After the disappointment of drawing with Manchester United in their last Premier League game, Liverpool gears up to face West Bromwich Albion at Anfield. The Reds were held to a 0-0 draw but Jurgen Klopp will be expecting a better response against Tony Pulis’s side.
One of the few talking points from the game against the Red Devils was the goalkeeping performance of Loris Karius. The young German (rated as €18.5M by CIES Football observatory) didn’t actually have a lot of saves to make but he did fluff his lines a couple of times. The 23-year-old was almost punished by Zlatan Ibrahimovic due to a careless pass and even his kicking and distribution was poor.
Speaking ahead of the game, Klopp backed the former Mainz goalkeeper and expected him to deal with the pressure that West Brom would put Liverpool under. The manager even stated that the start of Karius’s Anfield career has been great.
“It has been a very good start,” said Klopp.
“We watched him for a long time especially the last two years in the Bundesliga. He was outstanding. He is still a young boy but this is something different.
“The Premier League is a different style of play generally, but I feel quite comfortable. It is not perfect. He can improve.”
There was some good news for Liverpool in the match as they were able to keep their first clean sheet of the Premier League campaign. But facing West Brom will be tough as the Baggies seem to have found some form and could be a threat against the Reds.
Memories of Klopp’s celebrations
Last season, Liverpool needed a late goal from Divock Origi to salvage a 2-2 draw against the same opposition. The end of the game also saw Jurgen Klopp celebrate the point, rather wildly. The German manager even had a bit of a spat with Tony Pulis last time around.
But Liverpool are a different side this season and Klopp hopes that the Reds can actually do better. The German even stated that he might not celebrate a point from this fixture this time around and is looking forward to a good game.
Furthermore, the Reds could have the likes of Georginio Wijnaldum and Adam Lallana back in their starting XI. While the Englishman did play a few minutes against United, Wijnaldum only recently returned to training. But Klopp would want to push the former Newcastle man back in the midfield as the creativity and movement was severely missing from the side in the last game.
Liverpool will have a comparatively easy set of fixtures coming up in the next few weeks and three points against the Baggies will be the perfect response after the United game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yscPabwQaQI
