Robbie Mustoe claims that Liverpool’s game against Everton will be decided by one area of the pitch.
Liverpool were going through something of a crisis at the back with injuries to Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip all out injured. And whilst they did address it with the signings of Ozan Kabak and Ben Davies, the former didn’t exactly get off to the best of starts to life in the Premier League with his performance against Leicester City.
And speaking on The 2 Robbies podcast, Mustoe claims that how he deals with whoever is put in front of him for the Toffees could play a big part in which way the game ends up going.
He said: “I just think Liverpool now, it depends on those centre-backs, it depends on Kabak and it’s going to be more of a test if he’s got Dominic Calvert-Lewin running off him. That’s my concern, that he hasn’t quite got up to speed of some of these really clever, quick forwards.
“If Kabak and Henderson, or whoever it is, if it’s Fabinho back, if they can do a decent job, Liverpool can win the game. But that’s the concern, Everton have absolutely got a chance. Given where they are in the league table, given some of the quick players they’ve got – particularly if Calvert-Lewin is back – they’ve got a real chance of upsetting Liverpool.”
Is it too early to start judging Kabak at Liverpool?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Robbie Mustoe’s comments about Ozan Kabak and the Liverpool defence…
To some extent, Mustoe does have a point when it comes to Kabak, who is valued at £22.5m on Transfermarkt. It’s all going to be around whether or not he’s managed to gain some confidence given the start to his Liverpool career.
Whilst he did manage to bounce back against Red Bull Leipzig in midweek after his display at the King Power Stadium, whether or not he’s managed to fully recover from that rather massive wake-up call is probably going to be a major factor.
He really can’t afford to put in another bad performance like that again, and it’ll be up to Jürgen Klopp and the rest of the Liverpool team to make sure he’s in the best position to succeed.