Charlie Nicholas has blasted Liverpool goalkeeper Adrian for his lack of reliability after a couple of errors that have led to goals in his first few appearances this season.
Adrian was signed on a free transfer in the summer after Simon Mignolet left Anfield but number one Alisson Becker suffered an injury in the win against Norwich and the ex-West Ham goalkeeper as been filling in between the sticks since.
Although ex-Arsenal player Nicholas is concerned by Adrian’s form, he has still predicted Liverpool to continue their 100 per cent start to the campaign by winning 3-1 against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday.
“Liverpool were very good going forward but I did see problems at the back against Arsenal. I don’t think Adrian is reliable. We saw mistakes at West Ham and we have recently too. Ashley Barnes is in form at the moment and Sean Dyche may play Chris Wood for his height,” Nicholas said on the Sky Sports website.
“They will squeeze Liverpool and drop off when they have it at the back, squeezing the midfield too. They need to stop the full-backs and the service to the front men. If it is rolled out from Liverpool they could even squeeze from the front. Liverpool will take risks and were exposed sometimes against Arsenal. The front three will be nice and fresh, with Mohamed Salah coming into this off the back of a brace, so I expect a Liverpool win.”
OPINION
It is not a surprise to see Nicholas predicting a win for Liverpool but it is also not a surprise to see him predicting that Burnley will snatch a goal against the European champions. Liverpool’s defence has been underwhelming in the opening weeks of the season. Alisson’s injury has played a major role in that and while Adrian is a decent shot-stopper, he does not have a patch on the imperious Brazil international. Jurgen Klopp has also been instructing his defence to play with a higher line. While this has drawn criticism from some fans and pundits so far, it is still a work in progress and after a while, Liverpool could become a lot better at playing like that. As long as they are scoring three or four at the other end of the pitch, the defensive record does not matter that much. It will improve once Alisson is back. He is prone to errors like Adrian but the Brazilian is obviously a major upgrade on the ex-West Ham man, who is doing better for Liverpool than what he is getting credit for.
