Anzhi vs. Liverpool: 6 Things We Learned in Reds' Europa League Defeat

Liverpool suffered their second group stage defeat in the Europa League against Anzhi Makhachkala as they fell to a 1-0 defeat.
Brendan Rodgers fielded a very young side over in Russia and a change in formation to help them stem the expected tide of Anzhi attacks and domination of the match, but instead it was actually the Reds who had the majority of control of the game.
Despite this, Anzhi scored the only goal of the match just a few seconds before half time, with Lacina Traore lifting the ball over first Seb Coates and then Brad Jones, for an excellent individual strike.
Here are six things we learned from the game.

Liverpool Look Solid Playing with a Back Three

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A big part of Rodgers' switch was to start a game with three central defenders, with Jon Flanagan and Stewart Downing acting as wing-backs.
Liverpool looked very comfortable for much of the match with three defenders at the back, with Andre Wisdom and Jamie Carragher occupying the channels either side of Seb Coates.
It aided the team in retaining possession because it offered a quick, easy route for the midfielders to turn back whenever they were pressed high up the pitch, and both Wisdom and Carragher were comfortable stepping into the midfield line when necessary.
It was a momentary lapse of concentration in defence from Coates which cost Liverpool the game in the end, but until the last minutes as the Reds chased an equaliser they remained comfortable in dealing with most of the threats Anzhi threw at them.
Three at the back, whether with five or four in midfield, remains a good option for the future for Liverpool.

Toothless in Attack Without Suarez

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As expected, Liverpool left several first team players behind in England with an important and difficult Premier League match against Chelsea on the horizon.
One of those players was Luis Suarez, the Reds' top scorer for this season and biggest threat by far in the final third.
Adam Morgan got his chance to start up front through the centre, supported by Joe Cole.
The Reds did well in possession and made a few interesting-looking chances on goal, notably in the first half when Henderson had a chance to shoot inside the box, but by and large there was a lack of spark, nobody to help hold the ball up near the Anzhi box and very little indication that Liverpool would actually score.
Suarez remains the only Liverpool player to have scored a goal since the Anfield game against the same opposition.

Ohh!! Suarez Hatrick sinks Norwich City

Lightning struck twice for Luis Suarez at Carrow Road as the Uruguayan once again terrorised Norwich with a scintillating hat-trick to help Liverpool to a 5-2 victory.

Just as he was five months ago, the Uruguayan was simply unplayable, hammering home a variety of strikes while Nuri Sahin and Steven Gerrard added their names to the scoresheet.

As the teams lined up, the Norwich supporters might have struggled to recognise some of the young faces in the Reds' starting XI as Suso took to the field and Andre Wisdom was handed his Barclays Premier League debut by Brendan Rodgers.

Perhaps even more unfamiliar was the vivid orange, white and nightshade third-strip the Liverpool players donned for the game.

But one face was all too recognizable to the home crowd, as it had been etched onto their memory on a rainy Norwich afternoon in April, when hat-trick hero Suarez single-handedly demolished them.

And while the last stragglers were still taking their seats on a sunny afternoon at Carrow Road, the Uruguayan returned to haunt them once more and fire the Reds ahead.

Crisp passing sent the ball skimming back and forth across the Carrow Road surface, pulling the opposition apart and carving holes in their formation.

Then the killer ball from Raheem Sterling, who collected play from Joe Allen and pivoted into space before sliding the ball into Johnson, who poked into Sahin.

Turner came across to dispossess him but the ball ricocheted into the path of Suarez, who cut inside before arrowing the ball back across the face of goal and into the bottom corner of John Ruddy's net.

For long spells of the game that followed, the Reds were irresistible.

Steven Gerrard was imperious, sweeping the ball from left to right, Allen was industrious picking up the pieces and Sahin floated forward, forcing the ball through tiny gaps in the Norwich defence.

Wisdom and Johnson bombed down both flanks to aid Suso and Sterling, who were full of trickery and ambition.

Suarez was clearly felled inside the penalty area on 22 minutes by a sharp elbow to the shoulder from Leon Barnett but Mike Jones waved away all appeals.

Norwich threatened when Simeon Jackson lashed the ball over the bar with a left-footed volley after Steve Morison nodded it back into his path.

Suso then fed Suarez, who clipped a superb pass into the path of Gerrard. The skipper met the ball with his head but Ruddy was out well to push his effort away.

Suarez was sent through on goal once more but he side-footed wide when he really should have slotted. However, seconds later the Uruguayan stole play from Michael Turner, nutmegged him and then sent the ball curling past Ruddy with a fine right-footed effort.

After the restart, the Reds were fortunate to maintain their two-goal lead when Andrew Surman smashed the ball towards goal but Robert Snodgrass deflected his effort over the bar as he tried to turn it home.

At the other end, the Reds responded in style. Suarez slalomed down the right and at the second time of asking, slipped a pass into Sahin, who rolled the ball home from yards out.

Minutes later, Suarez got his hat-trick.

Sterling started the move that finished with Sahin slotting the ball into the Uruguayan, who took a touch to compose himself before calmly curling past Ruddy.

On the hour-mark, Reina beat a Russell Martin effort out into the path of Morison, who fired into the bottom corner to make it 4-1.

But the Reds refused to sit back and Gerrard clinched their fifth after fine work from Sterling down the right flank before substitute Grant Holt whipped the ball past Reina to make it 5-2.

P/S : Good job lads. :)

Via http://www.liverpoolfc.com