Thanks for those 18 minutes, Sheffield United, but you will not have a say in this silly title race, especially at Anfield against an inevitable Liverpool team and a ridiculously in-form Alexis Mac Allister.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Liverpool went into their match against Sheffield United as one of our Premier League midweek losers purely because they played after Manchester City and Arsenal – who both won their matches against Aston Villa and Luton, respectively.
This title race has been as topsy-turvy as any we can remember and with three teams involved, it has the potential to go down as the best in Premier League history.
Liverpool’s have been quite weird this season, if truth be told. They often make light work of teams at Anfield, as they have done for years under Jurgen Klopp, have scored a stupid amount of late goals, and have come from behind so many times that any other way of winning feels wrong.
Liverpool fans should have left Anfield on Thursday night with all of their nails in tact but Sheffield United gave Klopp’s side 18 minutes of anxiety before the inevitable happened, but the way it happened was out of this world.
1-0 up early on thanks to an almighty cock up from Blades goalkeeper Ivo Grbic, the Reds were stunned by the visitors in the 58th minute when Gus Hamer’s header hit off of Conor Bradley through Caoimhin Kelleher’s legs to make it one each.
Klopp’s decision to follow up with his post-equaliser substitution, taking off talisman Mohamed Salah was almost as surprising as the goal.
READ MORE: Liverpool are biggest mentality monsters since Solskjaer’s Man Utd
Those 18 minutes that Sheffield United were level with Liverpool would have been fun for Arsenal and Manchester City fans, and despite both sets of supporters having no expectations going into the match, the fact they were drawing with 14 minutes remaining will no doubt leave a few impatiently and excitingly waiting for the Blades’ inevitable relegation.
Indeed, Liverpool winning was inevitable and credit where credit is due, they dominated and deserved the three points which sees them return to the top of the table.
Any element of luck in the goal Mac Allister scored to put the Reds 2-1 was quickly forgotten as the ball that fell perfectly in his path after hitting Luis Diaz was smashed with the ultimate satisfaction right into the top corner. It was an absolute corker of a goal from a player in the form of his life.
Mac Allister has been one of, if not the best player in the Premier League since the turn of the year. He has scored and assisted crucial goals. In the last four games, he assisted the winner against Nottingham Forest, scored in the 1-1 draw against title rivals Manchester City, assisted the winner against Brighton, and now scored a 76th-minute go-ahead goal at home to Sheffield United.
We all knew the World Cup winner was a fine player when he joined from Brighton last summer and he was not great at the start of his Liverpool career, but playing further forward in midfield, he has been a revelation and has been carrying this Liverpool side in recent weeks.
The summer transfer window is proving to have a huge impact on the title race. Manchester City – who have dominated the league over the last six years – had a rubbish window, while Arsenal and Liverpool ensured they were in the picture with some big signings, mainly Declan Rice and Mac Allister.
These two have been the best players for the teams challenging the champions and their fitness will influence the run-in. While they are both crucial and the Gunners and Reds will be worse off without them, both teams are going to be there right until the end in what has already been an incredible title race.
With the favourite for the title changing every week, we are fully strapped in and need to see some more of the Sheffield United shenanigans we were blessed with at Anfield. Hopefully for longer than 18 minutes, though. But what an 18 minutes they were, eh?
