Salah rewards patient owners but Liverpool underwhelming in win

Liverpool kept the pressure on Manchester City with seventh win of the Premier League campaign at Huddersfield on Saturday night.

However, it was another victory sealed without the rip-roaring displays we have become accustomed to with Jurgen Klopp’s side.

The manner of the result means that the jury remains out on many of Liverpool’s premium assets in spite of their appealing fixtures.

We tackle some of those issues in this latest Scout Notes article.

Huddersfield Town 0-1 Liverpool

Goals: Mohamed Salah (£12.8m)

Assists: Xherdan Shaqiri (£7.0m)

Mohamed Salah (£12.8m) finally rewarded his patient owners with an attacking return as he scored the only goal of Liverpool’s win at Huddersfield. It was a classic Salah finish with a darting run into the box and a finish dragged across the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. However, it was not entirely the smoking gun that his devotees had hoped for as he recorded an eight-point haul.

Salah missed a similar chance in the second-half, his effort rolling past the far post. The Egyptian had the same number of shots in the penalty area as Huddersfield’s Laurent Depoitre (£5.2m), although he was slightly more accurate. So once again there is still promise of returns in the future. Only Marko Arnautovic (£7.0m), Sergio Aguero (£11.3m) and Jonjo Shelvey (£5.4m) have had more efforts on target than Salah thus far in Gameweek 9. Only Leroy Sané (£9.2m) and David Silva (£8.5m) registered more touches in the penalty area than him.

Liverpool as a whole were laboured in the win and ground out an ugly win over a side many would have expected them to sweep aside. As it turned out, Huddersfield actually finished the match with a higher Expected Goal total of 0.72 to Liverpool’s 0.65. The Terriers had more shots on goal too (13 to 11), although the Reds managed more on target (two to one).

Those are the sort of statistics that will probably be of more encouragement to Anfield faithful than the Fantasy managers. Getting the three points despite not playing well is something Liverpool have struggled to do under Klopp. Historically, when they haven’t played well they have been held to chastening draws by lesser opposition or ripped apart by fellow members of the top-six. Just ask Tottenham and Man City last season. So this newfound grit and determination to get the win bodes well for Liverpool’s title challenge, but it may leave Fantasy managers a little underwhelmed.

“The last pass wasn’t good. How can I explain that? I need to look back at the game. The players weren’t great with their last pass. The performance wasn’t 100%, it looked like we could have scored in six or seven situations.” – Jurgen Klopp

There are, as usual, some mitigating factors for the performance. In recent weeks it has been the quality of Liverpool’s opponents, in Gameweek 9 it was the fact that the Reds were not at full strength. After the most recent international break, there were injury doubts hanging over Salah, Sadio Mané (£9.7m), Virgil van Dijk (£5.9m), James Milner (£5.7m) and Naby Keita (£7.2m). Of those five, only Salah, van Dijk and Milner were considered fit enough to play, with Georginio Wijnaldum (£5.5m) missing out on a start due to an ear infection and sickness bug the night before the game. Roberto Firmino (£9.3m) was rested after international duty.

“We couldn’t start Gini. Sadio (Mane) and Naby (Keita) were also out. Firmino just came back so we had a decision to make. Do we put Fabinho on and Hendo on the right or do we bring in (Xherdan) Shaqiri? That (playing Shaqiri) made sense.” – Jurgen Klopp

Coming into the side were Daniel Sturridge (£5.8m) and Adam Lallana (£6.9m), both of whom made their first league starts of the campaign. For the latter, it was his first appearance in the starting XI since January. Xherdan Shaqiri (£7.0m) also came in and was never going to be at 100% after his extensive involvement over the international break.

“(Shaqiri) looked good. Offensively he looked good, he was a very dominant player. He was absolutely okay and he liked it, but at the end of the match, he had to fight as well. He has now had three 90 minutes in 10 days. We will see how he will react.” – Jurgen Klopp

Wijnaldum was forced into action at half-time, despite his illness, after Jordan Henderson (£5.3m) came off with a hamstring concern. The England international is now a doubt for Gameweek 10.

