Flanagan explains why he went in so hard on Sterling

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Liverpool fans are loving Jon Flanagan today as the local lad put in a brilliant performance in our crunch 3-0 win over Manchester City at Anfield.

The Englishman’s not long back from his 20 month injury hell, but Jurgen Klopp gave him his first Premier League start of the season against our top four rivals.

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To the delight of Liverpool fans everywhere, Flanagan had Raheem Sterling (returning to Anfield for the first time) in his pocket, and crunched into the winger in the very first minute.

“It was something I had to do to get the crowd up,” the 23-year-old fullback told the Press Association, cited in the Daily Mail. 

“The crowd have been fantastic, always right behind me even in the dark days.

“Me and Raheem were good mates at Liverpool but now he’s gone to City it is just business on the pitch.”

And it certainly did inject vigour into the stadium, turning the match into a battle – one City simply weren’t up for. The passion, ferocity and work-rate on display was terrific, and it was Flanagan who set the tone.

He definitely deserves to keep his spot for the away trip to Crystal Palace on Sunday, a must win match if we’re to claw back the six point gap to City.

Something else made us chuckle today in regards to our favourite fullback…

Football statistics website WhoScored rank every player in Europe based on their domestic league performances, and following his display last night, Flanagan’s slotted in nicely between Lionel Messi and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Amazing!

 

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