79 min Shaqiri knocks off to Thiago, who has a look, waves a foot over the ball, and makes an angle for a shot which flies wide of the far post.
78 min Here come West Brom down the right, someone – Furlong I think - finding Robson-Kanu. But his first touch takes him wider than he’d like, and Alisson rushes out to smother.
77 min “And, as someone once said, if you’re not interfering with play you shouldn’t be on the pitch,” notes Richard Hirst.
Is that Cloughie? The problem with the law is that it’s unclear, so defenders don’t know whether they can play offside. I think that the game is attacking enough now so that offside can just mean offside
76 min Fabinho clumps a long pass over the top for Robertson, who arcs a low cross that looks dead set for Mane ... until Ajayi slides in out of nowhere, diverting the ball wide – though for a second it looks like he’s found the corner.
75 min Another change for West Brom, England’s Jake Livermore replacing Yokuslu.
74 min Thiago, who’s had a quieter second half, lofts a lovely cross-kick towards the line for Alexander-Arnold, who stretches it into the middle. But though Townsend misjudges the situation, Bartley - who’s had a superb game – is there to tidy up.
73 min Maitland-Niles replaces Diangana, or in other words Allardyce wants his point.
71 min Well! A terrific corner from Gallagher is won in the air by Ajayi, who heads down; Bartley forces it home, but the flag goes up because, in the middle of the goalmouth, Phillips was right in front of Alisson. It’s a trick one, that – according to the laws, it could go either way, but the way I see it, if you’re that close to goal you’re interfering, so I think the officials have got that one right.
No goal as Mike Dean rules it out. Photograph: Getty Images
69 min Liverpool are pinning West Brom back now, but the home side are doing better at finding their out-ball, and good work from Pereira then Gallagher down the left sees Phillips, down the right, win another corner.
69 min “Can West Brom hang on for the rest of the match?” wonders Mary Waltz. “Probably not. But wouldn’t Big Sam love to kick one of the big boys on his way down. I can see him post match downing a pint and barking ‘Gaangghaaam Press my arse’.”
*pint of wine
68 min Mane finds Firmino, who drills a low shot which flies behind off Ajayi.
67 min Salah helps a ball out to Mane, but again West Brom get men between man and goal, Bartley making the challenge.
65 min Pereira comes in off the left and oozes past Alexander-Arnold, forcing Shaqiri to knock behind. The corner is poor and Alisson claims, but West Brom are getting regular opportunities to put balls into the box and will back themselves to find a decent one eventually.
63 min Salah is playing through the middle now, sort of, and Shaqiri is around there too. I guess if Alexander-Arnold can be relied upon for width, it makes sense, as West Brom are crowding Liverpool out inside their box.
62 min West Brom have improved since the break and take a corner short, Gallagher lofting a decent ball to the back stick. But Williams does brilliantly to get up before Bartley at cost of another corner, which comes to nothing.
61 min If we’re looking at potential outgoings and replacements, then honestly, the best replacement for Mane I can see (and a player that Klopp would absolutely love) is a certain M Rashford,” advises Matt Dony. “I admit, it’s a reasonably unlikely move.”
Goodness me, that would finish me off.
59 min Klopp sends Shaqiri on for Jones, which makes sense – Thiago is being given so much time on the ball, another carrier isn’t as important as another potential scorer.
57 min But the delivery is poor and suddenly 629 Liverpool players tear forward on the counter, Jones carrying the ball forward and slipping Salah in. Johnstone, though, does really well to narrow the angle - are you watching Dean Henderson? – and the shot is deposited directly into his midriff before the flag goes up.
57 min Nice from West Brom, Diangana attacking the space in behind Alexander-Arnold and found by Phillips; he crosses and other Phillips knocks behind for a corner.
56 min On the touchline, Shaqiri and his hair are preparing to come on.
Xherdan Shaqiri combs on for Curtis Jones. Sorry. Photograph: Rui Vieira/EPA
55 min Mane has come onto a game here, and he takes a short pass off Jones – who’s been quiet – before dashing off along the diagonal. He looks up finds Salah, but Townsend does really well to stand his ground and make the tackle.
53 min “I doubt that FSG is planning to take money out of Liverpool in a cash-flow sense,” says Luke Jones. “According to the Forbes list, the value of the club has gone up a few billion dollars in recent years. There’s a good chance that splashing on big signings could return big value for the club overall.”
I’m not sure. I expect the pandemic has changed whatever their plans were, though I agree that if they sold the club now, they’d make absolute bank. Either way, they didn’t buy the club for the love of it, and they are their priority, not it.