“I hope so (asked if the substitution was precautionary). He didn’t feel a lot, he wanted to carry on but we decided no. Hopefully, it’s nothing.” – Jurgen Klopp

With every reason to look disjointed, it is to Liverpool’s credit that they were able to leave West Yorkshire with the three points. Interestingly, this was their fourth post-international break win in a row, the last three all coming away from home too. Under Klopp, the Reds have lost just once in 13 matches following international breaks.

It says something about the transformation under Klopp this season that the focus of the local and national media after the game was on Liverpool’s defence, rather than their attack.

Never before in their 126-year history have Liverpool conceded as few as three goals in their first nine league games. Alongside Man City, they have the best defensive record in the top five leagues in European football. This has led to Liverpool registering their best start to a league campaign in the Premier League era, as they sit joint-top on 23 points.

Andrew Robertson (£6.4m) therefore looks close to essential for Gameweek 10 as Cardiff come to Anfield. The Scottish full-back consolidated his position as the primary Liverpool defensive asset at Huddersfield, mainly due to a second consecutive benching for Trent Alexander-Arnold (£5.2m). Joe Gomez (£5.1m) was given the nod at right-back once again with Dejan Lovren (£4.9m) retaining his place at centre-back, and recording maximum bonus points for the second match in a row. But Robertson continues to show FPL potential on his own, oozing with attacking threat in once against at Huddersfield. Only Salah and Sturridge recorded more touches in the final third than him, and according to the FFS Members’ Area, Robertson’s average position in the match was further forward than any other defender present.

Alisson (£5.6m) remains another option to consider with Liverpool’s defensive solidity. He is cheaper than Robertson and van Dijk, and is the most assured of a start outside of the pair. He has been an excellent addition to Liverpool since joining from Roma. He is the first Premier League goalkeeper since Petr Cech in 2004 to keep six clean sheets in the first nine matches of their career in England.

As expected, David Wagner lined Huddersfield up with three in defence and a five-man midfield, with Florent Hadergjonaj (£4.4m) coming in for Rajiv van La Parra (£4.8m). Amid some offensive potential in recent weeks, left-back Chris Löwe (£4.4m) was used as the third centre-back alongside Christopher Schindler (£4.3m) and Zanka (£4.4m). That was likely because of Terence Kongolo‘s (£4.4m) absence through injury.

A 3-5-2 or 3-5-1-1 is Wagner’s preferred formation to use against the ‘big boys’ and on this particular occasion, it seemed to perform its function. As we have already seen, Liverpool were relatively stifled on Saturday evening while Huddersfield had more total shots and more in the penalty area. Jonathan Hogg (£4.4m) was inches away from scoring a stunning strike as his effort from distance cannoned off Alisson’s right-hand post in the first half. The Terriers may remain winless in the bottom three of the Premier League table but Wagner appears justified in the confidence he has in his team.

“We pressed Liverpool high and were brave enough to play one against one in the last line – and they created opportunities against a top-class side. If the group show what they have shown in this game – the willingness, the togetherness, the desire, passion and spirit, plus the performance consistently in the next weeks, then results and goals will come, I am 100% sure of that.” – David Wagner

Some work on accuracy is clearly required for Huddersfield though. Only six sides have had more shots on goal than the Terriers so far in Gameweek 9, but they rank second-bottom for efforts on target (one), ahead of only Burnley (zero).

“We have struggled for the last two and half years to score goals. To be honest we never scored many goals, this season it’s obvious. That is maybe our biggest problem. We create chances and we are unlucky in some situations, however we miss a bit of quality in front of goal as well.” – Chris Löwe

HUDDERSFIELD TOWN XI (3-5-1-1): Lössl; Löwe, Schindler, Zanka; Durm, Billing (Mounié 70′), Hogg (Diakhaby 92′), Mooy, Hadergjonaj (Mbenza 69′); Pritchard; Depoitre.

LIVERPOOL XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Robertson, van Dijk, Lovren, Gomez; Milner (Firmino 77′), Henderson (Wijnaldum 46′), Shaqiri; Lallana (Fabinho 69′), Sturridge, Salah.

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