Liverpool 1, Leicester City 0: Bentekeeeeeeeeeee

That's a bad man. Photo creds to www.theguardian.com 

What a difference a week can make. Last Sunday, Liverpool F.C. looked like they had no guts. They were outclassed, outplayed, and outfought in a nightmare at Watford that ended in a 3-0 defeat.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, and it was a different club. Jurgen Klopp said before the game that he felt his boys would respond to last week's atrocity, and he was right. Leicester City came into Anfield with their heads held high. LC came into Boxing Day first in the league and with two of the hottest scorers in England. So, I think it's safe to say Leicester was flying high when they strolled up Anfield Road.

From the outset, it became apparent that Liverpool would not be pushed around. Klopp set the tone right away by countering Leicester's 4-4-2 formation with one of his own, which is something that Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri is not used to seeing this season.

From the outset, Liverpool's defense was a far cry from last Sunday. They frustrated Leicester and completely dominated the time of possession in the first half, making life a breeze for Simon Mignolet. On offense, Liverpool moved the ball well, but could not seem to get a good shot off. So after the first 45 minutes, the scoreboard remained unchanged from when the ball kicked off.

Towards the end of the first half, Liverpool's starting striker, Divock Origi, left the game with a hamstring injury. Origi was having a hell of a game and the match-up between him and Leicester centre-back Wes Morgan was very fun to watch. His replacement was Christian Benteke, who has not shown much since signing a 32.5 million dollar contract over the summer.

Saturday wasn't a spectacular shaping from Benteke, but he did something rather important when he knocked home the game's lone goal in the 63rd minute. The goal was beautifully set up, and the Reds deserved it. The were pecking away all game and finally knocked down the wall. LC did threaten a few times in the last 20 minutes of play, but Mignolet held his ground with a little help from Emre Can. Maybe the outcome would have been different if Ranieri didn't make the curious choice of benching his two stars, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, late in the game in what was seemingly an attempt to rest them before Leicester's match with Manchester City on Monday.

Nobody deserves more credit for this victory than Klopp, who's strategy worked to perfection. Liverpool became the first team all season to shut Leicester out, and that could be a confidence builder for a defense that has been struggling all season and has been disastrous at times. Above all else, Saturday's win showed that under Klopp's guidance, Liverpool has a chance to be a pretty good team the rest of the way. Don't look now, but the Reds are just 5 points back of Tottenham for a top 4 spot.  While I think Liverpool is too inconsistent to qualify for the Champions League this season, anything is possible, and the future at Anfield looks bright under Klopp's guidance.

If Liverpool can somehow get healthy and stay healthy (Daniel Sturridge), it could be an enjoyable ride. All we can do as fans is sit back and enjoy it.

#YNWA