Diaz an inspiration, Nunez baffles and Luton shine – Things we learnt from Liverpool draw
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Luis Diaz is an inspiration, Darwin Nunez baffles and donât write off Luton â Things we learnt from surprise Liverpool draw
Jack Cunningham
Luton Town and Liverpool played out a thrilling 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road, and we learned plenty about both sides.
Tahith Chong scored a late goal for the Hatters as they came within two minutes of sealing a shock win over the Premier League giants.
Chong sent the home fans wildďżźBut Diaz got Liverpool level in what was a poignant moment
Rob Edwardsâ team made things extremely difficult for Liverpool, who appeared to leave their shooting boots behind before Luis Diaz equalised deep into stoppage time.
But the Hatters come away from this one with a huge amount of credit in the bank. So, what did we learn from this Premier League encounter?
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Donât write Luton off
Before the season started, there was talk of Luton struggling to match Derby Countyâs 11-point-campaign during the 2007/08 season.
And after two pretty bad defeats against Brighton and Chelsea, things did look ominous.
But the Hatters are improving every week, and this was their best display of the campaign.
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They were aggressive, committed and limited space for Liverpool to operate in. But when they got the ball back, Luton were brave in possession and exploited right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold and the space in behind the Redsâ defence.
The atmosphere was hostile, and if they play like this going forward, they are going to cause plenty of problems and stand a good chance of staying up.
Footballers deal with many things on and off the field, but itâs very rare that a player would suffer through a similar situation to what Diaz is experiencing.
His father has been kidnapped by an organised crime gang in his native Colombia, and itâs an ongoing situation.
He could have easily been forgiven for not playing, leaving the country, doing whatever he needed to do.
But he wanted to play and came off the bench to score an emotional last-minute equaliser with a fantastic header.
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We now all hope we get good news for Diaz and his family because some things are bigger than football.
Diaz was mobbed by his teammates at the end of
Luton have very little Premier League experience in their team, bar Ross Barkley, Andros Townsend and Tim Krul.
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All have played many top-flight games and they are going to need that nous on and off the pitch.
But Barkley is a player who is blessed with technical ability, and he was excellent in the middle of the park.
Everything the hosts did on the ball went through him, and he played a massive role in Lutonâs goal as he broke away up the pitch and played a perfect pass into Issa Kabore, who crossed for goalscorer Chong.
But off the ball, he made tackles, interceptions and covered a lot of ground for his team.
The Uruguayan is one of the most entertaining players in the Premier League if you are a neutral fan because he swings from the sublime to the ridiculous within games.
However, if you support Liverpool, he must frustrate you because he could and possibly should have scored at least three goals here.
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The Uruguayan rifled in nine shots, including a strike that hit the woodwork, a close-range header and a shot from four yards that he put over the bar..
Nunez has still massively improved this season and will no doubt keep scoring goals, but some of his misses are truly baffling.
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Nunez had nine attempts at goal without scoring, which equals the Premier League record for this season
Salah and Szoboszlai struggle
Many Liverpool players were off the boil against Luton, but Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were particularly poor.
Salah still created chances, but he missed a huge opportunity in the second half and was just not at his usual level.
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Szoboszlai has been excellent since signing from RB Leipzig, adding pace, energy and top technique to the Redsâ midfield, but he offered nothing against the Hatters and was hooked off early in the second half.
Both have played an incredible amount of football and even started the midweek Carabao Cup game against Bournemouth, with Salah playing the full 90 minutes and Szoboszlai 76.
So the question Klopp might be pondering now is if he needed to start them in that game and have the sheer amount of fixtures caught up?
With the Europa League up next, it will be fascinating to see what the German decides to do with this pair.
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