Liverpool moved to within three points of the top four following a dramatic 3-2 victory over Tottenham at Anfield last night.
In a pulsating contest, the game was decided by the most unlikely of sources in Mario Balotelli who came off the bench to fire his first Premier League goal in a Liverpool shirt at the 13th time of asking.
Reds fans will hope the goal will go some way towards kickstarting the Italian international’s faltering Liverpool career after he came close to leaving the club after less than six months in the January transfer window according to some reports.
As it happened, Liverpool failed to do any business during this winter with Brendan Rodgers seemingly happy to go with what he has from now until the end of the season.
But are there any issues they failed to resolve?
We have identified five we think could have been looked at last month.
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Click on Brendan Rodgers to reveal the 5 issues Liverpool failed to resolve in the January transfer window.
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No top class competition for Mignolet
The Belgian international has improved his form of late, keeping four clean sheets in his last five. He also produced a truly top class save to deny Tottenham’s Erik Lamela in last night’s clash at Anfield and is seemingly playing for his Liverpool future.
Behind Mignolet however is Welsh youngster Danny Ward and the injured Brad Jones. Brendan Rodgers is reportedly on the lookout for a top class goalkeeper to challenge Mignolet for the number one spot but failure to add one in January seems to have given the former Sunderland man a new lease of life at Anfield.
Whether it continues, remains to be seen.
Cover for Sturridge
Liverpool find themselves playing catch up in the race for the top four after a nightmare start to the Premier League season.
Losing Luis Suarez permanently and Daniel Sturridge for five months would have affected any team but the fact Mario Balotelli, Rickie Lambert and Fabio Borini managed just three Premier League goals in his absence only compounded the misery.
Raheem Sterling saved the day somewhat in his spell as a makeshift striker but you can’t help but worry for the Reds if Sturridge were to pick up another injury.
No progress on the contracts of key duo
Whilst it was announced Philippe Coutinho had signed a new five-year contract at Anfield the day after the transfer window closed, the Reds are still to make any progress on new deals for Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling.
Sterling is said to have rejected an ‘incredible’ offer with negotiations having gone on for months.
Henderson is entering the final 18 months of his contract at Anfield, yet there has been no news of the Reds captain in waiting signing an extension.
Alarm bells started ringing for Liverpool fans when Steven Gerrard came out publicly, urging the club to tie the key duo down to new contracts as soon as possible – yet everyone is still waiting.
No cover for Lucas
Lucas Leiva has proven his importance to Liverpool in recent weeks with the Reds having gone unbeaten in the last 12 matches in which the Brazilian has started in the Premier League.
His contribution has highlighted the Reds’ need for a top class defensive midfielder in the attacking system they play, yet beyond Lucas there is no like for like replacement.
The drop in class is obvious when Joe Allen plays the role whilst Steven Gerrard does not have the legs at 34-years-old to cover the ground required.
Disaster struck for the Reds when Lucas was ruled out of action for a month earlier in the week with a groin injury so Rodgers may well be regretting his failure to add cover in that position during the window.
The small matter of letting Steven Gerrard leave…
2015 got off to the worst possible start for Liverpool fans when Steven Gerrard announced he would not be signing a new contract and leaving for LA Galaxy in the MLS at the end of the season.
The news is perhaps yet to sink in properly for Kopites, especially when the 34-year-old admitted he would have signed a new deal had it been offered to him in the summer.
Questions have since been asked of Brendan Rodgers and the club as to why Gerrard was allowed to enter the final eight months of his contract without a new deal on the table.
Whether Liverpool will pay the price in the future for failure to do more to keep their talismanic captain remains to be seen.
