Luton Town

We asked you for your thoughts on Wednesday's Premier League game between Liverpool and Luton.

Here are are some of your comments:

Liverpool fans

Vin: Now that’s what you call a game of two halves. First half was wasteful and too frantic in the last third. Second half we came out of the blocks with more intent, with composure to match. The crowd was driven on by the players and the players were driven on by the crowd. It made for a difficult atmosphere for Luton to try and play in. A good night.

Alan: Poor finishing first half but upped the tempo and swept Luton aside in the second half. Lively performance from Elliott. Gomez again was immense but Mac Allister was the stand out. Good warm up for Chelsea but need to keep the tempo high.

Stuart: In the reverse fixture we had a strong team and could not win. What a performance from this group of players. Gomez's versatility, Endo's endeavour, Mac Allister's vision. Backed up by the super, young members of the squad, and all front three players scored! I really enjoyed the second half, it was incredible stuff.

Sonny: Let's say it as it is shall we? We were terrible in the first half. Simple as that. But when you factor in Klopp's half-time team talk, we could give any game a go no matter the score line. We are the first club in Europe's big five leagues to have five players score 10 goals in all competitions and you can see why! Once again, the Reds are victorious!

Luton fans

Roby: Given the so called 'whipping boys' and relegated by Christmas tag we have really put up a good fight. To lead until the 56th minute wasn't bad. We have many injured stars, so do Liverpool. The difference is we can't afford the squad they have as back up. We have surprised a lot of critics with wonderful displays against Arsenal, Man City, Man Utd and Chelsea.

Kevin: Great performance from the Town, missing key players from the start was a big hurdle (ours more significant to us than those missing for Liverpool), as was losing players during the game. We won the first half but the match being so close to the Sunday evening game did us no favours as we had tired bodies and minds. More questionable decisions from the ref.

Tony: We keeping making big individual mistakes at the back, if we do not improve we will go down.

Sue: OK, that leaves us with Man City and then we can really start to concentrate on the league. The players didn’t let themselves down, they were true to their belief in themselves and love for each other. The rest of the other teams that are coming after us, you need to watch out because I mean it - they really are going to stay up. I believe it.

Image source, Getty Images

Luton boss Rob Edwards says his side were "suffocated" by Liverpool in the second-half of their 4-1 defeat at Anfield on Wednesday night.

The Hatters led 1-0 at half-time but were overrun after the break with Jurgen Klopp's team scoring four times without reply.

"We just made them angry I think didn't we," Edwards said post-match.

"Second-half I think we just saw Anfield, saw Liverpool, saw that full-throttle football. Their counter-pressing was incredible, suffocated us.

"Fans were amazing and it was probably difficult for the players to really concentrate. The real threat came from their counter-pressing, their intensity, it really put us on the back foot.

"Clearly I'm disappointed to concede from a corner and a throw in as well, those are the bits we know we can improve on, especially in that noise when your mate next to you can't hear you. You've got to be able to deal with those situations better.

"But, bigger and better teams have come here and that's sort of happened to them as well so it's not a disgrace.

"It was like the Kop was just sucking it in and we couldn't really get out. We saw Anfield and Liverpool at it's best, I thought they were brilliant."

Bobbie Jackson
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

Luton manager Rob Edwards has already exceeded most people's expectations for how the club would cope with the Premier League this season.

Few fancied the Hatters to be putting up a serious fight to stay in the top-flight after they earned promotion via the Championship play-offs last summer.

But with 13 games left to play, Luton are third from bottom and only in the relegation zone on goal difference.

Picking up points at Liverpool would likely have been regarded as a bonus for Edwards, but he and the travelling fans had the chance to dream when Chiedozie Ogbene's goal had them leading at half time.

Despite being massively depleted by injury, Liverpool fought back and cruised to victory with goals from Virgil van Dijk, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott getting them over the line.

More important fixtures are to come in the next few weeks for Luton, though, with games against Crystal Palace, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest - all placed in the bottom eight - meeting the Hatters in March.

Picking up results against those three clubs could prove season-defining as Luton scrap, as they did in the opening 45 minutes against Liverpool, for each and every valuable point on offer.

Image source, Getty Images

Luton boss Rob Edwards, speaking to BBC Sport: "I wasn't surprised how the first half went. In the second half we played into their hands and their counter pressing was incredible, we experienced that full throttle football.

"We have got a way of playing that doesn't make it comfortable for teams. We continue to build and go in the right direction. We will learn from our mistakes tonight.

"We have to learn from it and take it. The second half was difficult. We have to bounce back.

"We knew today was going to be a really big task. We showed for long periods we are a good team and we can compete."

The key facts and figures after Liverpool's win over Luton Town in the Premier League.

• Liverpool have recovered 22 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side, and their joint-most in a single campaign in the competition (also 22 in 2008-09).

