Luton dare to dream before Liverpool romp to a dominant victory at Anfield

For 45 minutes Luton dared to dream of a truly memorable night at Anfield, before Liverpool showed their title credentials in a dominant second half to cruise to a comfortable victory and move four points clear at the top of the table.

A shock opener from Chiedozie Ogbene in the first half had Town's supporters believing of a first ever victory at the red side of Merseyside, but three goals in 15 minutes after the break saw Jurgen Klopp's resurgent team flex their muscles, as they added a fourth in stoppage time to complete the triumph. Luton boss Rob Edwards went with an unchanged side from the team who began the 2-1 defeat to Manchester United on Sunday, while Liverpool were without a number of big-hitters, Mohamed Salah and Darwin Nunez both missing out after picking up injuries against Brentford.

An incredibly bright start by the hosts saw them waste two glorious opportunities to take the lead early on. First, keeper Caoimhin Kelleher's long clearance saw a completely unmarked Luiz Diaz race through on goal, but with Thomas Kaminski to beat, he hesitated and hesitated, allowing Gabe Osho to get back and Luton smuggle the danger away.

Then moments later, Harvey Elliott picked out Diaz again with a ball that beat Osho and this time he cut inside to curl badly wide on his left foot, as Town emerged on level terms from the opening seven minutes, something that wasn't afforded to them by the Red Devils on Sunday. It wasn't for the want of trying though, Liverpool winning a number of corners and piling huge pressure on, the best they could manage was an acrobatic overhead volley by Cody Gakpo that was straight at Kaminski.

Town then began to get into the game themselves and apply some pressure of their own, Ogbene running away on the right and recycling the ball back through the middle for Alfie Doughty whose cross-shot flashed wide. Luton pushed again and were in dreamland on 12 minutes when they won a throw-in high up the pitch, which saw Woodrow hold it up terrifically under pressure and find Tahith Chong.

As he had done at the weekend, he went for goal, seeing Kelleher awkwardly parry, the rebound falling invitingly for Ogbene to head home at the far post and give the visitors a shock lead. It didn't appear to affect the hosts too much, as they were soon back in the ascendancy, Gakpo sending a fizzing evfort over and Sambi Lokonga doing superbly to get back and nick the ball off Elliott's toes before he could pull the trigger.

Midway through the half and Luton threatened again, Ogbene held up by the covering defence, Woodrow just beaten to the ball by home keeper Keller as he looked to latch on to threaded pass. With the Reds; supporters not quite creating the European experience that Klopp had called for in the build-up, the hosts’ only real opportunities saw Joe Gomez curl wide and Diaz shoot tamely at Kaminski, the Belgian more than happy to field those as Luton dug in doggedly.

He was almost in trouble on 31 minutes when Wataru Endo did excellently to drive away in midfield and dink over the top for Diaz, a pass that caught out Lokonga, but he could only slide wide. Ryan Gravenberch had a crack from distance with Kaminski was once again not seriously over-worked in gathering.

Such was Liverpool's pressing, it allowed them to win the ball back high up on numerous occasions, Diaz picking off an Ogbene pass and then having a pop that never came down in time. A Reds break to a quite deafening noise saw Diaz then played in on the right of Town's defence, with Mengi making a quite brilliant sliding tackle to concede a corner that eventually fell to Elliott who slammed waywardly wide.

With the outstanding Lokonga holding his hamstring at the break, he didn't reappear for the second period, Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu on in his place and his absence was to prove hugely costly. Unfortunately for Luton, Liverpool showed no signs of letting the state of the game get to them, starting as they had finished the first half, on the front foot once more, Elliot unable to find his shooting boots, before Mengi made a stunning block and the Reds seeing penalty appeals for a handball against Osho waved away, VAR agreeing with the on-field call.

Kaminski saved well low down from a snapshot by Gapko, but the pressure valve was released on 56 minutes with a goal that will frustrate Edwards as having defended so valiantly, his side were undone by a simple corner routine that saw Virgil van Dijk escape Ogbene and power an unmarked header into the net.

With the home fans now giving Klopp the sort of noise he had called for, the Reds, with seemingly a few extra players out there, such was their dominance, had the lead just two minutes later when a quickly taken throw-in saw Alexis Mac Allister hook a cross into the box and Gakpo thump a header into the roof of the net.

Now Anfield came alive, Kaminski keeping out van Dik from another corner as he stood up well to stop Gakpo finding the net, Luton beginning to cling on like a boxer who was seeing stars having just taken a haymaker to the chin. To their credit, they once more gave a crack at getting back into it, Barkley finding Doughty and his cross shot deflected across the face, this time Ogbene unable to arrive and turn it home.

They managed to hold the hosts out for another 13 minutes, but breached again, the crucial third coming when Doughty's clearance from near his own corner flag was seized upon by the hosts and Diaz was able to turn Mengi inside and out before finally locating the target, beating Kaminski. The Luton stopper did prevent the Colombian from adding a fourth on 75 minutes, when he got a strong right hand to his low shot, then parrying Elliott's drive away.

Gakpo could have made it 4-1, but with goal difference increasingly important this season, he was thankfully wide of the mark. Despite the game being over, Luton still showed real intent to pull a goal back in front of their travelling supporters, sub Andros Townsend firing over via a touch from home defender, Barkley ghosting past two men to shoot straight at Kelleher from outside the box.

Townsend also sent a free kick into the wall, with Barkley, who was becoming a growing influence in the closing stages, also off target. Try as they might, the Hatters couldn't prevent Liverpool adding a fourth in the first minute of stoppage time when a wonderful saving challenge from Mengi saw Elliott wrap his foot around the loose ball and arrow past Kaminski.

Reds: Caoimhin Kelleher, Joe Gomez, Wataru Endo, Virgil van Dijk (C), Luis Diaz (Jayden Danns 89), Alex Mac Allister (James McConnell 89), Cody Gakpo, Harvey Elliott, Ryan Gravenberch (Bobby Clark 78), Jarrell Quansah, Conor Bradley (Andy Robertson 68). Subs not used: Adrian, Ibrahima Konate, Kostas Tsimikas, Kaide Gordon, Trey Nyoni.

Hatters: Thomas Kaminski, Chiedozie Ogbene, Teden Mengi, Gabe Osho, Amari'i Bell, Alfie Doughty (Issa Kabore 74), Ross Barkley, Sambi Lokonga (Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu 46), Tahith Chong (Jordan Clark 63), Cauley Woodrow (Andros Townsend 58), Carlton Morris. Subs not used: Tim Krul, Dan Potts, Reece Burke, Zack Nelson, Luke Berry. Referee: Andy Madley. Booked: Doughty, Woodrow, Barkley, Gomes, Kabore.