3 Things We Learned From Stoke City Vs Liverpool – Credit To SAS

Sunday’s late game between Stoke City and Liverpool ended 5-3 in favor of Liverpool and the visitors will be glad to leave the Britannia Stadium with a win for the first time in 5 Premier League visits. Here are three things we learned from the game.

1. Suarez is unstoppable

The Uruguayan is a juggernaut that just keeps on rolling. He scored two and created one in what was yet another outstanding performance from the striker. He harried the defense all game, and was rewarded when he forced the defenders into a mistake, allowing him to score his first with a neat finish from close range.

He then showed his excellent understanding with the returning Daniel Sturridge when he scored from a narrow angle from Sturridge’s pass and then returned the favor to create the Englishman’s goal. Suarez now has 22 league goals this season, and currently leads race for the European Golden Shoe, ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo by two goals, and given the form that he’s in, it won’t be surprising if he indeed wins it come the end of the season.

2. Stoke are tough to crack

Stoke made a game of this, and troubled Liverpool all game with their direct approach. Some of the delivery from set-pieces was outstanding, and the Liverpool defense was constantly under pressure for the entire 90 minutes. Despite going 2 goals down in the first half, Stoke fought back to get level going into half-time. Even in the second half, they kept up the pressure despite going two goals down once again, and pulled one back, and could have gone level had Peter Crouch’s header gone in instead of hitting the post.

The atmosphere at the Britannia is intimidating for visitors and the partisan crown was on the back of the Liverpool players all evening. Had it not been for some outstanding finishing from Liverpool forwards and some unlucky moments- the penalty awarded seemed to be a harsh decision and the Crouch header was inches away from being the equalizer- Stoke could easily have earned themselves a point.

3. Premier League guarantees entertainment

It would be hard to argue that the Premier League is not the best league in the world based on a match like this. Eight goals and a frantic feel for the entire 90 minutes would be just the sort of thing that neutrals would enjoy, and the game was in the balance right till the end.

With the win, Liverpool move back up into fourth spot, but it promises to be a tough race for the Champions League spot with both Tottenham and Everton right up with them one and two points off Liverpool respectively. The Merseyside derby coming up in two weeks’ time will set up the race nicely and it might just go till the wire once again.

 

Video courtesy BeinGoal.Com