Impressive Attacking Options Have Liverpool Well Placed Heading into 2017

ANFIELD, Liverpool—Liverpool picked themselves up off the canvas before going on to record a convincing 4-1 win over Stoke City on Tuesday.

It didn't start well for Jurgen Klopp's side, who fell behind to Jonathan Walters' early goal, and the visitors almost doubled their lead shortly after as Liverpool struggled to cope with Walters and former Reds Peter Crouch and Joe Allen in attack.

But Klopp's side were unbeaten at home in 15 Premier League games before this and showed exactly why, as they gained control and eventually coasted to victory to provide their fans with another festive treat.

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100 Premier League goals in just 48 games for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZnYIVIcp5u

— Bleacher Report UK (@br_uk) December 27, 2016"

It's almost a year since Liverpool last lost at Anfield—to Stoke in the second leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final, a game they went on to win on penalties—and the Reds took their home record this season to played eight, won six, drawn two.

Klopp's team were too good for Mark Hughes' men, and their quality in the final third, combined with their energetic midfield, proved too much. They have now scored 25 goals at home this season—more than any other team in the league—despite playing the fewest home games (eight) so far.

Positives

This was a match with multiple positives for Klopp: three points, which returned them to second in the table; a first league goal of the season for Daniel Sturridge; a first goal in six games for Roberto Firmino; and—likely most pleasingly—a good response to going behind in the 12th minute.

Klopp has spoken in the past about striking back, in reference to performances in-game and also after results. Liverpool struck back in the game here, just as they have begun to regularly under the German's management.

This result made it three wins and one draw since the defeat at Bournemouth on December 4. Liverpool have struck back again.

Klopp admitted post-match that his side did not handle Stoke's setup well in the early exchanges, while Hughes lauded his own tactics by playing two up front at Anfield, plus Joe Allen operating just behind the two physical forwards.

"The start of the game was really difficult because the plan of Stoke was obviously to press really high, especially with the two strikers," Klopp said. "We were not patient enough in our passing game in these moments. It became a wild game."

However, Liverpool showed their quality and perhaps found themselves fortunate to be ahead at the interval.

"A lot of things we could have done better, but we forced two goals with our quality; they were really good and both really important," Klopp said. "2-1 up and then we could again adjust a little bit at half-time and speak about a few things."

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Those adjustments saw Liverpool dominate the second half, and Klopp was able to bring on Sturridge and Emre Can earlier than he has been doing so in recent weeks.

The beauty of being two goals ahead after an hour meant that Sturridge and Can got more playing time, while Adam Lallana and Firmino were withdrawn early. With the next two games—against Manchester City and Sunderland—being played within 48 hours of each other, Klopp will be pleased to have been able to do both of these and later brought on Alberto Moreno, with the Spaniard likely to start at the Stadium of Light.

Being able to give Lallana some rest was a positive, with the England international continuing to be the Reds' talisman—scoring Liverpool's opening goal for the third time in their last four games.

Sturridge's goal, taking advantage of a sloppy Ryan Shawcross back pass within a minute of coming on, gave Liverpool a comfortable lead and allowed the Reds to slow the pace down for the final 20 minutes.

"It was very, very important because it closed the game and gave us the opportunity to cool down a little bit," Klopp said, clearly pleased with the ideal preparation ahead of the big match against City at Anfield on New Year's Eve.

Firmino

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Another major positive for Klopp was the overall performance of Firmino following the Brazilian's drink-driving charge earlier in the week, per BBC News.

There had been some questions over whether he may even be in the XI, but Klopp said there was "no chance to leave him out" as he'd been "outstanding" in training.

"He played really well. I can’t speak about the other issues," he told Sky Sports. "He deserved his goal, as it’s not an easy time for him on the pitch at the moment."

Firmino has struggled somewhat after being asked to move to the left of Liverpool's attack since Philippe Coutinho's injury last month, and this was his first goal since that change. In fact, it was his first goal in eight games, almost two months since his last one against Watford.

Ironically, Coutinho could return soon—possibly even against City—which would likely see Firmino return to the No. 9 role he excelled in during the early weeks of the season, but it was crucial he got back to form ahead of the forthcoming back-to-back fixtures.

Striker Dilemma

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What Sturridge and Firmino's goals now give Klopp is a bit of a dilemma ahead of the visit of City on Saturday.

Assuming Coutinho isn't fit to start against Pep Guardiola's side, does Klopp opt to keep Divock Origi leading the attack, or does he bring in Sturridge—still the club's most clinical finisher—against his former side?

Alternatively, should Coutinho be fit—something that Klopp has said is unlikely but could just be playing his cards close to his chest—then does Firmino return to the No. 9 role?

Either way, you can assume that at least one of the three attackers against City will drop out when the Reds line up against Sunderland less than 48 hours later on January 2, meaning everybody will get their chances.

On a cold night at Anfield, Liverpool had the ideal warm-up for the New Year's Eve showdown with Manchester City, when they will be hoping to end the calendar year in style.

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise stated. Matt is Bleacher Report's lead Liverpool correspondent, follow him on Twitter @mattladson.