Salah ‘s first-half punishment was saved by the bright Kasper Schmeichel but he did not test the goalkeeper from the rally and nor did Sadio Mane when through after the break.
Player ratings
Leicester Schmeichel ( 9 ), Castagne ( 8 ), Amartey ( 9 ), Ndidi ( 7 ), Thomas ( 8 ), Choudhury ( 7 ), Soumare ( 8 ), Maddison ( 7 ), Dewsbury-Hall ( 9 ), Iheanacho ( 6 ), Vardy ( 7 )
Subs: Lookman ( 8 ), Tielemans ( 6 ), Albrighton ( 7 )
Liverpool Alisson ( 5 ), Alexander-Arnold ( 6 ), Van Dijk ( 6 ), Matip ( 5 ), Tsimikas ( 5 ), Henderson ( 6 ), Oxlade-Chamberlain ( 6 ), Fabinho ( 6 ), Jota ( 6 ), Salah ( 5 ), Mane ( 6 )
Subs: Keita ( 6 ), Milner ( 6 ), Firmino ( 6 )
Man of the match: Kasper Schmeichel
Lookman punished Liverpool with a fine goal precisely before the hour commemorate and Brendan Rodgers ‘ consume side held on for a memorable succeed that moves them back up to ninth .
How Leicester upset the odds
There was a gamey tempo from the beginning with Liverpool pushing and Leicester ‘s obvious counter-attacking terror more than enough to encourage the home patronize. But the electric atmosphere looked set to be taken down a notch when Wilfred Ndidi, playing at centre-back, caught Salah inside the box and the egyptian stand over the punishment .
Schmeichel was up to the challenge though, saving Salah ‘s domesticate penalty before the Premier League ‘s top scorekeeper somehow contrived to head against the barricade from the rally. Salah had scored 15 back-to-back Premier League penalties before this miss – a record lone bettered by Matt Le Tissier – but this one was besides safe in terms of height and steering .
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Kasper Schmeichel saves a first-half penalty from Mohamed Salah
The home supporters cheered american samoa obstreperously as if they had scored themselves but Liverpool continued to push, Schmeichel called into action again to keep out Jordan Henderson. By the center item of the first base half, it felt like Leicester were at their absolute terminus ad quem in trying to repel the constant Liverpool attacks with Diogo Jota looking a detail menace. Salah seemed certain to have made amends for his failure from the touch but Schmeichel proved his nemesis once more – hooking the ball away, a better barricade than the penalty. It was a epic feat from the Leicester master and proved a turning point in the bet on as James Maddison last managed to get on the ball and make things happen for his team. Some neat bring from a throw-in avail set up Jamie Vardy for a chance on the slant before Ndidi ‘s rigging on Salah – roared on by the crowd – sparked another open soon after. It broke up the prolong pressure from Liverpool, getting Leicester to the interval with their clean sheet integral and with the supporters inactive hoping for an improbable victory.
Team news
Brendan Rodgers rung the changes from the kill at Manchester City precisely two days ago, making five. In came Timothy Castagne, Wilfred Ndidi, Hamza Choudhury, Boubakary Soumare and Jamie Vardy. Ndidi was deployed at centre-back, while another midfield regular Youri Tielemans dropped to the judiciary.
Jurgen Klopp besides made five changes from the game with Tottenham as he welcomed back both Virgil avant-garde Dijk and Fabinho from their spells away in isolation. Konstantinos Tsimikas replaced the freeze Andy Robertson whilst Jordan Henderson and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were selected in midfield .
Ten minutes into the second one-half, those hopes looked set to be dashed when Jota put Mane through one-on-one but the Liverpool ahead inexplicably missed the target.
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It proved costly when Lookman came off the terrace, promptly exchanged passes with Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, and beat Alisson at his near post. The base crowd erupted .
