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Sunday may not have been Liverpool's best performance of the season, the return of Daniel Agger and Glen Johnson to the starting lineup doing little to stop the defensive errors that have increasingly become the norm. With the way Liverpool have been scoring, though, the mistakes weren't enough to stop them taking all three points, and their prolific ways in front of goal now see them top of the league in goals scored.
Liverpool's willingness to engage in shootouts, relying on the attacking prowess of Luis Saurez, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem Sterling, and Philippe Coutinho to more often than not overcome their defensive shortcomings may not always result in fundamentally sound football, but it rarely fails to deliver excitement. Despite leading to some nervy moments, manager Brendan Rodgers insists he isn't about to try and shut up shop.
"I always worry about playing good football," he said. "I'm not one who is satisfied to just grind out results. It is about winning and that's what professional sport is about at this level, but for us I will always concentrate on performance because I think that the consequence of performing well consistently is getting results and this season we've shown that. We've shown that when we play well we get the win."
No side in the Premier League has scored more than Liverpool's 70 goals so far this season, yet in goals against the side stand tenth—average at best. The only other side in the top ten who have conceded more are Newcastle. Rodgers, though, believes the approach is sound and that many of those goals against are down to individual errors and poor decisions rather than any kind of a fundamental flaw in the team setup.
"This was probably the first performance at home where we haven't been at our fluent best," he admitted, "but to score four and show that resilience was very important. We conceded poor goals. It's not so much structural as mistakes and decision making which costs us. We will continue to work on that side. The balance in our training is very much equal in relation to our pressing, defensive mentality, and our offensive side."
With Liverpool's next two matches on the road against Southampton and Manchester United, it wouldn't be a bad time to start sorting out a few of those issues with mistakes and decision making. As long as the goals are there, though, Liverpool will always have a chance. And it will at least always be exciting—and a touch panic-inducing.
