beIN SPORTS pundit Andy Gray has claimed that only Aymeric Laporte would get in Liverpool’s back four out of Manchester City’s defenders.
The Frenchman suffered a serious injury prior to the international break that is expected to keep him out of action for some months, and Gray feels he is a big loss to the champions.
“That’s one of the main differences, for me, in Liverpool and Manchester City,” he told beIN SPORTS. “There’s only Laporte that would get anywhere near Liverpool’s back four, and he’s not there for six months.
“That’s where their Achilles’ heel is, for me – defensively.”
"There's only Laporte that would get anywhere near Liverpool's back four!"
Andy Gray hammers the #ManCity defence.#beINPL #NORMCI ? HD11 pic.twitter.com/SSQ3wnlimY
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) September 14, 2019
OPINION
To be honest, it’s hard to argue with Gray, here. When you think of the goalkeepers, obviously you’d have Ederson over Adrian, but when Alisson is back fully fit he is a slightly better bet than the City shot-stopper. Then there’s the defence itself. Trent Alexander-Arnold is a superior option to Kyle Walker, while Andrew Robertson is far ahead of whoever Pep Guardiola trots out at left back these days. Obviously if you’re talking about the two teams’ centre halves, then the combination has to be Laporte and Virgil van Dijk. The latter, as the world’s finest defender, is an automatic selection. It then comes down to picking Laporte over Joe Gomez, Joel Matip, John Stones and Nicolas Otamendi. We saw throughout Saturday’s action that Matip is more reliable than the latter two City stars, while Gomez is a top class prospect as well. However, Laporte is probably the second best centre back in the top flight behind Van Dijk, so in theory he would partner him in a combined eleven.
