Football Extended

  A week on from Liverpool's final game of the Premier League season, let's take a look at the campaign as a whole and how the Reds did in each of the four competitions they took part in. On the whole, given the circumstances with the injuries, the packed schedule, and the personal struggles some of the players and staff have gone through over the course of the last nine months, this season has to be considered a success with Liverpool qualifying for the Champions League via a third-place finish in the league. The squad that was left to pick up the pieces from the injuries of Van Dijk, Gomez, Matip, Henderson, and Jota (to name but a few) did extremely well to pick themselves up from these setbacks and ensure that Liverpool remain where they are supposed to be amongst Europe's elite. This may have meant that the cup competitions had to take a back seat to make sure that top four was secured, but I'm sure many Liverpool fans will agree with me when I say in the context o...

  Ten thousand energetic Liverpool fans descended on Anfield for the highest attendance since March 2020 for Liverpool's final game of what has been a miserable 2020/21 Premier League season. All the injuries, home defeats, last-minute draws, all came down to a final game to get the Reds into the Champions League for next season, else suffer the dreariness of Thursday nights in the Europa League. Crystal Palace were the opposition, and considering Liverpool had won the previous six meetings in the league, the odds were stacked in the home team's favour.  Anfield tends to provide for Liverpool when the stakes are high, and the addition to the ground of supporters will have gone a long way and given the players a massive mental boost.  However, it was a nervy start for the Liverpool players and Palace started the game on top. Liverpool had Alisson's saves and a sitter from Andros Townsend to thank for not being behind by the twenty-minute mark. This clearly kicked Liverpool...