Liverpool 1 - FC Sion 1: Rodgers woes continue as Reds draw with European minnows

Adam Lallana celebrates after scoring for Liverpool

IF the hysteria, as Brendan Rodgers calls it, which surrounds Liverpool's fortunes erupts again, then even he might regard it as being entirely of their own making.

 

There was to be no victory to soothe the mood ahead of Sunday's Merseyside derby showdown with Everton as FC Sion became the latest team to leave Anfield with something to show for their visit. Not for the first time this season, the final whistle was also the cue for a chorus of boos to cascade down.

How the visitors escaped with a point takes little explanation with Liverpool passing up half-a-dozen, gilt-edged chances to secure a win and take control of Group B after failing to add to the fillip of Adam Lallana's fourth minute goal.

A second successive 1-1 draw in the competition merely served to highlight how everything Rodgers' side - and here it was a shadow XI to the one which will line up at Goodison Park - feels strained.

 

Every step forward is accompanied by one back and it is not those outside the club whom the manager perceives are plotting against him he needs to watch, rather those on the pitch.

Liverpool can point to their shot tally, but they would have expected to create a torrent of opportunities against Swiss opponents who arrived here having been lambasted by their own president as "awful" and "pathetic" after losing to bottom club FC Vaduz last weekend.

Rodgers can also argue that had Daniel Sturridge been on the pitch, rather than being rested with Everton in mind, then at least one of the openings would have been dispatched.

Yet as Divock Origi spurned not just one chance, but three, it emphasised how too much responsibility is falling on the shoulders of one player.

 

The result puts more pressure on Brendan Rodgers

Initially, Origi had shown glimpses of the form that saw him catching the eye for Belgium in the World Cup 16 months ago when sealing his £10m move. There was an element of good fortune about the breakthrough with the assistant referee failing to spot Lallana had come back from an offside position to win an aerial dual, but he was to make the most of the let-off.

Origi collected the flick and showed his speed and power to surge beyond Leo Lacroix and into the penalty area from where he delivered a cut back that allowed Lallana to dispatch with ease from eight yards.

Thereafter, Origi displayed the lack of conviction in his own finishing that shows why he has been usurped by Danny Ings in the pecking order and why Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger harboured concerns over joining the chase for his signature.

 

Divock Origi looks dejected after missing an opportunity

He delayed too long before the break and allowed Pa Modou Jagne, who had earlier denied Ings from marking his England call-up with a goal, to make another last-ditch tackle.

Then, Origi was sent clear in the 64th minute by Joe Allen's threaded pass, but he shot straight at Sion goalkeeper Andris Vanins and was denied again soon after. It said everything that Lallana also fluffed his lines and it was Kolo Toure who went closest with an overhead kick that hit the crossbar.

By then, Liverpool had been pegged back. The manner in which the lead was wiped out was down to another of those lapses of concentration which appear par for the course whatever the defensive permutation.

 

Ebenezer Assifuah celebrates after scoring for FC Sion

Nathaniel Clyne was at fault, passing aimlessly in field where Xavier Kouassi seized the ball and lofted a pass over the head of Joe Gomez, who had already started moving forward from his position on the left of three centre-halves.

It was an opportunity Ebenezer Assifuah did not waste. He took the pass on his chest and then showed composure to poke an effort beyond the unconvincing Simon Mignolet.

Liverpool (3-4-1-2): Mignolet; Can, Toure (Sakho 76), Gomez; Clyne (Moreno 45), Allen, Rossiter, Ibe; Lallana; Ings (Coutinho 61), Origi.

Booked: Moreno Goal: Lallana (4) Next Up: Everton PL (a) Sun FC

Sion (4-3-3): Vanins; Zverotic, Lacroix, Ziegler, Jagne; Kouassi, Salatic, Fernandes; Assifuah (Ndoye 86), Konate (Mujangi Bia 89), Carlitos.

Booked: Kouassi Goal: Assifuah (18) Referee: Slavko Vincic (Slovenia)