored, and it was on an out-of-nowhere counterattack. Diouf finished well, even though Carragher got the credit for his touch-line save right into the corner of the net. Skyrtel and Kyrgiakos looked solid for the entirety of the match, and Kyrgiakos was truly the Reds’ star. He was a dominant presence at the back, but even more-so on set pieces.
Liverpool won a laughable 15 corners, and most were well-taken by Gerrard. Liverpool could have been awarded two penalties, and their heads repeatedly got on the end of the captain’s deliveries.
It should also be noted that Raul Meireles had a much better game, actually involving himself in the attack.
Perhaps most encouraging, though, was the play of Fernando Torres. He got many more touches than he had in past games, given the higher line taken by Liverpool’s formation, and he looked threatening throughout. He was able to play with the ball at his feet, not simply forced to try to win longballs and Joe Cole crosses. His finish, as he has always been capable of, was beautifully taken.
Hopefully, this victory will mark a change in philosophy for Hodgson and a corner turned for Torres. Liverpool are now almost out of the relegation zone, but they have much work to do.
90+3′, Liverpool 2-1: Maxi Rodriguez is fouled by Salgado deep in the Blackburn zone. They take their time with the set piece, as expected, and bring next to nobody forward. Reina is tested on a long range effort, but that may be the last effort for Blackburn. Grella fouls Lucas, who stays down, and he gets a yellow card. It was another red-worthy foul. AND THAT’S THAT. 2-1 LIVERPOOL.
90′, Liverpool 2-1: Shelvey gets his league debut, on for Meireles. Upon review, Kyrgiakos deserved a penalty on the last corner. Three minutes of added time.
89′, Liverpool 2-1: Blackburn go back on the attack, but they cannot maintain the pressure down the left. Lucas eventually gets the full clearance back to Robinson. Gerrard gives a great long ball on a counter for Torres, but Robinson controls it. Liverpool is pressing Blackburn high more than has been typical of the Reds this season.
86′, Liverpool 2-1: Liverpool have begun to take most of the possession, hoping to find a clincher. They win a corner. Gerrard corner again results in penalty shouts after a lot of contact. Kyrgiakos received the bump. He’s back on.
83′, Liverpool 2-1: Rovers continue their possession advantage, but create no moments of danger. Reina is forced to punch a cross, and Blackburn get a throw. Pedersen has been active in their offense, but has done as much poorly as well. Olsson shoots way over the bar from well outside. Yellow card for Meireles going forward for a bad challenge on Hoilett. It could have been a red. Kyrgiakos is shaken up after taking a blow to the ribs. He comes off.
80′, Liverpool 2-1: Robinson takes a free kick from midfield but slips on his delivery. Liverpool wins a goal kick, and David Ngog comes on for Joe Cole. Cole had a better match than he had in his last few, but he was not one of Liverpool’s best. He did,though, generate multiple good chances for the squad.
77′, Liverpool 2-1: Blackburn win a corner, their fourth of the day. Liverpool have taken 14 thus far. Skyrtel heads the effort away, but it is goes for a throw before Liverpool wins a goal kick.
74′ Liverpool 2-1: Blackburn has gone on the front foot as Liverpool has seemed content to protect the lead for the rest of the match. Still, the Rovers have managed few good chances.
70′, Liverpool 2-1: Dunn has been taken out for Hoilett, and Blackburn will now feature a 4-4-2. That’s all the subs for the Rovers. Blackburn enjoys another spell of sustained offense, but Pedersen’s long-range effort is well off target.
66′ Liverpool 2-1: Torres wins a corner. Kyrgiakos, who has dominated on set pieces, gets on the end again and heads it down into the ground, but it bounces above the crossbar. The Reds are on the attack shortly thereafter. A Carragher cross comes to nothing, but Liverpool controls. Cole leaves a tricky ball for Maxi, but it is cleared to Konchesky. Finally, the Rovers clear to midfield. Liverpool have again definitively taken the front foot.