• Luton are one of two sides, along with Sheffield United, yet to keep a clean sheet away from home in the Premier League this season. The Hatters have shipped 29 goals in 12 away games in the division this season, the joint-most of any side, along with Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

• In Mo Salah (19), Diogo Jota (14), Darwin Nunez (13), Cody Gakpo (11), and Luis Diaz (10), Liverpool are the first club in Europe's big-five leagues to have five players reach 10+ goals in all competitions this season. In fact, the Reds also became the first side from Europe's big-five leagues to score 100 goals in all competitions in 2023-24.

• Since the start of 2018-19, Virgil van Dijk has scored 18 Premier League goals, at least four more than any other defender. 12 of those have come at Anfield - the most of any Liverpool defender at home in the competition, surpassing Sami Hyypia's 11.

• Only Arsenal (13) have scored more headed goals in the Premier League this season than Luton (12), with Chiedozie Ogbene the seventh different Hatters player to score a header in the league this campaign.

• With an average age of 25 years and 68 days, Liverpool named their youngest starting XI for a Premier League game since February 2018 against Southampton (24y 355d).

Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League table after coming from behind to beat Luton at Anfield.

Luton led at half time through Chiedozie Ogbene's header as Liverpool, and Luis Diaz in particular, spurned chance after chance.

The Reds were rampant after the break and their pressure paid off when captain Virgil van Dijk showed desire and determination to get his side on level terms by powering home a header from a 56th-minute corner.

Just two minutes later Liverpool led as Cody Gakpo nodded in from close range as Alexis Mac Allister fired in a cross from the byline.

Diaz, with his ninth shot of the game, finally got his reward for relentless work with the third goal in the 71st minute.

The Colombian danced his way into the box and coolly side-footed beyond Thomas Kaminski at the near post to give the hosts some breathing space on what had initially looked like a night when they could slip up in the title race.

Harvey Elliott, making his 100th appearance for the club, rounded off a fine second half when he pounced on a loose ball in the 90th minute to claim the fourth.

It made it three wins on the bounce for Liverpool after losing 3-1 at Arsenal last month and built further momentum as they gear up for Sunday's EFL Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley.

Jurgen Klopp's men boast a four-point cushion over second-placed Manchester City, although they have played a game more than the defending champions, while Luton remain third from bottom.

Were you at Anfield or did you follow the match from elsewhere?

Liverpool fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Luton fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

Liverpool are hosting Luton Town in the Premier League and kick-off is less than an hour away.

For team news and all the build-up, head to our live coverage here

Image source, Getty Images

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised the the "incredible" way that Luton Town play.

The two sides meet at Anfield in the Premier League on Wednesday, with the Hatters looking to move out of the relegation zone while Klopp's side try to cement their place at the top of the table.

It took a late leveller from Luis Diaz to rescue a point for the Reds in the reverse fixture at Kenilworth Road in November and Klopp is expecting another difficult game.

Speaking in his pre-match news conference, he said: "Set-pieces are one strength [of Luton] but I have to say the way they play their system with their confidence level - they play incredible but even in games they lost they were in the game. We experienced a tough game there, but it was a different game to how they play now.

"Now in possession they found a structure where everyone is really comfortable. Ross Barkley is one of these nice stories who really is back to his best, or better. He plays a deeper role, super disciplined on the ball and extremely strong.

"[Albert Sambi] Lokonga when you see him you can tell he's an Arsenal player on a loan deal, it's interesting. They are strong and experienced. They are a really together [squad].

"The situation at Bournemouth with the captain [when Tom Lockyer collapsed] it brought them closer and made them think some things are worse in life than maybe getting relegated.

"In general they deserve respect and we have to show that with a proper Liverpool performance and I mean everyone who enters the gate to Anfield has to be on their toes."

Luton Town captain Tom Lockyer has been discussing how the Hatters have changed their style of play to suit the Premier League on BBC Radio 5 Live's Monday Night Club.

"We lost 3-0 against Chelsea and we were playing in a 3-5-2, we had played like that since last season and we stuck at it," Lockyer explained.

"The problem is, at this level, they were literally just going side to side and our three midfielders were just being pulled left and right.

"You could be the fittest man in the world but, if you have to do that shift for 90 minutes, there will be gaps that appear. At this level, the players are good enough to find those gaps and punish you.

"We sat down, there were a couple of us with Rob Edwards, and I think he said: 'Look, how do you want to go about it, guys?'

"It was before one of the games against the big boys and he said that we were expected to lose the game, nobody has got us down for absolutely anything, if we're going to lose then let's go about it our own way, let's give the fans what they want to see.

"I think that was the turning point when he said that we were going back to being us."

Listen to the full episode of Monday Night Club here

Image source, BBC Sport

BBC pundit Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For Liverpool's game against Luton Town on Wednesday, which has been brought forward from this weekend because the Reds play in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday, he takes on former England striker Jermain Defoe.

Sutton's prediction: 2-0

Liverpool needed a 95th-minute goal from Luis Diaz to rescue a point at Kenilworth Road in November, but I am expecting things to be a bit more straightforward for them at Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp's side have some injury problems to contend with - especially up front, where they are running out of fit forwards - but I still don't think Luton will keep them out.

Defoe's prediction: 4-1

See the latest team news and make your own prediction here