51 min Pereira counters for West Brom, motoring from right to centre. He has men back over that side but with defenders between him and them, he should go at Phillips. Instead, though, he shoots from 20 yards, Phillips gets a touch, and Alisson saves easily.
49 min Thaigo knocks a speculative ball in behind after which Alexander-Arnold chases, doing brilliantly to hook over a cross. Bartley gets the first touch, but it ends up with Salah outside the box, who chips into the middle for Mane to finish ... but up goes the flag.
Sadio Mane is just offside. Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images
47 min But on that final point, I’d be surprised if Liverpool have the money it’d take to get Bellingham.
46 min “Van Dijk’s value to Liverpool was, together with Alisson, far more psychological than anything else,” says Rick Harris. “Two seasons ago they lost the title to City by a point having matched them the whole campaign and then won the Champions League, and then the World Club Cup thingy. Then they absolutely stormed the league last season while City collapsed and lost 9 games. Liverpool have had a similar collapse this season, but I reckon they will come storming back next time round. Jude Bellingam is the player they need to go out and buy and let Wijnaldum go.”
I agree to a point – Alisson is loads about confidence, because most of his crucial saves have been right at him but his defenders know he’s not going to drop them in it. Van Dijk is a bit different – his recovery pace means they can squeeze and his long passing gets them up the pitch. But yes, his presence – rather like that of Dias at City who isn’t as good a player – keeps those around him focused.
46 min We go again; huge half for Liverpool coming up.
“Thiago’s influence is growing,” reckons Stephen Carr, “and he’s avoiding the obvious and anticipated pass to Alexander-Arnold more often than not. WBA probably didn’t account for that.”
Yeah he’s playing really well, though he’s being allowed to. Perhaps Allardyce will stick Robson-Kanu on him like he did with Kevin Davies on Makelele – he needs to do something to disrupt Liverpool, because they’re getting into the final third far too easily at the moment.
Watching the Liverpool goal again, it came from a free-kick they were awarded in centrefield which didn’t look like very much at all. But West Brom had plenty of time and scope to defend the situation, which they failed to do.
“I suspect as ever under FSG players will need to be sold to help finance new acquisitions,” emails Chris Healy. “Especially after the financial hit the club has taken over the last year due to a certain pandemic.
Keita has never got going, Oxlade-Chamberlain is another injury-prone player and Origi just doesn’t offer enough of a challenge to the established forwards. Shaqiri is another fringe player and Wilson is unlikely to be in contention for the first team. They’re all possible contenders to be sold if buyers could be found. It will be interesting to see how Harvey Elliott fits into Klopp’s plans for next year. Will he step up to the first team squad or is another loan deal more likely?
No doubt the scouts will have been busy identifying targets, but I don’t see wholesale changes. FSG would no doubt be looking to cash in on Mané and Salah as they’re now both around 30 years old, but how many top clubs across Europe can afford them?”
Yes, agree with all of that. FSG know about running a sports franchise, but that’s very different to running a Premier League football team, and they want to take money out not put money in. They’ll get a few quid for the players you mention, but longer-term, finding Mane and Salah-level quality for the price they paid is a monstrous ask.
“Why would Liverpool need a proper centre-back in the summer?” asks Noel Figueiredo. “They would have Van Dijk, Gomez, Matip, Kabak, Nat, Rhys. All very competent.”
Van Dijk is 29 and coming back from a serious injury, so there’s no guarantee at all that he’ll be what he was; Gomez and Matip are injured a lot; Kabak was a stop-gap; Williams and Phillips are miles off. I might be wrong, obviously.
OK, it seems that email situation was a situation, so let’s do some emails through the break...
That was an enjoyable half featuring two lovely goals. It’s hard to see Liverpool not finding another couple, but their defence offers West Brom hope.
45+5 min And just as I type that, Jürgen Klopp rages on the touchline when he gives a free-kick against Mane, so we’re warming up.
45+4 min It’s been a quiet start to the game from Lil Mikey Dean, but I’d expect him to come on strong in the second half, clutch specialist that he is.
Mike Dean, giving withering looks in the Premier League since 2000. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
45+2 min Bartley gets a bang to the phizog but his team have a free-kick, 25 yards out and just right of centre. Phillips and Pereira fancy it but the former runs away, the latter curling over wall and bar.
Photograph: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC/Getty Images
45 min There’ll be three added minutes.
45 min I should note that Salah’s goal takes him back level with Kane at the top of the Premier League scoring charts - both have 23 now.
