For the first time since joined have been promoted to the Premier Leauge, Liverpool have managed to win against them at the Brittania Stadium, coming away with the 5-3 victory in an excellent match that included another brilliant performance from Luis Suarez and a deadly return from injury for Daniel Sturridge.
With every match that goes by, it seems Liverpool and Rodgers are making the right tactical decisions. The problem seems to be their poor defending, which almost cost them a victory at Stoke, allowing the home side to come back from 0-2 down in the first half through some atrocious defending and poor goalkeeping from Simon Mignolet.
Liverpool struck first in a match that was for them an attempt to resort solely to counter attacking, while Stoke, used to simply pushing the ball forward in order to get some aerial advantage or set piece, felt uncomfortable with their moments in possession early on.
Aly Cissokho tried an ambitious shot from long range, but instead of going wide off the mark, it hit Ryan Shawcross and gave Liverpool the lead. Some awful defending from Stoke minutes later (Marc Wilson in one of the poorest matches by any centre back in the Premier League this season) allowed Luis Suarez to score his 21st of the season.
Instead of folding, Stoke kept on attacking. Philippe Coutinho missed two excellent opportunites through some beautiful build up, and Stoke made the most of it. Peter Crouch scored from a wide open header to put them back in the match and Charlie Adam launched a rocket of a shot before half time to make it a nightmarish duo of Liverpool exes levelling the match.
The match was even less organized in the second half, working well for Liverpool, who have more talent and speed upfront. Raheem Sterling made a meal of a bad challenge from Marc Wilson, giving Steven Gerrard the chance to score from the penalty spot. Daniel Sturridge came on, and his combination with Luis Suarez resulted in a beautiful fourth goal, as Sturridge occupied two defenders before giving a tricky pass to Suarez, scoring his second.
Stoke were back in it with six minutes left after more poor defending from Liverpool, allowing Jonathan Walters to score an easy goal, but Sturridge had the last laugh. Suarez set him with a tough one on one that Jack Butland managed to stop, but Sturridge was the quickest on the rebound to score the fifth and final goal, putting Liverpool back in fourth place.