-10/10 performance. It was that bad.

Thought I was watching a Woy Hodgson team. Not joking.

Sterling was the worst player on the pitch.

Which begs the question. When either one of Suarez or Sturj is out, the other is still capable of scoring goals and tormenting defences. If so, is Balotelli what we really need to fill the boots upfront when we play with a one striker system? Does that mean Mario should ever only play when Sturj is fit and when BR chooses to play with 2 forwards?

Lallana is once again our best player despite only coming on for a short cameo creating our best and only clear cut chance of which Sterling spurned.

HEAT MAP: Mario Balotelli didn't register a single touch inside FC Basel's penalty area this evening. Too deep. ..

Once again reiterates my point of lack of runs into the box. Result? Wingers namely Sterling has to take on defenders into nowhere everytime he receives the ball because he has no options going forward. As for Markovic, he loses the ball from his first touch before he even has a chance to take on defenders. Having Coutinho is pointless when he can only pass sideways due to lack of runners. Hendo is too busy covering for Stevie's lack of legs to make any contributions going forward. Don't even get me started on Balotelli. All he does is get and hold the ball for far too long instead of releasing to open players closeby only to later drop to the floor and start sulking to a soft foul. All he does is slow our tempo all day and take ambitious shots from outside the box. Can someone chain him to the box?

Seems to me BR is trying to fit Suarez's system on Balo and it is failing hard as Balo shows no signs of adapting to our style of play. There was ZERO pressing last night in the opposition half during the first half. He is lazy. He only bothers dropping deep to get the ball when he is bored playing without the ball upfront.

Oh by the way guys, for the ones who asked why did Suso not even make the bench last night when Sterling is in need of rest and Markovic is terrible? He is out for 2 months after undergoing a groin surgery.

Daniel Sturridge has scored in three of his five Premier League appearances against West Brom, including both games for Liverpool.

West Brom have won three and lost just one of their last five Premier League games against Liverpool. BOGEY TEAM

The Baggies have only scored 10 Premier League goals against Liverpool, the earliest being in the 43rd minute and nine coming in the second half.

West Brom have only ever won back-to-back away Premier League matches on three occasions, the last time being in November 2012.

After a run of 40 points from a possible 42 at Anfield, Liverpool have won just two of their last five home Premier League games (W2 D1 L2).

The Reds have kept just one clean sheet in their last 12 Premier League matches.

Jonas Olsson is the only player to have made more than one error leading to an opposition goal in the Premier League this season (2).

Alan Irvine has already won as many competitive games as West Brom manager (three wins from eight games) as Pepe Mel did (three wins from 17 games).

This is the third time in the last five Premier League seasons that Liverpool have won seven points or fewer from their opening six games (2014-15, 2012-13 and 2010-11).

The Baggies have scored more goals from corners than any other team in the Premier League this season (3).

Ghost goal was scored by Luis Garcia. But I agree Crouch is one of our better strikers during Rafa's era considering his reputation. Often regarded as a Heskey type targetman but much more finesse than given credit for. Still remember his hattrick scoring with both legs and head.

He just had groin surgery now out for 2 months.

So much hate for Lambert but I think he is doing better than Balo to be honest. At least he harasses their defenders can give them no time on the ball forcing them to go long and we can regain the ball on knockdowns.

Or you could think of it this way. We looked more lively today than we have been with Balo leading the line. Individually Balo is way better than Lambert no doubt, but the way he stops play and slows our tempo makes it difficult for the rest of our offensive cast. This is something he has to learn.

Imagine if that was Balo getting the ball from Lallana instead of Hendo. Think most of us can tell what he's gonna do with the ball. He will hold it for a good 3 secs then gradually opening up his body followed by repeated attempts to drag the ball into an open area for a shot from outside. Whereas Lambert would've done something similar to Hendo's. This is evident from his more than 10 assists last season as he has done so time and time again with Lallana at Soton.

My point is Balo is not adapting well to our style and I'm not sure if he is even trying to but I'll give him time for sure.

Squawka Football
@Squawka

J.Henderson has now got 10 assists in the EPL since the start of last season, Gerrard (13) & Rooney (12) are the only Englishman with more.

Stevie is slippers because you know why...lol

Now let's see if Mario can have an impact now that we have the lead and less pressure. But great once again from Hendo with his runs from deep that's been lacking from our team all season.

Or consider Manquillo has been playing every minute possible since Johnson's been injured. Poor guy needs a rest. In fact Sterling needs a rest too.

Is it just me or has Sterling been really selfish past few games? Always trying to dribble his way through their defense when there are better options.

Lol Sterling....

Repeat of Basel...

Notice how our frontline is better when Lambert is leading the line despite him having less touch of the ball? Not sure if it's because we are already 1 up when Balo came on so we are trying to protect lead or they are already tired. Balo made some decent passes though and the best one was wasted by Sterling. Tired legs are obvious.

Both Skrtel and Lovren failed to deal with Berahino all night and even when Lucas came on to help Stevie out Sessegnon was having way too much room to work just outside the box. Our holding midfielders have got to do a better job at closing them down instead of dropping deeper every time they come at us. They actually looked like scoring on many occasions, perhaps even more than us.

Took 2 silly off target shots too. Always does that when he comes on and even when we are desperately looking for an equalising goal. He can't shoot, end of. Has he not realized by now?

Don't forget about Skrtel. He too was shaky all game.

Dortmund struggling big time too but pretty sure not many will blame Klopp for that. Still one of the most in demand manager across Europe.