The Fiver | It’s like rising damp, it’s not just going to go away

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Some things never change. Consider the events of January 1907, for example, when Liverpool travelled to a frozen Roker Park and built themselves a comfy 4-1 half-time lead. Jack Parkinson, Sam Raybould and Jack Cox were scintillating in attack, coming at hosts Sunderland from all angles, at pace, “like a fleet of ships” according to the Liverpool Echo. But as the paper also pointed out, “a battle is never lost until it is won”, and Sunderland came back out for the second half in determined fashion. Liverpool started conceding rash fouls and penalty kicks, the not-yet-woke Manchester Guardian observing that Sunderland’s comeback was because of a “fatal departure on the part of Liverpool from the clean game, which is by no means necessarily tame and effeminate”. The end result was 5-5. It was the first time Liverpool had ever given up a three-goal lead. Oh Liverpool!

Related: Jordan Henderson: Don’t blame defence for Liverpool’s Sevilla collapse

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