Lacklustre Liverpool dropped even more points at Anfield as Kenny Dalglish’s richly-assembled side could only manage a 1-1 draw against bottom team Blackburn Rovers in the Boxing Day clash. The hosts created a number of chances throughout the game, but yet another inspired performance by an opposition goalkeeper – this time Rovers’ second-choice Mark Bunn – meant that the Reds would leave the stadium with just a single point for their efforts.
Rotten luck played a huge part in preventing Liverpool from sealing maximum points. Record signing Andy Carroll thought he had won the game in the final minute of injury-time, but his effort was saved superbly by Bunn. Daniel Agger could also have found the net at the very death, but he was denied on the goal-line by 17-year-old full-back Adam Henley. Despite looking the likelier side to grab a winner towards the end, in truth, Dalglish will be disappointed that his team failed to make the most of their chances in the opening hour. Liverpool are finding it tough to score goals and the Scot may have to dip into the January transfer window to solve the problem.
After all, the Reds have found the net on just 21 occasions in the top-flight so far this term – even their struggling opponents Blackburn have scored more goals. Carroll is still trying to settle into the squad, Luis Suarez is facing a lengthy ban and Craig Bellamy has never been consistently prolific. Liverpool will either have to adapt their play to a more direct style in order to get the best out of Carroll or sign a new striker next month. A failure to do either could see the Reds finish outside of the top four positions once again. Given the vast amount of money that Dalglish has spent since taking over from Roy Hodgson in January, being unable to seal a fourth place finish would be very disappointing.
Speaking about Liverpool’s performance against Blackburn, Dalglish said: “We did more than enough to have won and created more than enough chances to have won. The performance could have been a touch better, but I’ve no complaints about it, and with the opportunities we created, we’ve got no complaints. But once again we’ve not converted a good enough ratio of the chances we’ve made and the goalkeeper has made a fantastic save at the end along with a few others as well.”
Meanwhile, on a more positive note, influential skipper Steven Gerrard returned to action for Liverpool following a couple of months out with injury. The Reds have coped relatively well without their talismanic midfielder, but Gerrard’s return will come as a major boost for Dalglish as he aims to guide Liverpool back into the top four. It is unclear whether Gerrard will be fit enough to start the next game when the Anfield outfit face Newcastle on Friday, but if he does, then Liverpool could well increase their chances of securing maximum points from a home game.
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