Mohamed Salah maintained Liverpool’s unbeaten league run at Huddersfield.

Salah’s well-taken finish midway through the first half proved the difference between the teams at the Kirklees Stadium in Saturday’s evening encounter.

But Jurgen Klopp’s side had to weather a late onslaught from their hosts before moving joint level with Manchester City at the Premier League’s summit.

Here were the key talking points from the Kirklees Stadium:

Reds win with substance over style

 

Liverpool will never realise their title ambitions by playing their way to it.

They have tried, and failed, on far too many occasions since Anfield last proclaimed itself home to the English champions, almost 29 years ago.

Which is why the display from Jurgen Klopp’s side against Huddersfield was far more encouraging than any of the free-flowing exhibitions which went before.

It was arguably the most close-run affair that the Reds have faced domestically; with their hosts refusing to be shackled by their troubling Premier League status.

Enthralling as it may be for some to see Liverpool pummelling opponents at will, digging out results like this one will be the making of their title credentials.

Van Dijk leading a quiet revolution

 

Conceding three goals or less in nine league games was previously unheard of.

No team in Liverpool’s 126-year history had managed to achieve the feat. Then again, no team has ever had the luxury of Virgil van Dijk at its disposal.

The Holland captain has often been likened to the ‘Colossus’ that was Ron Yeats. Those old enough to remember may beg to differ on that particular argument.

But there can be no dispute that Van Dijk has become the greatest catalyst to this Liverpool side, not just its backline, across the previous 10 months.

It may not take the plaudits in the same way that Mohamed Salah’s goals, or lack of them, do but a quiet revolution is being staged from the Anfield rearguard.

Klopp equipped for injury headache

 

Injuries threatened to derail Liverpool’s first post-international break encounter.

Four regular starters returned from representing their country with doubts while James Milner faced a race against time to shake off a recent hamstring problem.

As it was, Naby Keita and Sadio Mane were the only ones to miss out on the trip to Yorkshire, which posed fresh problems in itself at the start of the second half.

Jordan Henderson’s withdrawal at the interval could have posed another selection headache; so, too, did Adam Lallana’s departure on the 70th minute.

The quality of Liverpool’s reinforcements, with Wijnaldum replacing Henderson and Fabinho in Lallana’s place, shows that Klopp has learned lessons from the past.

What has been an annual occurrence may soon be downgraded to a rarity.

Lallana return isn’t like old times

 

A first start of the season would always be a tough ask for Adam Lallana.

Injury upon injury had waylaid the attacking midfielder at a time when he became one of the elder statesmen within the Liverpool dressing room.

If anything became evident over the past 18 months, it is that Lallana is no longer the player that rose to prominence in the early stages of Klopp’s tenure.

Leading the line alongside Salah and Daniel Sturridge was an odd choice, especially as Xherdan Shaqiri was forced to drop into midfield as a consequence.

His performance did little to vindicate Klopp’s positional selection; often appearing ponderous in possession and rarely making the right final decisions.

Granted, it is going to take time before Lallana is back to his best but attempting to recreate the good old days with an attacking role will speed up that process.