Liverpool on Sunday scored a late goal to salvage a point away to Luton Town in a breathtaking Premier League fixture. Luton scored through Tahith Chong to take the lead, but Luiz Diaz equalised for the away side in stoppage time to take a point home for Juergen Klopp’s side.
Luton Town coach Rob Edwards made just the one change from his team’s last outing, a 3-1 defeat at Aston Villa, as Townsend came in for Brown for his first Luton start having signed for the Hatters as a free agent in October.
Jurgen Klopp rang the changes for the 2-1 win over Bournemouth in the EFL Cup in midweek, and his big stars returned for this one as the likes of Alisson, Salah and Van Dijk came back into the team. Mac Allister, Gravenberch, Alexander-Arnold and Konate also started the game. Nunez came off the bench to score a stunning winner against the Cherries, and he was rewarded with a start up top for the Reds. Gomez started at left-back with Andy Robertson still absent through injury, while Diaz returned to the bench despite his father being kidnapped back in Colombia.
Liverpool had the most of the possession in the first half but failed to convert that advantage to goals. Luton had some chances of their own in the first half, but their shots were mostly off target. Luton and Liverpool headed back to the changing rooms with the scoreline goalless. Both had chances, with Nunez going the closest when he struck the bar after Alexander-Arnold’s excellent pass picked him out, while Barkley saw a shot saved by Alisson at the other end. Kaminski made a couple of great stops, including a sublime save to deny Jota and ensure the Hatters got into the break at 0-0.
The Goals
Luton looked the better team in the second half, with the likes of Townsend and Ross Barkley troubling the Liverpool defence on several occasions. The newly promoted side finally got the lead via substitute Tahith Chong in the 80th minute of the game. It came from a Liverpool corner, which seemed to deflect onto Barkley’s arm. While the visitors appealed for a penalty, Edwards’ men charged forward on the counter and Barkley laid it to his right for Kabore. The right-back kept his composure to curl a cross into the path of Chong, and the substitute beat Alisson to the ball to poke home and spark wild celebrations from the home fans. There is a VAR check, and though Dijk’s header does seem to come off Barkley’s arm, the VAR decided to award the goal.
The Reds equalised in the dying minutes when substitute Luiz Diaz scored from a header. The Columbian, whose parents were kidnapped a few days ago, lifted up his shirt to pay a moving tribute to his father.
Liverpool vs Luton Town XI
Liverpool – Alisson; Trent Alexander-Arnold, Ibrahima Konate, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez; Ryan Gravenberch, Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai; Mohamed Salah, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota.
Luton Town – Thomas Kaminski; Gabriel Osho, Tom Lockyer, Teden Mengi; Issa Kabore, Ross Barkley, Marvelous Nakamba, Andros Townsend, Alfie Doughty; Carlton Morris, Chiedozie Ogbene.
