Liverpool back to 3rd after 1-0 win over West Brom

Roberto Firmino scored a winner for the second weekend running as Liverpool beat West Brom to go third in the Premier League.

The Brazil striker headed in at the end of the first half after Lucas Leiva had glanced on James Milner’s free-kick.

Milner volleyed over after half-time, and Simon Mignolet saved with his legs from Matt Phillips at the other end.

Late on, Alberto Moreno missed an empty goal from 40 yards after Albion keeper Ben Foster had gone up for a corner.

BBC reports that despite that miss, Jurgen Klopp’s side secured a fifth win in seven games, sending West Brom to a third straight defeat.

Klopp has spoken recently of the need for Liverpool to “win ugly” – having developed a habit of beating the Premier League’s top teams and then slipping up against sides lower down.

Liverpool’s manager was particularly wary of the threat that West Brom might pose from set-pieces, an area in which his team have been vulnerable defensively this season.

To counter that danger, Klopp used the fierce winds that hit Merseyside last Wednesday to his advantage – getting his players to face a barrage of high crosses and long throws in training that day.

The manager’s reasoning was that if his players could deal with the ball in the air as it swirled about in the wind, they would be able to handle anything West Brom threw at them.