62′, Liverpool 2-1: Pedersen’s free kick goes for a corner. Joe Cole sends a dangerous cross at the other end, but nobody is there in the area. While Liverpool now has the advantage, this half has seen more even play.
58′, Liverpool 2-1: Blackburn gets a corner, but Liverpool is able to clear. Rovers maintain possession in Reds’ third. Cole gets a counterattack, but it is cut out. Lucas concedes a free kick in the center of the Liverpool third — 35 yards.
54′, Liverpool 2-1: Cole crosses in, and Kyrgiakos heads it on. Torres finishes beautifully to the near post. GOAL. The Reds have taken a 2-1 lead in a frenzied stretch of action.
51′, 1-1: Another frenzied attack off a corner. Maxi Rodriguez puts a corner sharply on net, but Robinson saves. Kyrgiakos is pushed inside the area, but no penalty is given. The ball bounces around dangerously before the clearance. The counterattack incredibly leads to a GOAL. Benjani, who had come on at half for Kalinic, finds Diouf in in the center, and it is past Reina, but Carragher hits it into the net off the touch line. It counts as an own goal, but it was Diouf’s effort.
48′, Liverpool 1-0: And we’re back. Liverpool must now convert the run of play to actual goals. No changes for the Reds at half. GOAL! Kyrgiakos rises incredibly high and has a free header which he puts into the near corner off a corner kick. The scoreline now matches the effort.
Half, 0-0: Blackburn get some possession before half time, but Reina again cuts out a cross. Liverpool again go forward. Though the Reds have lost possession, Blackburn, as has often been the case, has done a poor job clearing. Finally, they win a counter, but can do nothing with it. Torres gets a counter opportunity of his own but loses the ball trying to go around Jones. Half-time whistle.
43′, 0-0: Hodgson looks frustrated with the scoreline given the run of play. Kyrgiakos wins the header off the corner and connects with Lucas, whose header is offline. Possession bounces around midfield thereafter. Rodriguez wins a ball on the right , and his cross is retrieved by Cole. Liverpool are again on the front foot. Torres takes a header but gets little on it. Robinson saves.
40′, 0-0: Gerrard takes yet another corner, which falls to Meireles, whose shot is blocked from the top. Liverpool build from the back following a clearance. When Liverpool is holding, they are doing so in the border of the final third — not in their own half. Blackburn has offered little pressure. Rodriguez finds Torres on the right of the box, and Torres centers but it is deflected for a corner. The corner falls to Meireles, and it is well taken but deflected away.
36′, 0-0: Blackburn get possession in a dangerous area, but the final pass goes awry. Liverpool, though concede a counter, but Blackburn holds up and possesses in midfield. They eventually give it away for a goal kick, but they are looking slightly more composed. Grella has come on for Nzonzi.
33′, 0-0: Nzonzi comes off with an injury for the Rovers. Blackburn finally has a spell of offense, but the ball eventually goes to Reina harmlessly. He finds Torres with the kick, but the ball goes back to Blackburn. Maxi Rodriguez gets the ball in the area, but cannot do anything with it. Still, he wins a corner.
30′, 0-0: Liverpool win another corner, taken short by Gerrard. The ball comes back to the captain in the area. The game has become heated with a series of tackles in the area, and both Givet and Olsson get yellow cards. Gerrard’s free kick catches Robinson off his line, but the ball finds its way out of the danger zone.
27′, 0-0: Reina decisively fields a cross and sends a great release to Gerrard. He lays it off to Lucas who gives it back at the top of the area. Gerrard makes a strong effort on net, but Robinson parries it for a corner, which comes to no effect. The Reds are above 70 percent possession thus far.
24′, 0-0: The Reds win a series of throws deep down the right side. It seems a matter of when, not if that they will score. Joe Cole makes a nice run and wins a corner. The ball is controlled high by Konchesky, but Lucas concedes a free kick.
