What the Managers Had to Say
Jurgen Klopp: “But there are so many extremely strong opponents – West Ham is one of them when you see them. Really exciting project as well. I’m happy for David that he really built this team now over a few years. Even with Declan Rice out, they look really good, I have to say. [James] Ward-Prowse, super signing.”
David Moyes: “In recent years, we have given them tough games and we’ll try to give them a good game on Sunday. We know we’re playing a good side and we want to show what we can do.”
The Officials
Referee: Chris Kavanagh. Assistants: Mat Wilkes, Mark Scholes. Fourth official: Craig Pawson. VAR: David Coote. Assistant VAR: Nick Greenhalgh.
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If you haven’t done so already, take a moment to sign up for an SB Nation account and join the community at The Liverpool Offside, where we’ll bring you and your fellow Reds fans from around the world full coverage of every Liverpool match from the 2023-24 season in the Premier League, Europa League, and domestic cups along with breaking news, insight and opinion, tactical discussion, and post-match reaction.
‘Super’ Liverpool youngster puts in bang average performance after finally getting loan start
Liverpool youngster Fabio Carvalho seems to be something of a forgotten man at the moment after moving to RB Leipzig in the summer.
Carvalho was farmed out on loan in the summer and has so far struggled to make any sort of impact over in Germany, failing to start a game before today.
And after being handed his first start against Borussia Monchengladbach today, it doesn’t seem like Carvalho has pulled up too many trees
Fabio Carvalho finally makes full debut for RB Leizpig
Carvalho’s time with Liverpool and then subsequently with Leipzig so far has not gone brilliantly.
Since starring for Fulham and earning his move to Anfield, Carvalho’s career has gone a tad stale.
However, he did get his first start for Leipzig today and it seems that rather than seizing his chance, he’s delivered a very middle of the road performance.
Per WhoScored, Carvalho was given a 6.48 rating for his performance, the fifth lowest in the entire team for the Bundesliga outfit. The game did finish 1-0 to Leipzig, but Carvalho didn’t exactly pull up many trees.
Carvalho did manage to get his solitary shot on target, but he wasn’t in the game much, completing just the 16 passes – only two players managed less – in his 70 minutes on the field.
RTK’s View: A big year needed
Going out on loan can always make or break a young player and it definitely seems that Carvalho needs a big season this year to get himself right.
He struggled to get going with Liverpool last year and while it’s obvious he is a ‘super‘ talent – as Klopp termed him – he needs to offer more.
Hopefully, this start today is the first of many to come in the coming weeks and months. From there, Carvalho can hopefully kick on and become a key player for RB Leipzig.
‘Haven’t seen that since Jordan Henderson’: Emile Heskey says Liverpool now have a player with endless energy
Dominik Szoboszlai has taken the Premier League by storm so far.
To say that the Hungarian has hit the ground running at Liverpool would be an understatement. He’s already looking like one of the Reds’ best players and his style of play suits Jurgen Klopp to a tee
Szoboszlai has bundles of energy and incredible technique to boot, and according to Emile Heskey, speaking to The Mirror, we haven’t seen a player like this at Anfield since a prime Jordan Henderson.
Endless energy
Heskey spoke about Liverpool’s new signing.
“He looks comfortable, and that’s one of the things with any new signing, if you can get them feeling as comfortable as possible as quickly as you can that’s what you’ll get. He’s very energetic and he can do box-to-box. We haven’t seen that since Jordan Henderson when he was really at his peak. With age he changed, but at his peak he was very much energy, box-to-box, it was like having three players. Kind of Kante-esque. That’s the sort of player you need,” Heskey said.
Just what they needed
Szoboszlai may have only have played a few games for Liverpool, but he’s already ticking so many boxes for the Reds.
As Heskey says, he has the energy of a player like Jordan Henderson, but he also has the technique of someone like Thiago Alcantara. Simply put, he is the full package and he suits this Liverpool team to a tee.
Liverpool had to get their midfield recruitment spot on this summer, and it looks as though they have found a gem in the shape of Szoboszlai.
The Reds have a new midfield superstar on their hands here.
