Liverpool gave debuts to three young players in the Carabao Cup game against the MK Dons tonight.
Goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, striker Rhian Brewster and winger Harvey Elliot all made their bows in Klopp’s side and gave a decent account of themselves in the first half.
Brewster started off quietly but grew into the game, while Elliot looked very comfortable and came closest to scoring the first goal of the game, hitting the bar from yards out when he really should have scored.
Kelleher was perhaps lucky to not be penalised for handling the ball outside of his box towards the end of the first half.
However, it was a Liverpool veteran who was drawing in all the criticism from fans in the first 45 minutes.
Dejan Lovren made his first appearance of the season on Wednesday night and he didn’t look comfortable at the back, with one fan saying he was “run ragged by League 1 players”.
It’s perhaps understandable that Lovren would be rusty but many Liverpool fans were in no mood to cut him any slack.
Liverpool took the lead through James Milner just before half time after a horrendous blunder from the MK Dons keeper, and that will take a lot of pressure off Klopp’s men going into the second half.
Meanwhile, here are the best reactions to Lovren’s first 45 minutes tonight:
What's your take on Lovren so far? He looks horrendous!
— Lionel SHEJA (@lion_l17) September 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/dedlongford/status/1176936301242789888
Lovren has to go, shocking! i don’t care if he keeps Mo happy, Mo’s just gonna have to bunk up with Mane…
— Gurps Sahara (@GurpsSahara) September 25, 2019
remember when lovren was playing ahead of matip pic.twitter.com/yV0MCXY2nI
— The Irish Red (@TheIrishRed0_0) September 25, 2019
One fan said, “Remember when Lovren was playing ahead of Matip” and that does seem scarcely believable now.
Matip has been performing at a high level for Liverpool recently – with an average WhoScored rating this season of 7.6 and an 8.25 in the 3-1 win against Liverpool.
By way of comparison, Virgil van Dijk has only averaged 7.3 in the Premier League this season.
Lovren is the fourth-choice centre-back for Klopp now, but that’s a pretty good fall-back option for the Liverpool manager.
Can’t believe how utter rubbish Lallana and lovren are. Being outplayed by MKD.
— KagsyforPM (@KagsyforPM) September 25, 2019
Can we please just send Lallana and Lovren out on loan or sell. Useless
— Hurren???? (@hurren1994) September 25, 2019
One fan said Liverpool should loan out Lovren or sell him, but that’s not entirely fair to the experienced centre-back.
Lovren wanted to leave Liverpool in the summer, with Roma interested, but Klopp decided to keep him as back-up and Lovren accepted this despite falling down the pecking order at Anfield. [Daily Mail]
It’s Lovren that means that players like Matip and van Dijk can be rested for the important Premier League and Champions League games.
Every player has a place in a squad that’s as busy as Liverpool’s.
Lovren getting run ragged by league 1 players
— Goose ?????? (@atlas8s) September 25, 2019
Looking shaky, nervous, and very inexperienced. But enough about Lovren, these young lads look great
— Adam (@acrs_h) September 25, 2019
Lovren is shocker.
— ??????? (@chillhoggy) September 25, 2019