Home Comfort

Leicester City have not exactly set the world alight this season. Far from their usual Champions League-chasing selves; they have lurched from one inconsistency to another; failing to build any sort of momentum and showing a strange profligacy in their defence; notably from set-pieces. When they have been good; they have been very good though; as epitomised by their 4-2 hammering of Manchester United on a glorious mid-summer's day about 2 months back.

Well; this was one of those nights. Leicester City put up a magnificent; daredevil performance to upset the form books and stun Liverpool's seemingly-inexorable quest to chase down Manchester City at the summit of the Premiership. The scene seemed to be set for yet another fated Liverpool victory; with Wilfried Ndidi rather carelessly bringing down Mohamed Salah in the area in the game's opening exchanges.

Horror upon horror though; as Salah rarely made a mess of the spot-kick; firing narrowly down the center before heading the rebound onto the crossbar. It might have been the fatigue due to this unceasing array of fixtures or the general COVID-rancour; but this did not seem the Liverpool of old. Passes were going astray; chances wasted; team-mates were getting impatient with each other. The general sharpness was not there. And none best exemplified by Sadio Mane; when put through astutely by Diogo Jota; somehow skewed his attempt over the bar when clean through on goal.

It was perhaps fitting on the general surpriseness of the night; that the winner should come from a less-heralded member of he Leicester staff; former Everton man Ademola Lookman; who came on in the 56th minute and took only 3 minutes to etch his name in Leicester folklore. Liverpool tried their best to get back into it; but Leicester were in no mood of giving up; putting up a tigerish defensive display; best exemplified by the immense performance of youngster Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and the makeshift center-back paring of Daniel Amartey & Wilfried Ndidi.