Reds 5 - 0 Swansea City



Reds players celebrate after Gerrard's penalty



What a game that was - Liverpool attacked from the very start against Swansea City, and never let their opponents settle in.

OK, so it was a second-string Swansea side who rested key players ahead of their Cup final next weekend, but it was still an awesome, forward-thinking performance from a rampant Reds team, determined to answer the critics who gave them such a bashing after recent results.

Aside from the fact that Liverpool scored 5 goals, there were plenty of other positives to take from this game:

1. Gerrard scored a penaltyNot normally a talking point, the skipper's miss against West Brom - that inspired Albion to go on and win the match at Anfield - meant that he had to score his next effort. Fortunately for the Reds, he did just that, squeezing the ball into the corner just out of the reach of Swans keeper Vorm. This took guts from Stevie, and hats off to him for stepping up once the ref had pointed to the spot.

2. Coutinho - brilliant full debut
Liverpool's new number 10 was given his first start, and did not disappoint. He played a key part in some of the Reds' best moves, with accurate passing and good movement showing signs of why Brendan Rodgers wanted him to join his Anfield revolution. Coutinho even weighed in with a beautifully taken debut goal, assisted by a superb pass from Luis Suarez. Promising signs for the Anfield faithful that the new number 10 will be a very valuable addition to the team.

3. Teamwork
The entire team looked good, playing together with great movement and understanding, resulting in a fluid progress around the field and the scoreline their team play deserved. This was perhaps best shown when Jose Enrique added the Reds' third goal of the day, coming off a great piece of team play. Hopefully this result will help glue the players together, and give them confidence to turn performances into results.

4. Brilliant, brilliant Suarez
Liverpool fans are running out of words to describe the effect Suarez has had on the team this season. Brilliant, fantastic, inspiring, unstoppable - and many other superlatives have been used to label the way the Uruguyan fan favourite has performed over the last few months, and he turned in yet another awesome display as he terrorized the Swans defence, getting his name on the scoresheet for the 23rd time in all competitions this season.

5. Supporting your team mates
Gerrard could have taken the second penalty but instead gave the ball to Daniel Sturridge, who promptly tucked it away for Liverpool's 5th goal. This is exactly how a captain should behave - unselfish and very supporting of his team mates. Well done Stevie!

6. A clean sheet!
Only last season the key criticism of LFC was the fact that they weren't scoring enough goals despite having a solid defense. That has been very different this season, shown by the following comparison:

Season	PLD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PTS
2011-2012	38	14	10	14	47	40	+7	52
2012-2013 (so far)	27	10	9	8	49	34	+15	39

Having played 27 games the Reds have now scored more goals than they managed in the whole of last season. By contrast, they have conceded 34 goals already, edging closer to last season's total. LFC have kept 10 clean sheets so far this season, compared to 12 for the whole of last season, so there is plenty of possibility to make that defensive record look a bit better.

7. Suarez-Sturridge partnership continues to grow
It didn't take long for Suarez and Sturridge to work well together; almost as soon as Sturridge arrived in January they began to produce the results that the Reds fans hoped for, and they seem to really be developing an understanding, best evidenced by some excellent movement in today's match (as well as their goals).

8. Confidence
The whole team looked as though they had been given an injection of confidence, if such a thing was possible. The passing, movement and general attacking play was excellent (35 shots), hence the healthy winning margin, but the defense also stood firm as well. Reina did what he had to on the rare occassions Swansea threatened, and Johnson epitomized the spirit by busting a lung to defend even at 5-0 up. If they can keep this confidence going, it'll be a real boost for the team and will hopefully lead to a run of wins in the league.

The big disappointment from today was the injury to Fabio Borini. Only just finding his feet after being out since October through injury, he came on as a substitute for Suarez in an attempt to get some match practise under his belt. He had only managed a couple of touches on the ball when an awkward landing caused a suspected dislocated shoulder. Although not officially announced yet, it looks like Borini will miss the remainder of the season, leaving Liverpool with only Suarez and Sturridge up front.

Overall, a fantastic, moral-boosting performance from a rampant Reds side, although fans would do well to keep in mind that it was against a weakened Swansea team. If LFC can keep up this level of commitment and style of play it should put them in good shape for a run of positive results as they look to close out the season with a bang.

#YNWA