Ranking Liverpool's 5 Best Combinations Which Helped Beat Bolton Wanderers

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There were several star individual performances from Liverpool on Saturday as they waltzed to victory over Bolton Wanderers at Anfield in the Premier League, in a game which saw the Reds go top of the table for the first time in over two years.

But the real victory for Kenny Dalglish and his coaching staff will be seeing how well his players are gelling as a team; a solid unit which is compact and reliable in defence and creative and fluid in attack—helped in no small part by a regular series of combination plays between two or three players all over the park, who helped to open up the Bolton defence, time and time again.

They aren't all as obvious as they might sound; here are the top five combinations from Saturday's game.

Lucas Leiva and Charlie Adam

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It was a great day for Charlie Adam at Anfield; he collected his second Premier League assist of the season for Martin Skrtel's headed goal and he opened his own Liverpool account with a right-footed effort, something of a collector's item in itself.

However his link with Lucas Leiva in the centre of midfield is fast becoming one of Liverpool's most recognisable traits and easy-to-pick predictions for the starting XI.

Lucas is clearly the more natural and able defensive shield of the two but Adam does not shirk away from his responsibilities in his own third, running, marking and challenging where appropriate.

He is comfortable enough to drop behind Lucas from time to time to allow the Brazilian to step forward and surprise the opposition midfield, and will always make himself available to receive the ball from his fellow midfielder.

In much a similar way to when Lucas and Jay Spearing gelled so well at the end of last season, Adam has come in and shown exceptional characteristics in binding with his new teammates.

Jose Enrique and Stewart Downing

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Liverpool's left side hasn't looked this healthy in years.

Jose Enrique put in a scintillating performance at left back against Bolton and ahead of him, Stewart Downing was also exceptional.

The two dove-tailed on countless occasions; one coming infield, one overlapping, and were able to stream countless attacks down the left flank all game long.

Downing has been criticised in some quarters for not helping out defensively enough; but there is more than one way to defend and Downing showed no signs of that today as he kept Steinsson from getting forward for almost the entire game.

Jose Enrique and Downing both possess pace to burn and neither were afraid to attack the byline and send over telling crosses; if only Kuyt, Suarez, Carroll or Henderson at times had gambled a little more the Reds could have been looking at a scoreline of five or six.

Pepe Reina and the Liverpool Forward Line

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What?

That's right, Reina and the top two for the Reds. Pepe's distribution is immaculate, one of the very best in the division.

Time and time again against Bolton, after collecting a wayward cross or misplaced pass, Reina's first instinct was to look to the channels and the immediate runs of Dirk Kuyt and Luis Suarez, and several times Liverpool were able to bypass the better defensive players of Bolton, especially after set pieces, by the Spanish stopper's quick thinking and accurate passing.

No goals came directly from it on this occasion but if he keeps it up it won't be long until Pepe claims another assist—remember Albert Riera's goal against Aston Villa?

Reina was though involved for the Reds third goal; his long pass finding Suarez, before Kuyt found Adam who scored.

Jordan Henderson and Dirk Kuyt

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Saturday's starting eleven for Liverpool was supposed to be Dirk Kuyt or Jordan Henderson; instead both were picked and both had exceptional games.

Henderson operated from the right side, coming infield when needed and staying wide to cross when the opportunity arose. Kuyt, always happy to help out down the flanks, was a good foil for the Englishman and the two linked well during many of Liverpool's buildups down that channel.

The two almost combined for a Kuyt goal in the first half and showed real signs that as well as battling each other directly for a starting place, they can also play together on the pitch, and prosper.

Luis Suarez and Dirk Kuyt

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An obvious one, but a good one. Kuyt and Suarez showed early signs last season that they were a force to be reckoned with together, and against Bolton their combined work rate, movement and on-the-ball ability was just too much for Gary Cahill and co.

Neither scored but both were heavily influential for the Reds, causing the Bolton back line all sorts of trouble as they refused to stick to any particular area of the pitch and played alongside each other as much as off each other.

Two great performers for Liverpool and both will be back amongst the goals soon.