Liverpool Live Blog: Norwich City Holds Liverpool to a 1-1 Draw at Anfield

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Oct 22, 2011

Liverpool Live Blog: Norwich City Holds Liverpool to a 1-1 Draw at Anfield

Final, 1-1: Suarez nearly wins it, but Ruddy makes a heroic save on the game's final kick. Norwich comes to Anfield and steals a point. Liverpool simply dropped two.

The Reds will rue the missed chances throughout the game. Ruthlessness in front of goal spares teams a lot of pain and heartache. That is the lesson of today's game. 

94th minute, 1-1: Carroll puts his header wide and Liverpool looks like it'll have to settle for a point. 

91st minte, 1-1: Agger on for Kuyt. Does this mean Dalglish is going with three at the back? Or is he moving Skrtel up to center forward? It seems the three center backs will hold the fort. Enrique and Johnson push into the midfield. Extra bodies are needed for Liverpool to win it late. 

83rd minute, 1-1: We now know why Lucas is such a key player in the Liverpool team. Norwich attackers get a free pass through the LFC midfield and run at stationary defenders. Gerrard and Adam are showing their fatigue late in this one. 

81st minute, 1-1: Carroll heads to Suarez in the box and the Pistol puts his shot wide. Carroll's making his presence felt early. 

80th minute, 1-1: Andy Carroll is coming on to get on the end of some crosses. He replaced Downing. It may not be enough time for the big man to leave his mark on this one. 

79th minute, 1-1: Norwich's fightback has been impressive. Its been praised for the character Lambert's instilled in his group and we see why. After the goal, the Canaries have upped the midfield pressure and tempo. LFC is still dangerous, but this one could go either way. 

69th minute, 1-1: Henderson comes on for Bellamy. The Welshman has played a lot this week — featuring against Rangers — and should see time against Stoke City on Wednesday. Henderson has talked about the extra finishing practice he's been doing. Let's see if he gets a chance to demonstrate. 

60th minute, 1-1: On command, the substitute Grant Holt levels the score for the visitors. He rises over Carragher, Johnson and Reina and heads it into the open net. Adam gave the ball away in the midfield and Pilkington whipped the cross into the box from the right. Reina takes blame for leaving his line and whiffing on the cross. How three LFC players couldn't get to that cross is a mystery. 

58th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: It's more of the same for LFC. Crosses are finding heads. Goals are being threatened. Norwich cannot remain under seige and expect anything less than a drubbing. Lambert's got to start tinkering and change things up. 

51st minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Suarez puts the ball between Barnett's legs at the top of the area and Martin deflects his shot off the post. The Uruguayan has done everything but score a goal. 

47th minute, 1-0 Liverpool: Kuyt misses the target. It would be good for the energetic Dutchman to score in his 250th game for the Reds. 

Halftime, 1-0 Liverpool: The Reds go into the break with a deserved 1-0 lead. They've been all over their opponents and should have scored two or three for their efforts. Bellamy rewards Dalglish's faith in him by scoring the goal. He's been a menace all day on that left side. 

First half stoppage time, 1-0 Liverpool: Bellamy scores against the team with which he started his career. He picked up a loose ball at the top left corner of the area, pushed forward then hit his shot off Tierny. It caromed caromed into the net. 

39th minute, 0-0: Suarez heads on goal from close range. Time and time again Liverpool has gotten on the end of the final pass, only to fall short when it comes to finishing the move. That missing ruthlessness will come back to haunt the reds. It always does.  

33rd minute, 0-0: Downing's manned the right side so far in this one. Bellamy's been a winger on the left. Suarez is alone up top with Kuyt slightly underneath. It's worked so far on the left. Downing and Johnson haven't clicked on the right. 

21st minute, 0-0: It's a header on goal for Norwich. After 20 minutes it's the visitors' first test of Reina, which he handles cleanly. It's been all Liverpool to this point and the Reds should be ahead by at least a goal. 

13th minute, 0-0: Interesting to see how Gerrard and Adam man those central midfield roles in the absence of Lucas. They seem to be controlling the tempo and spraying passes wide to Downing and Bellamy. 

11th minute, 0-0: Suarez bangs one off the crossbar. He took Bellamy's cross and nearly put the Reds ahead. That's three good chances they haven't finished so far in this game. 

Fifth minute, 0-0: Suarez tricks and turns Barnett only to see his shot wide. The Reds pressing for that early goal that disrupts Lambert's best-laid plans. 

Second minute, 0-0: Skrtel flashes a header off the crossbar. Liverpool threatening early. 

Pregame: It's a return to the starting 11 for Johnson. It should add balance and width to the right side of the Liverpool attack. Enrique is fond of bombing forward in support of Downing on the left. Johnson can do the same for Kuyt. 

12 p.m. ET: Here are the lineups

Liverpool

Pepe Reina (25), goalkeeper
Glen Johnson (2), right back
Jamie Carragher (23), center back
Martin Skrtel (37), center back
Jose Enrique (3), left back
Charlie Adam (26), midfielder
Stuart Downing (19), midfielder
Steve Gerrard (8), midfielder
Dirk Kuyt (18), midfielder
Craig Bellamy (39), forward
Luis Suarez (7), forward

Substitutes

Doni (32), goalkeeper
Daniel Agger (5), defender
John Flanagan (38), defender 
Jay Spearing (20), midfielder
Jordan Henderson (14), midfielder
Maxi (11), midfielder
Andy Carroll (9), forward

Norwich City

John Ruddy (1), goalkeeper
Marc Tierney (23), left back
Russell Martin (2), center back
Leon Barnett (20), center back
Kyle Naughton (25), right back
Anthony Pilkington (12), midfielder
David Fox (15), midfielder
Bradley Johnson (4), midfielder
Elliot Bennett (17), midfielder
Wesley Hoolahan (14), midfielder
Steve Morison (5), striker

Substitutes 

Declan Rudd (13), goalkeeper
Ritchie De Laet (24), defender
Andrew Crofts (7), midfielder
Andrew Surman (11), midfielder
Grant Holt (9), striker
Simeon Jackson (10), striker 
Aaron Wilbraham (21), striker

12 a.m. ET: Liverpool resumes English Premier League play Saturday when it hosts newly-promoted Norwich City. The fifth-placed Reds will not take the Canaries lightly as their visitors play with a refreshing abandon in their return to the top flight.

Ninth-place Norwich comes to Anfield amid a good run of form over the last month. It's won three of the last four EPL games including wins at Bolton and home against Sunderland. The Canaries even drew praise for the manner of their 2-0 loss at Manchester United on Oct. 1.

Manager Paul Lambert is one of the up and managers in English soccer. His team is always well prepared and has an abundance of enthusiasm. It's as if his players each play with a chip on his shoulder after climbing from the depths of League One.

Liverpool's performance in Tuesday's friendly loss to Rangers left much to be desired. Manager Kenny Dalglish will field his strongest team against Norwich. The only notable absentee is suspended midfielder Lucas. It will be interesting to see if Dalglish selects a like-for-like replacement or if he scraps a defensive minded central midfielder in favor of an all-out attacking formation.

Fit again Daniel Agger could retake his place in the team alongside Jamie Carragher in Central defense. The Liverpool team is starting to take shape as captain Steve Gerrard plays himself back into form. 

Join us Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET for NESN.com's live blog of Norwich-Liverpool. It should be an open game with lots of action.

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