MY ACCOUNT
Liverpool are proving that they are not just reliant on Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, according to assistant manager Pep Lijnders.
Jurgen Klopp’s side are having to do without two of their star attackers, with Salah and Mane on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations with Egypt and Senegal respectively.
Naby Keita is also featuring at the tournament, with the midfielder a talisman for Guinea, who like Senegal have progressed from Group B. Salah’s Egypt will guarantee their qualification from Group D with a win over Sudan on Wednesday.
The tournament runs until February 6. Senegal were runners-up in 2019 while Egypt are the most successful team in AFCON history with seven titles, and both are fancied to go far this time around in Cameroon.
Liverpool have been without the trio since just after a draw with Chelsea on January 2, and though they subsequently beat Shrewsbury Town in the FA Cup, the absence of Mane and the Premier League’s leading scorer Salah was particularly felt in a 0-0 draw with 10-man Arsenal at Anfield in the first leg of the EFL Cup semi-final on January 13.
The Gunners had Granit Xhaka sent off midway through the first half yet Liverpool mustered only one effort on target, with that shot coming in stoppage time, after Takumi Minamino had spurned a glorious chance.
The Reds bounced back with a routine 3-0 win over Brentford on Sunday, with Liverpool having 27 shots (13 on target) and controlling 68 per cent of the possession.
Liverpool had 3.1 expected goals against Brentford, the joint-fourth highest total for them in a league game this season, while they have only managed more shots in one top-flight fixture (against Leeds United in September), with their shots-on-target total the most in a single match.
Asked ahead of the second leg against Arsenal how pleased he was with Liverpool’s reaction to being without such key players, Lijnders told a news conference: “We did it before. One of the most memorable games [the 4-0 Champions League win over Barcelona in 2019] was without a few of them [Salah and Roberto Firmino].
“When we have our squad, we knew that we needed to have different weapons, create goals from everywhere, dribbles from everywhere, attacks from everywhere, not just based on counter-attacks or the speed of these two boys.
“They are our front line but what I like is we don’t just have one weapon, we have so many different ways to attack. How we are evolving as a team, developing with our positional game, it’s important and we really like it.”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain stepped up on Sunday, scoring Liverpool’s second and playing three key passes, second only to Fabinho (four), though the midfielder will not be available against his former club on Thursday due to an ankle injury sustained against Brentford.
“I spoke with him and he feels okay, it’s not that bad,” Lijnders explained. “He’s hoping that he will make the weekend. Tomorrow will be way too soon. We will assess that day by day.”
While Liverpool beat Brentford, Arsenal were not in action on Sunday, with the Premier League having granted the Gunners’ request to postpone the north London derby clash with Tottenham due to a COVID-19 case within the squad, though injuries and players away at AFCON were also cited as a reason.
“We had our own experience with this, it’s really difficult to judge from the outside,” said Lijnders, who had to take charge of the Chelsea clash this month when Klopp was self-isolating due to COVID-19.
“We saw that with our situation. I fully respect the submissions because I trust 100 per cent the medical department of each Premier League club. I think this is the most important, the trust in these decisions.”
