Liverpool’s fortunes may have changed after a £40 million agreement in which Jude Bellingham submitted a transfer claim.

Liverpool’s fortunes may have changed after a £40 million deal, as Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville make a transfer claim for Jude Bellingham

Your Saturday, December 31st Liverpool headlines.

Liverpool’s fortunes may have changed after a £40 million deal and an exciting Jurgen Klopp suggestion.

Was this the game that changed everything for Liverpool in a season where they could legitimately complain at least some bad luck?

The main cause of their very low Premier League status has been general underperformance, but a series of controversial VAR calls and, more importantly, a litany of injury problems have also contributed.

On a night when Jurgen Klopp’s team were nowhere near their best, they were nevertheless able to toast to three valuable points as the Reds returned to Anfield after nearly seven weeks away. It wasn’t quite a triumphant homecoming, but they had won.

Wout Faes’ name may not have been familiar to many supporters before Friday, but the Leicester defender inadvertently carved his name into legend with two farcical own goals that helped Klopp’s men move within two points of the top four.

Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville addressed Liverpool’s midfield concerns once more following a 2-1 home win over Leicester on Friday evening.

Thanks to a pair of Wout Faes own goals, the Reds cut the deficit to Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place to just two points. The difficulties in midfield, which have been prevalent all season, were highlighted within four minutes when Kieran Dewsbury-Hall sprinted through a gaping space to sneak the opener past Alisson Becker.

The ease with which the Foxes player ran through midfield typified a season in which Liverpool have looked unusually sluggish in the middle of the park. Friday’s game was hampered by the absence of Fabinho, who was away for the impending birth of his first child, but it represented a position where Klopp’s usual unrelenting intensity was lacking.

And, speaking after the game on Friday, Carragher and Neville emphasized Liverpool’s midfield flaws.

“They’re getting played through and there’s too much space in and around them, which is something they’ll look into, but they’re digging results out,” Neville said on Sky Sports. “The balance of midfield isn’t perfect, they have injuries but it’s something they’ll have to cope with. Liverpool were a fearsome team in possession, but there was something they were doing a couple of years ago that they aren’t doing today.