Charlie Nicholas has claimed that he is “not convinced” by Liverpool so far this season, and believes that the Reds will drop points against Southampton on Saturday.
The Reds travel to the south coast having won the UEFA Super Cup in midweek, and knowing that their opponents suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat at the hands of Burnley last weekend.
But the Sky pundit has suggested that the Saints could be a banana skin for Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Speaking to Sky Sports, he said: “I am not convinced by Liverpool this season. Are they going to be good enough for second? Yes they are.
“Liverpool cannot and will not be as good defensively – Alisson is out already, too. Southampton will be looking at different things and how to exploit this Liverpool team.
“Virgil van Dijk still makes mistakes and is an elegant, beautiful footballer to watch, but he is expected to win headers and play how he does. I think Southampton, after the rotten result, will be at it here.”
Nicholas is backing a 2-2 draw.
OPINION
It’s hard to know what to make of Nicholas’ prediction here. On the one hand, Liverpool have had a very long and arduous trip to Turkey to contend with this week, and he’s right to suggest that they have looked more defensively frail over the first couple of games this season than they did for the vast majority of last term, but on the other, the Saints were so poor last weekend, and Klopp’s men offer so much going forward, that it’s hard to see them taking anything but three points from this one. Incredibly, Nicholas picks out Virgil Van Dijk as a potential source of calamity, but last weekend against Norwich City he managed three tackles, three clearances, five interceptions, and caught opposition players offside three times, as per Whoscored. Those hardly seem like the stats of a man who could cost his side at any moment. Here’s hoping Nicholas is wrong.
