4 Liverpool players who must perform for Reds to win vs Watford today
Liverpool are without several key players against Watford today. With that in mind, here are four who simply must step up.
Liverpool will miss quite a few first-team players against Watford. Injuries and international commitments have gotten in the way, limiting what Jurgen Klopp can do with his side.
The result is that several players will feel the pressure in this one. Here are four we think really stand out.
It’s not really fair – Kelleher is a 22-year-old with limited experience – but the pressure will be on here. He’s standing in for Alisson, after all, arguably the best goalkeeper in the world.
Liverpool can’t put out their strongest outfield 10, either, which might invite more pressure onto their goal. Kelleher simply must prove that he’s someone the Reds can rely on in the Premier League.
No Fabinho, no Thiago, no Curtis Jones, no Harvey Elliott. Henderson is the only first-choice midfielder available for this one.
He’ll almost certainly play the holding role in Fabinho’s absence, which means it’s on him to shield the defence. He’ll also need to keep the make-shift midfield organised, though.
This will take a captain’s performance, then. Henderson will have to be at his best both with the ball and as a leader. We all know he’s capable of delivering what Liverpool need – and they’ll certainly need it.
Liverpool will lack creativity out of midfield for this. Thiago, Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott have been the go-to’s this season in that regard but all will miss the game.
Thus there’s extra onus on Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to provide creativity from the flanks. Assuming both start – there’s a chance Kostas Tsimikas gets the nod ahead of a big week for Liverpool.
But regardless of who plays, the team will look out wide in order to get forward. It’s something we know the full-backs do wonderfully well, of course, and Alexander-Arnold has been quite phenomenal with the ball this season.
And Liverpool are counting on them to continue that form later today.
