Maguire Strike Earns Point At Leaders Liverpool
After a lengthy pause in league action, both sides were rested up as Jürgen Klopp’s men attempted to extend their advantage at the top of the table.
City manager Claude Puel made three changes to the side that faced Wolverhampton Wanderers 11 days earlier, as Jonny Evans, Marc Albrighton and James Maddison returned to the starting XI.
In wintery conditions, Liverpool went ahead after just three minutes as Sadio Mane found the bottom corner with a neat finish.
Denmark international Kasper Schmeichel was then on hand to deny Roberto Firmino, while Maddison had a huge opportunity to level matters, only to head wide of the mark on 24 minutes.
Battling away, the Foxes grabbed a deserved equaliser in first-half stoppage time. Wilfred Ndidi’s shot looped up and it was Ben Chilwell who was on hand to head back into the box to find Harry Maguire, whose composed finish made it 1-1 at the interval.
Maguire threatened again after the break, as he headed back across the Liverpool goal and into the path of Ndidi, who couldn’t turn the ball home from close range.
As the Reds went in search of a winning goal, City looked to hit their opponents on the counter-attack and it nearly paid off when Jamie Vardy slipped in Demarai Gray, who fired straight at Alisson Becker with 18 minutes to play.
At the other end, Schmeichel produced a superb stop with his legs to prevent Firmino from scoring, before Andrew Robertson’s wayward volley failed to trouble City’s No.1.
A combination of fresh legs in the form of substitutes Hamza Choudhury, Shinji Okazaki and Kelechi Iheanacho and continued hard work saw City limit Liverpool to little or no chances in the closing stages.
It was, in fact, Academy graduate Choudhury who dismantled one of the Reds’ most threatening moves with only three minutes to go. Sprinting back at speed, his sliding challenge on Mane prevented Liverpool from mustering up a chance to win the game.
Major moment
After getting off to a tough start following Sadio Mane’s early effort, the Foxes showed their spirit to gain a foothold in the game and restore parity on Merseyside.
England international defender Harry Maguire hit the crucial equaliser, as he broke the offside trap to cushion the ball into the bottom corner in front of the Kop.
Who impressed?
Faced with a fearsome front line of Mohamed Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Leicester City were brilliant in defence at Anfield.
One man who played a huge part in the result was left-back Ben Chilwell, whose defensive positioning and forward intent proved to be a useful resource for City.
In addition, the Academy graduate registered his third assist of the season to set up England colleague Harry Maguire for the equaliser.
Where do we stand?
Another impressive point on the road in 2018/19 sees Leicester City sit 11th in the Premier League table after 24 fixtures. AFC Bournemouth move above the Foxes following their convincing 4-0 victory over Chelsea.
Coming up…
Claude Puel’s men face another challenging match on Sunday as Manchester United, revitalised under Ole Gunnar Solskjær following eight wins and a draw in their last nine outings, visit King Power Stadium in the Premier League (2:05pm GMT kick-off).