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Sheffield United should be proud, they should be really proud of how they played. But football is a game of results and unfortunately, all they lacked was a result.
Just as the ball slipped through his legs, everyone in the home crowd let out a collective sigh, with a feeling that the inevitable has happened. Dean Henderson’s goalkeeping error was the difference-maker in an entertaining weekend opener in the Premier League between Sheffield United and Liverpool.
For 70 minutes, Sheffield United held on admirably. And they didn’t just hold on, they were dominant at times. Facing the league leaders and European champions, they were given a free hit in cricket parlance. There would have been no shame in losing to this Liverpool side. And hence, we were treated to an entertaining game of football.
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Showing the hallmarks of a well-coached team, Sheffield United finished the first half by matching Liverpool at all fonts, keeping Liverpool from having even a single shot on target. This was the first time since January that Liverpool had zero shots on target at halftime.
Many believed that Liverpool will come back stronger in the second half. Yet, it was more or less the same story after the break. Sheffield United were proving too much for Liverpool to break down. And unfortunately, Chris Wilder’s men conceded a goal during their most dominant period of the game. If not for an error by Henderson, we would probably be discussing another result right now.
That said, it sure was an entertaining affair for the neutrals. Let’s have a look at some of the key takeaways from this game.
#1 Liverpool are capable of winning the title
It is 2020 and Liverpool have been crowned as the champions of England after pipping Manchester City to the title. As we look back at their journey, the mistake by Dean Henderson to help Liverpool grab a 1-0 win seems too significant.
Well, not exactly. But, we could be hearing something like this come May 2020. This is too early to talk about the title but seeing what happened last season, we could expect similarly small margins deciding the title race. When you have two juggernauts like Liverpool and Manchester City fighting for the crown, every point matters. And so, these 3 points would be hugely important for Klopp’s side
A lot must go right for a side to win the Premier League title. For sure a team needs to be consistent, but there is also a factor of luck. Just ask Steven Gerrard about the 2013-14 season.
Liverpool have the credentials to win the title. They have an extremely balanced squad with quality in attack and defense. Barring an untimely injury, if The Reds can build a healthy lead in the first half of the season, one can see they are capable of retaining it. This Liverpool team is more mature than those teams of the past. This is a Liverpool team hungry for more silverware after their UCL exploits last season.
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#2 Dean Henderson has a great potential
Dean Henderson may have had a moment to forget, but that doesn’t hide the otherwise solid performance he had throughout the 90 minutes. He made a few impressive saves in the game, especially his one-on-one encounter with Mohamed Salah. His mistake cannot hide the fact that he has been one of the most impressive young keepers in the Premier League this season.
Henderson came back to Sheffield United on loan from Manchester United after helping the Blades to promotion last season. This season, he has been ever-present in the Sheffield back line where he has collected two clean sheets, conceded seven goals, and made 21 saves in seven appearances for the club.
The error leading to goal from Georginio Wijnaldum’s shot was actually an uncharacteristic one and is in no way an indication of Dean Henderson’s quality. At just 22 years of age, there’s a lot more to come from this player.
#3 No relegation battle for Sheffield United
Considering the fact that Sheffield United is a newly promoted side, their current standing in the league table is quite impressive. It is not often that we see a Championship club get promoted to the Premier League and stick to their style of play. Usually, these teams try to play cautiously against the Premier League big boys.
Chris Wilder should be lauded for the fact that his team is not afraid to play their football, even against the top sides in the Premier League. Their brand of attacking football is what got them two promotions and it would be the reason that would save their season.
Chris Wilder prefers to play with three central defenders at the back in his preferred 3-5-2 or 3-4-2-1 formation. His teams play quite offensively and are good at transitions. His teams are capable of swiftly changing the shape to a 5-3-2 formation defensively or against stronger opponents. Against Liverpool too, they lined up in a 3-5-2 and troubled Klopp’s men with some impressive counter-attacks. If not for a lack of better finishing, they would have taken the lead too.
Moreover, the innovative concept of overlapping center backs has not been seen in the world of football before. And for a league, which was only a few years back considered tactically naive, it is a promising sign. The emergence of novel tacticians like Wilder is a great for the Premier League as a whole.
If they keep playing the way they played against Liverpool, there’s no doubting that Sheffield United would be far away from the relegation zone.
#4 Adrian is proving his worth
It’s been a while that Alisson Becker has been out of the team because of an injury. He is arguably the best goalkeeper in the league right now, a FIFA FIFPRo World XI member, a European Champion, and a Copa America winner. Thus, it is a testament to Adrian’s quality that no one has really missed Alisson during this period. It’s not easy to replace a player of Alisson’s caliber and yet Adrian continues to prove his doubters wrong.
Picked up as a backup keeper on a free transfer during the close season, Adrian was only ever expected to fill in the bench because of the departure of Simon Mignolet. But as fate would have it, due to Alisson’s unfortunate injury during the season opener against Norwich, he was thrust directly into action. After his heroics in the Super Cup win over Chelsea, Adrian has seamlessly slotted into this Liverpool team.
In the game against Sheffield, Adrian again had a solid performance. He has been getting better in the Liverpool shirt and made two saves against Sheffield. One of them was a good diving save to thwart Oliver Norwood’s effort.
Conclusion
For all their efforts, Sheffield United failed to get anything out of this game. Though an exciting affair, the Blades fans would be gutted to not get even a single point. Football is a game of results, and unfortunately, Chris Wilder and his men sent Liverpool home by gifting them three valuable points.
Liverpool, on the other hand, would see it as a lesson for future games and try to be more clinical in the final third. Meanwhile, everyone including Manchester City might be feeling that the elusive Premier League title may finally grace Anfield.
