When Stoke City rocked up to Anfield featuring three former Liverpool players in their starting eleven, Kopites were worried that Peter Crouch, Glen Johnson and Joe Allen could cause problems for their title chase with a more physical and direct style than Mark Hughes has preferred with his team.
In just the 12th minute, it looked as though that nightmare may become a reality. Jon Walters found the back of the net, beating Simon Mignolet with a header at his near post where the Belgian should really have done better, to give the Potters the lead.
It looked as though Walters’ team may have been able to hold out, but they buckled in the 35th minute when Adam Lallana brought the scores level with a calm finish also beating Lee Grant at his near post with neither goalkeeper covered in glory.
From that moment on it almost looked like game over, with Roberto Firmino turning the game around as he gave Jurgen Klopp’s team the lead just before the half-time whistle as his neatly placed shot found the back of the net.
The second half didn’t get much better and Gianluca Imbula prodded the ball into his own net after a dangerous ball into the box and Daniel Sturridge rounded the game off with a fourth goal in the 70th minute only moments are replacing Divock Origi to earn three points and return Liverpool to second in the Premier League table.
Read on over the next few pages to see what we can learn from the game…