The Premier League is underway and we are looking forward to our 2nd week already. We’ve had a very strong start to the Premier League this season with all the debutants making their presence felt. Zlatan and Sadio Mane being a few of them. Pogba looks like to unleash himself in front of the home crowd on a Friday night football against Southampton. It’s not going to be an easy match up as Southampton will be looking to make their presence felt after a tame draw against Watford. Liverpool, on the other hand, are on a high after demolishing Arsenal on their opening day with Coutinho and Mane being their star performers. Burnley, on the other hand, have had a sobering return to the Premier League. This Saturday’s clash looks like a bit of a mismatch considering the form Liverpool is in. But as the Premier League is in the habit of throwing up surprises and upsets, Liverpool must be careful and not throw away the momentum. But 3 players who could play a key role in Saturday’s match are:-
Sadio Mane-
After a blistering debut, he would like to back it up with another swashbuckling performance. A pacy forward who likes to run at the heart of the opponent’s defence he will surely relish the opportunity. As seen in the last match Klopp might start him on the right wing with the freedom of moving inside and sniff out a goal or two. His goal was an example of some brilliant pace and beautiful finishing. In the entire game against Arsenal, he was a handful for Holding and Chambers and he will prove handful against Ben Mee and Michael Keane as well. Already a Klopp favourite he will be surely live up to his potential by the looks of it and Burnley might suffer his wrath in the second week of the Premier League.
Roberto Firmino-
Firmino is another member of the Liverpool squad who would like to cement a permanent place. His performances have been quite ordinary in the previous year. Sporadically rising up to the occasion and a few memorable performances did not guarantee a place in the starting line-up and nor will it this season. So the Brazilian would like to get back to form and the next match seems like the perfect platform for it. Pacy with a bag of trickery up his sleeves, he can be a menace to any defence in the world on his day. So Burnley might be in his line of fire. Already deployed as a number 9 in the first match, he looked comfortable on the ball and also his link up play with Sadio Mane was also on point. So the Brazilian might just look to exploit the frailties of the Burnley defence and perform better.
Jordan Henderson-
The Liverpool captain after a disappointing season will look to bring back his old form which earned him the captain’s armband in the first place. Last season was not a good one for him and he would like to mend his ways in the ongoing season. Sitting right in front of the defensive duo of Ragnar Klavan and Dejan Lovren he will look to shield the defence and provide solidity in the centre of the field. Below par performances won’t cut it for him as Klopp won’t hesitate to cut him from the team if his performances don’t improve in the coming months. The English international would look to perform better and his first test will be Sam Vokes and Andre Gray. Burnley will be up for a huge test as a lot of players have a point to prove and might choose this weekend to return to form.
