Continuing the praise for Lallana in his column for the Mail this week, former Liverpool centre-back Jamie Carragher suggested the 27-year-old could be more important to Klopp than Coutinho at present.
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Jurgen Klopp’s arrival as Liverpool manager has created a frenzy of interest among fans and media alike, but has not as yet succeeded in shedding his club’s growing reputation as draw specialists.
Liverpool have received the 5th highest yellow cards in the league so far (20) while Southampton have received the 3rd most (22).
But Thompson feels despite his goals, his lack of game-time could force Klopp into finding a replacement. Portugal midfielder Alan scored the victor two minutes from time as Sporting Braga beat Marseille 3-2 in Group F. In Group A, leader Molde beat Celtic 3-1.
The England global has started in both Klopp’s first two games in charge, against Tottenham last weekend and Rubin Kazan Thursday night, and turned in an impressive performance against the Russians in the Europa League.
Despite having just two wins in the league so far, Liverpool have been one of the strongest sides defensively this campaign, conceding just 10 goals while keeping four clean sheets – only four sides have kept their opponents out more often.
They will be assessed on Sunday morning ahead of the afternoon game against the Saints.
However, a flurry of late drama saw Sadio Mane equalise for the visitors, before being sent off in added time. This trio stayed narrow and attempted plenty of incisive passing between each other before threading the ball through to the Belgian or another source, while in defence they led the Reds’ rush.
There is still an injury cloud hanging over Shane Long who suffered ligament damage in his ankle while on duty with the Republic of Ireland.
Shane Long is out with an ankle problem while Florin Gardos and Fraser Forster are also sidelined with knee injuries. There may be an outside possible we’ll see Lovren in for the faltering Martin Škrtel, though that seems unlikely.
Southampton confirmed starting lineup: Stekelenburg, Cédric, Fonte (c), van Dijk, Bertrand, Wanyama, Clasie, S. Davis, Mané, Tadić, Pellè.
The Reds sit 10th in the Premier League table, and are unbeaten in their last four league fixtures, although they have secured just one win in their last seven outings.
Klopp said he was aware of the problems he faced after taking over from Brendan Rodgers and that the Europa League draw with Kazan might help illustrate to fans that turning things around could likely take months, not days.
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