Atalanta are 1-0 up at Anfield. Liverpool come up against a solid defence

Liverpool trails 0:1 to Atalanta after the first half. However, a solid defence from the visitors is giving the home team a lot of problems. It seems that Klopp will have to send Salah to the 2nd half, as his team’s attack is toothless.

Liverpool have more possession of the ball

From the first minute, it was clear how the point teams would present themselves. Liverpool tried to combine and Atalanta relied on quick counter attacks. Liverpool are used to a similar scenario from Premier League matches.

The first 100% chance of the match was not Liverpool’s, but the opponent’s. Pasalic got to a deflected ball after a mistake in The Reds’ defence and shot over the bar. The home side didn’t have a great start to the game.

The home side also had a chance. Curtis Jones sent a pass behind the defence to Darwin Nuñez, who failed to convert the chance.

Liverpool slowly started to take over the pace of the game. Atalanta were only getting chances thanks to mistakes by the home team and were waiting carefully for quick counter-attacks, but the Italian team were not getting many.

The finest moment at Anfield came in the 27th minute. Harvey Elliot took a shot from the right side of the big box that ended up on the crossbar. The deflected ball bounced in front of the line and back into the area where no one from the home side could reach the goal.

Atalanta opened the scoring

Although the home side were trying to create chances, ball retention was their main problem. Atalanta’s solid defence doesn’t let themselves be easily rattled and the defensive block is very solid. It will not be easy for Liverpool to get through the opposition’s defence.

Especially when Gianluca Scamacca opened the scoring in the 38th minute. Zappacosta’s centre from the right side was found by the Italian striker at penalty level and gave the home goalkeeper no chance. Moreover, the home side can thank their goalkeeper who handled a face-to-face situation with Koopmeiners in the last minute.

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