Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Phil Thompson has claimed that Liverpool’s vaunted front three are better than Paris Saint-Germain’s mega money trio.
Jurgen Klopp will see his Reds defence tested by Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Edison Cavani in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Thompson backs Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane over the French champions’ strike force.
“I think a lot of people, me included, would have our three any day of the week,” he told Sky Sports. “You look at them for honesty, work-rate and the way they go about their jobs.
“I have always admired Cavani, but you look at the build-up play of Firmino, which is absolutely astonishing, and he, more than Mane and Salah, ran Spurs ragged. They have been very comparable and I would slightly have to go with ours,” he finished.
OPINION
You can’t go wrong with either of these strike partnerships, can you? Neymar and Mbappe are probably the two most talented players out of the six men, but in terms of the fluidity and understanding of the two trios you’d have to go for the Liverpool stars. Salah, Firmino and Mane simply know what the others are going to do and are able to anticipate things and get ahead of defenders. In terms of the central player in the attack, Firmino and Cavani are very different players. Cavani is a born goalscorer, a poacher whose only thought is to find the back of the net. The Brazilian is more nuanced, and a far better team player. He cannot match the sheer prolificness of Cavani, but he offers more in general play than the Uruguayan. It’s apples and oranges, really, but there is no doubting that both trios are among the best in Europe. It will be fascinating to see which strike force influences the game more on Tuesday.
