Former England international Paul Robinson was left wowed by the performance of Liverpool attacker Divock Origi against Arsenal on Wednesday night.
The Belgian international kept up his record of scoring important goals for the Reds by bagging a brace in his team’s 5-5 Carabao Cup draw with Arsenal, which they went on to win on penalties.
Sky Sports pundit Robinson was very impressed: “He just pops up when needed and scores the vital goals which is an unbelievable trait to have,” he told Football Insider. “He seems to be the type of player who is happy to be in and around the squad and get his games when he can get his games.
“The front three and the quality that Liverpool have got there, there’s a reason he’s not playing. It’s always hard when you’re a player and you’re looking at a team and thinking: ‘I’m better than him, I’m better than him, I should be playing.’ That’s the hardest part. When you look at Liverpool’s squad, he’s got a reason in front of him every week why he’s not playing. He seems to fit the role well that he’s got.”
OPINION
Origi has become so valuable to Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp over the past 12 months. We’ve known for a long time that the Reds have one of the deadliest front threes in world football. However, you need somebody to back that trio up and come into the team when needed and score goals and play well. That’s what Origi has done since that magnificent derby day win against Everton last season, and he very much continued that trend on Wednesday night. The statistics, as well as the game itself, demonstrates just how dominant Origi was against the Gunners. As per WhoScored.com, the 24-year-old had four shots, with two of them (the goals) being on target. He took both strikes wonderfully well, by the way. He also produced a key pass and completed two successful dribbles, with a pass success rate of 94.7%. Oh, and he converted his penalty in the shoot-out. All in all, a terrific night’s work for the former Lille man.