44 min “Love that clip of Robson’s goal,” emails Tom Levesley, “and even happier to say I was there. What a team that was. Agree with your Robson Kanu mash up too. Only shame about HKR starting is it prevented half the sub’s bench being double-barrelled. At this stage of the season I might even trade that for his goal.”
Great stuff. I’m a bit young to remember them, but Robson was my first footbaling hero and still the best midfielder I’ve ever seen.
42 min Mane, who’s had a good 20 minutes, shifts inside onto his right foot and has a shy, forcing Bartley to hurl his head at it. It probably wasn’t going in but he wasn’t to know and does well to concede a corner - which comes tp nowt.
40 min These last few minutes have been a bit better for West Brom, but Liverpool have started passing again and I’d not be a bit surprised if they managed a second before half-time – Thiago is bossing this, and sooner or later someone will find a killer pass.
38 min “Combining players,” says Robbie Borowczyk. “I’d be quite keen to see what would happen if you tried to combine Pogba and Souness in the same body. Nuclear fusion?”
Goodness me. A solar-powered dinosaur?
Souness and Pogba, just imagine. Composite: REX/Getty
36 min But back come West Brom, Phillips and Williams picturing themselves on a boat on river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies, while Robson-Kaun bursts – to the extent that Robson-Kanu can burst – through at inside-right. He shapes to finish as he did for his goal, but a slightly heavy touch reduces the angle and allows Alexander-Arnold to come back at him, deflecting his shot behind for a corner which comes to nowt.
35 min Eeesh! West Brom need to be careful here, otherwise this game will run away from them. Again, it’s Mane carrying the ball, and when his backheel cannons Yokuslu, the ball drops to Firmino in front of goal! He should score, he looks like he has scored ... but his punched shot clatters the bar!
Mane burrows towards the box, loses the ball, then when Bartley hesitates he pokes it back to Salah, 22 yards out and just right of centre. With imperceptible backlift and unfathomable expertise, he swishes a low, early finish into the far corner. Brilliant goal from a brilliant player.
Sublime stuff from Mohamed Salah. Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Reuters
31 min Thiago is being afforded a lot of space here – perhaps, given he’s not a killer-ball merchant, that’s part of Allardyce’s gameplan. And he picks another pass to Alexander-Arnold, who sways inside then outside, picking feet over the ball before sweeping a shot over the bar.
30 min I can’t see any way West Brom can survive this kind of pressure. Liverpool haven’t made many proper chances, but it still feels like a goal is imminent.
28 min West Brom are struggling to get out – they can’t find Robson-Kanu, picked, in part to be their out-ball. And when another hump is picked up by Alexander-Arnold, still on the left after taking the corner, he swerves a luscious pass over towards Salah on the far side of the box. But the angle is tight, and he can only poke back to Johnstone.
26 min Yep, Liverpool are pushing and win a free-kick 25 yards out, left of centre; Alexander-Arnold will fancy this one and no mistake. But his effort flicks off the wall and behind, for a corner which comes to nowt.
24 min Liverpool knock it about as West Brom sit off, but this is more like it from the ex-champs, Thiago and Alexander-Arnold combining to find to Fabinho who turns a fine pass around the corner, which Thiago squares for Mane to sweep around the near post ... just. In fairness, Johnstone probably had that one covered, but that was a loely move.
22 min The more I watch Liverpool, the more of a strange signing Thiago seems. I know he was brilliant and cheap, but it’s a lot like when Man United signed Verón – another lovely player, but a number 6 when they needed a number 10 whose style wasn’t a natural fit.
21 min I don’t think we’ve seen Mane at all yet – Liverpool’s play has been almost uniformly focused down the right.
20 min Liverpool, though, won’t be fazed – after 20 minutes at Old Trafford, they might have been more than a goal down. But United ran out of puff around that point and couldn’t match Liverpool’s tempo; can they find something similar here?
18 min Allardyce has clearly identified Liverpool’s line as a weakness. It works when you’ve got Van Dijk behind a hyperactive midfield, but when there’s no pressure on the ball and not the same presence, authority or recovery pace, it’s a very different thing.
16 min I’m not sure I can think of two footballers I’d rather see combined than Bryan Robson and Nwankwo Kanu.
Bryan Robson-Kanu, an injury-prone magician. Composite: REX/Getty
This is a lovely finish, the ball bouncing about in midfield and attracting Williams to it as Pereira turns around the corner into space ...and Robson-Kanu is through! He takes a touch – a lovely touch, caressing on his laces while opening his body, then coaxes a nerveless finish into the far corner. Superbly done.
Coolly slotted home by Hal Robson-Kanu to give West Bromwich Albion the lead. Photograph: Getty Images
Goal for West Brom! Photograph: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
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