Will Virgil Van Dijk Cement A Top 4 Place For Liverpool?
Two days after Christmas saw an announcement made by both Southampton and Liverpool to confirm that centre back Virgil van Dijk would be heading to Anfield on the 1st of January from St Mary’s. The fee is believed to be in the region of £75m, which means the Dutchman will become the world’s most expensive centre-half; as he is drafted in to shore up Jurgen Klopp’s leaky backline. Will his arrival secure a Top 4 finish for Liverpool though? Or …
Who should partner Van Dijk?
With the record £75 million signing of Dutch international defender Virgil Van Dijk, Liverpool have taken major steps towards addressing the defensive frailties that have plagued Jurgen Klopp’s side throughout his tenure.
Whilst having a world record defender is great, Liverpool can’t expect Van Dijk to solve the team’s defensive problems alone. Almost every team in history that has had a solid defensive record has built their foundations upon a centre back pairing that remains almost ever-present throughout the season. …
Lack of ruthlessness hurting Liverpool
Enough praises have been sung of Liverpool’s fab four and how they have taken Liverpool’s campaign by the scruff of the neck and delivered regularly despite the failings of the defence and midfield. This has been the story since Jurgen Klopp first arrived at Anfield and while some amount of criticism must be directed towards him for failure to tackle this problem in almost 2 years, he can be given leeway for shaping probably England’s best forward line.
A 5-0 …
Have we underestimated Liverpool's squad depth?
Over the last month or so we have seen Jurgen Klopp increasingly trust his squad which has seen him rotate a number of his first choice eleven in and out of the side. With the added demands of European football, it was clear Klopp was going to have to utilise his squad players a lot more this season but it should also highlight to us all how the German is building a team which is capable of challenging on all …
Coutinho January sale would be stupidity of the highest order
Selling Philippe Coutinho in the January transfer window would be a brazen, stupid act of the highest order, even for the standards of Liverpool FC.
After a summer-long saga of the Catalan giants attempting to prize Liverpool's Golden Boy away from the ground where he's picked up repeated Golden Samba's, the Reds stood firm and moved past the autumn transfer deadline with Coutinho in their ranks.
Since then he's embarked on a run of form practically unprecedented on a personal …
A Different Kind Of Win At "Tough" Moor - Burnley 1 Liverpool 2
You can keep your 7-0s. That was my type of game.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a pasting, particularly if it looks on the cards from the outset. I was at the famous 9-0 game against Crystal Palace in 1989 and though it was ‘only’ 3-0 at halftime there was a sense that this side were there for a merciless beating. The whole ground knew that Palace would want to get off the pitch as soon as possible such …
Key Stats from Liverpool 2-1 Burnley
Liverpool pulled out a hard-fought, incredibly sticky 2-1 win over Burnley following Ragnar Klavan’s last minute header. But what were the key stats from the Reds’ massive win?
Creative Juices Clogging?
On paper Liverpool’s xG of 1.63 looks solid enough, especially for a big away game against defensively strong Burnley. But 0.93 of that came from Ragnar Klavan’s header at the death, which in turn came from a set piece and resulted in the winning goal. Or in other words, …
Injury-time winner sees Reds secure first win of 2018 - Burnley 1-2 LFC
Burnley: Pope, Bardsley, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor, Gudmundsson, Cork, Defour, Arfield, Hendrick, Barnes
Liverpool: Mignolet, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Klavan, Gomez; Can, Wijnaldum, Oxlade-Chamberlain; Lallana, Mané, Solanke
Report
Liverpool got 2018 off to a winning start at Turf Moor, recording a 1-2 victory after a moment of the highest order from Sadio Mané and some late, late drama from Ragnar Klavan.
With both sides playing for the second time in three days, the first-half lacked the usual intensity of a Premier League clash. …
Player Ratings from Burnley 1 Liverpool 2
Liverpool scored a last-gasp winner to take all three points at Turf Moor, with Ragnar Klavan’s header changing the story after it looked like another case of the Reds letting a lead slip – following Gudmundsson’s equaliser and Mané’s screamer. But how did the Liverpool players rate?
Simon Mignolet – 6/10: Decent enough performance from Liverpool’s keeper. Question marks as ever over the goal but made some decent stops and didn’t make any glaring errors. Not sure his confidence will …
Are Liverpool Supporters Underrating Their Own Team?
As Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain fired home Liverpool’s fifth goal against Swansea on Boxing Day, there was almost a flippant feeling of, “oh well, there’s another goal to add to the tally” from some.
A 5-0 win in years gone by would have been lauded to the roof, but this has just become the norm under Jurgen Klopp.
It no longer feels special to trounce a fellow top-flight club, or Champions League opposition, for that matter.
We are all well aware of …