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Leicester City ‘s Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall got the better of Mohamed Salah on the night
Liverpool were rattled but soon redoubled their efforts as Leicester inescapably began to drop a little deeper and looked to protect their leash. Maddison went off with an injury. But while Klopp threw more assaultive players on, Leicester held firm with Liverpool struggling to build up any momentum as the clock continued to tick down. In the final moments, they did ask questions, Jota and Joel Matip both headed wide, with Alisson even going up for a late corner, but Leicester held on for the points. It was some revenge for their Carabao Cup elimination final week and a welcome boost after conceding six to Manchester City. Those contrasting results leave Liverpool six points back from City, who can extend that col to nine points when they face Brentford on Wednesday .
What the managers said…
Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers: “ The players put in a heroic campaign when you think of the recovery meter against a team with then much power and athleticism. You do n’t keep a clean sheet against Liverpool if everyone is n’t working. But it was the context of it after playing against Manchester City. “ We played a diamond for an hour to keep the threat in the side and then switched to 4-3-3 and showed resilience. [ Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ‘s ] energy is remarkable and we needed that in the team. Him and Hamza [ Choudhury ] had to put in so much work. “ I just thought, you know, let ‘s go back to basics [ with our set-piece defend ]. An old school structure. Let ‘s defend properly. We did that tonight. The centre-halves were amazing but they all played their contribution. jointly, we did very well. ” Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp: “ We were equitable not actually ourselves tonight. I think we started OK. I did n’t like 100 per cent the intensity even at the begin. “ We forced it a little bite besides early, we crossed it a bit excessively early alternatively of taking the excess pass. For some reason it did not click tonight. We were pushing but did not use the chances, missed free headers, all these things. In the end, I thought they deserved it. “ I know it is easy to say but if we had won the game 2-1 I would not have liked the game anyhow. Tonight, I did not like a bunch in our football game. That is not cool. We have to do better, improve and go again. ”
Analysis: Liverpool pay price for wastefulness
Liverpool supporters will forgive Mohamed Salah for his erroneousness from the penalty topographic point given his amaze record for the clubhouse but it will be a informant of sorrow that it should prove such a dearly-won miss. It was a nox of them for Jurgen Klopp ‘s side when slips are not an choice. Manchester City have won their last nine Premier League games thus Liverpool need to be perfect. rather, ampere well as Salah ‘s shock failure from 12 yards, there was the sight of Sadio Mane, put clean through by Diogo Jota, directing his campaign over the top of the legal profession. Mane, now 29, has failed to find the net in his last nine appearances for Liverpool in all competitions. It is the classify of kind that could prove the difference between winning the title and falling precisely short circuit when the timbre of the team ‘s rivals is so high. liverpool can sometimes seem like such a finely-tuned machine that any cog out of place means they do not function quite as they should. Kostas Tsimikas was possibly the obvious exemplar at Leicester. He threatened. Some would say he play well. But he was the valet with the distance, the player with the room to punish Leicester, who started with a narrow midfield. He got forward, of course he did. But the crosses were not quite in the right spot. The decision-making in possession rarely precisely what was required. In abruptly, Andrew Robertson, serving a abeyance following his red wag against Tottenham, was missed. The margins were fine and Klopp is entitled to feel that Liverpool did adequate to win. But the little things went against them – and the consequences could be big come May.
Opta stats
- Liverpool failed to score for the first time in 29 Premier League games, and for the first time since a 1-0 home loss to Fulham in March.
- Liverpool ended 2021 in the same way they started it, failing to score in an away match. The Reds had netted in each of their last 28 on the road in all competitions between these two games.
- Ademola Lookman has scored in consecutive Premier League appearances for the first time in his career, with the attacker netting against Manchester City and Liverpool.
- Since the start of 2020, Kasper Schmeichel has saved more penalties in the Premier League than any other goalkeeper, with tonight’s stop his third in this period.
- Mohamed Salah missed only his second ever penalty in the Premier League. He had scored each of his previous 15 attempts from the spot before tonight.
What’s next?
leicester are binding in action at the King Power Stadium on New Year ‘s Day – this Saturday for those losing traverse of the days – when they host penetrate cabaret Norwich City. Liverpool ‘s adjacent game is the come sidereal day when they travel to Stamford Bridge to take on deed rivals Chelsea in what will be a huge Super Sunday game live on Sky Sports.