Liverpool 'mentality monsters' stat after latest comeback against Luton
Liverpool produced a stunning second-half display to come from a goal down to beat Luton Town 4-1 at Anfield on Wednesday.
The Reds were forced to field a youthful side, with as many as 11 first-team stars ruled out with injury.
But with crisis comes opportunity, and Liverpool's second string ended up shining after the break as they scored four times to ensure Jurgen Klopp's side kept up their lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Harvey Elliott, who scored the Reds' fourth, put in a standout performance, while teenagers Bobby Clark, James McConnell and Jayden Danns all came off the bench.
At half time, however, things looked quite different at half-time on Wednesday, with the Reds' leaving the field frustrated and a goal down to Chiedozie Ogbene's opener.
Liverpool struggled in the final third against Rob Edwards' side and it looked as though it might be a night to forget, with injuries and fatigue having taken their toll.
However, if there is any side that knows how to come through difficult situations it is Liverpool.
As noted by Opta, the latest result marks a massive 22 points saved from losing positions by Jurgen Klopp's men in 2023/24 to date and the joint-most in a single campaign since 2008/09.
For context, without those comebacks Liverpool would be in seventh currently — level with Brighton and six points behind Manchester United.
Instead, the Reds extended their lead at the top of the Premier League table to four points, though Manchester City have a game in hand.
Speaking after the match, Klopp hailed his team for the performance and even drew comparisons with the famous Champions League semi-final comeback win over Barcelona in 2019.
He told reporters: "Tonight is one of these nights where it is difficult to stop talking about it, to be honest. It just wants to come out of me... I am so happy with the performance, I am so happy with so many things we saw tonight. Before the game, nobody knew how the boys will take on this challenge – because it is a challenge.
"I promised my team a few months ago probably I will never mention or use the Barcelona game [in 2019] again as an example – and I used it today again, so I broke my promise. Just because before the game it was kind of similar: many players missing, stuff like this.
"This team that time ignored the fact who was missing and I want us to ignore the fact [of] who is missing. That’s difficult because the public got the knowledge of the whole amount of players missing only tonight. It’s like, ‘Oh…’ I needed a few minutes to process it when I got all the news but from the moment on when you know how you can deal with it, how you can sort it for this game now, it feels really good. That’s what I wanted the boys to show and this is an example tonight, this is now their Barcelona, [it] was against Luton – a difficult situation, plenty of reasons to give up in moments, ‘Yeah, not tonight.’ And I saw only a super group fighting.
"If you don’t limit yourself with bad thoughts, you can fly. And that’s what the boys did."