Alisson Becker is among the plethora of world-class players that Luton fans will get to see firsthand during their time in the Premier League, and the Brazilian caught the eye of the Kenilworth Road faithful when Liverpool visited the Hatters on Sunday.
The below-par Reds needed a stoppage time equaliser from Luis Diaz to rescue a point yesterday, although his South American teammate still left one of the home supporters green with envy, as described by Paul Gorst in a piece for the Liverpool Echo.
At one point during the match, the 31-year-old initiated a swift counterattack by playing a pinpoint long ball to Mo Salah’s feet, with the Luton defence under pressure immediately.
Liverpool fans are well accustomed to such brilliance from Alisson, but with it being his first-ever game against the Hatters, their followers were audibly gasping at the goalkeeper’s technique.
Gorst noted how one home supporter near the press box reacted by saying: “F****** hell! I wish our goalkeeper could do that!”
READ MORE: FA set to break with protocol after what Luis Diaz did in Liverpool’s game v Luton
The sight of Alisson getting Liverpool on the front foot with a laser-guided pass into the final third is one with which Reds fans are wonderfully familiar.
As per FBref, he’s played the second-most accurate long balls of anyone at Anfield in the Premier League so far this season with 70 (four fewer than Trent Alexander-Arnold), with a success rate for 56% for long-range passing.
As impressive as that figure is, it’s actually slightly lower than his 61.3% average since moving to Europe from his homeland in 2017 (FBref).
Luton’s first-choice goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski has a 38.3% success rate from long balls since his team’s promotion to the top flight (FBref), which is significantly inferior to Alisson, but there’s certainly no shame in being eclipsed by the outstanding Brazilian in that regard.
It’s no wonder some of their fans were in awe of the Liverpool’s number one’s ball-playing prowess up seeing it up close for the first time on Sunday.