Graeme Souness delivered his verdict on the progress Liverpool had made during recent times after watching them draw with Manchester City on Sunday.
The Sky Sports pundit highlighted Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker as being players who enabled the Reds to get a 0-0 draw with Man City rather than lose to them.
Souness claimed that a year ago, Jurgen Klopp’s side would have lost to Manchester City especially after being run ragged during the Champions League in midweek.
“Go back a year they don’t get that result, City were good on the face of it,” said Souness on Sky Sports Premier League (October 7, 18:45).
“City were coming away from home, coming to Anfield and getting a draw, they’re getting the better result.
“But I think if you analysis the picture, go back Van Dijk, pre the goalkeeper, Liverpool don’t get the result, six months ago, nine months ago, a year ago, they lose that game.
“I thought City came with a more rigid formation, didn’t commit Silva as much, Fernandinho was fabulous for them, not in an obvious way but just someone who broke things up that sometimes bordered on being illegal, but for me he did a great job.
“I think Liverpool should be please with that as after the 90 minutes Liverpool had on Wednesday in Napoli, Liverpool play a high intensity game of football and got run ragged on Wednesday night and City had the extra 24 hours and I thought that would have played a factor.
“But I think Liverpool should be encourage that a year ago, they lose that and on back of what happen in Italy on Wednesday after having that kinda game they had compared to what City had, they should be much encouraged by that.”
OPINION
Souness may not be able to remember Alisson’s name but it’s easy to see that the goalkeeper has made a difference at Anfield. Van Dijk and Alisson make the Reds look stable at the back and able to avoid shipping avoidable goals. The Brazilian goalkeeper may not have been extremely busy against Man City but did everything he could to keep his clean sheet in tact. Alisson made a decent double save in the second half and dived the right way when trying to deny Man City from scoring from a penalty, even if their effort went flying over the bar. Souness is right to state that the Reds must appreciate drawing 0-0 with Man City on Sunday as it is a game they would have lost in the past. Both sides struggled to deliver a good game of football but at the end of the day they shared the spoils and the Premier League title race is still as competitive as ever.
