There’s a few things that matter when analysing a football match, and the result is fairly low down the list. Of course, in full-on-pundit-cliche-mode it is the only thing that matters. But when professional match analysts, managers and players look at a game in the cold light of day, it is not the result they are focusing on. It is the performance. This was a good performance, spoiled by two defensive errors leading to goals from two of the most consistent and crucial performers we’ve ever seen at Liverpool. Perfect timing, if you ask me. Save it for when the result literally doesn’t matter anymore. Cunning.

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