21′, 0-0: Kyrgiakos concedes a free kick in a dangerous area, but Skyrtel cuts out the effort, and gets a deflection for a goal kick. Liverpool continue to maintain the front foot, particularly using the right side to their advantage. Carragher and Maxi Rodriguez are dominating the area, and Meireles is picking them out frequently.
17′, 0-0: Blackburn gets the ball in a dangerous area, but Kyrgiakos cuts out the threat well. Maxi tries to find Torres with a long ball, but misses by a couple of steps. On the attacking end, Liverpool wins a corner, and Kyrgiakos puts a sharp header on net, but Robinson punches it away very well. He has kept Blackburn in this one. Gerrard takes a corner from the left now. It bounces around before Maxi hits it over the bar.
14′, 0-0: Liverpool’s midfielders are taking a higher line than usual, and Torres is getting many more touches. Carragher is overlapping well, and Meireles is active in the offense. This looks like a different team than in weeks past.
11′, 0-0: Liverpool are looking dangerous thus far. Gerrard strikes a beautiful ball towards Torres at the far post, but it is headed behind for a corner, which Robinson punches away. Liverpool keeps the pressure on.
8′, 0-0: Gerrard takes a free kick from dangerous area, but Skyrtel is called for handball going for the header. A few moments later, Fernando Torres finds Maxi Rodriguez who centers beautifully to Joe Cole, whose on-target effort is brilliantly saved by Robinson. The follow up shot goes wide.
4′, 0-0: The Reds have begun the match with greater offensive impetus. After a spell in their defensive zone, they have been putting Blackburn under intense pressure. Meireles and Maxi Rodgriguez are already more involved going forward than they have been in past matches.
10 a.m.: Players are on the field. Just moments from kickoff. New owners are being serenaded to their first “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”
9:30 a.m.: It appears that neither Glen Johnson nor Daniel Agger will in fact be available for Sunday’s match.
6 a.m.: The Blackburn Rovers are a notoriously good home team — which matters absolutely none as they head to Anfield to take on Liverpool.
The Reds are looking for their first win of the NESV era, and they will have many of their big guns back in that effort. Fernando Torres, Lucas, Raul Meireles and Steven Gerrard will all return to action after being given this week’s Europa League group match at Napoli off.
Glen Johnson will also be returning to the pitch, but the statuses of fellow defenders Jamie Carragher and Daniel Agger remain up in the air.
Blackburn sits just one spot above Liverpool in the league table in 17th position, but even so, their level of urgency cannot possibly be as high as that of Roy Hodgson‘s desperate side.
Kickoff is at 10 a.m. ET.
The lineups are posted below.
Liverpool
Pepe Reina (25), goalkeeper
Sotirios Kyrgiakos (16), center-left defender
Martin Skrtel (37), center-right defender
Paul Konchesky (3), left back
Jamie Carragher (23), right back
Lucas (21), center-left midfielder
Raul Meireles (4), center-right midfielder
Joe Cole (10), left wing
Maxi RodrÃguez (17), right wing
Fernando Torres (9), striker
Steven Gerrard (8), right-center forward
Substitutes
Ryan Babel (19)
Brad Jones (1)
Christian Poulsen (28)
David Ngog (24)
Jonjo Shelvey (33)
Martin Kelly (34)
Milan Jovanovic (14)
Blackburn Rovers
Paul Robinson (1), goalkeeper
Gael Givet (5), center-left defender
Phil Jones (28) center-right defender
Martin Olsson (3), left back
MÃchel Salgado (27), right back
Steven Nzonzi (15), center-left midfielder
Brett Emerton (7), center-right midfielder
David Dunn (8), attacking midfielder
Morten Gamst Pedersen (12), left wing
El-Hadji Diouf (10), right wing
Nikola Kalinic (9), forward
Substitutes
Mark Bunn (13)
Benjani Mwaruwari (21)
Pascal Chimbonda (39)
Vince Grella (11)
David Hoilett (23)
Mame Biram Diouf (41)
Josh Morris (33)
