Dejan Lovren has improved immeasurably since Virgil van Dijk arrived from Southampton.
Most Reds assumed Joel Matip would be the £75m Dutchman’s partner, but, partly due to the Cameroonian’s injury, Lovren has established himself as the first-choice option.
He has a habit of giving very confident interviews when he’s been playing well, which worries us slightly, but since the world-record defender joined our backline, Lovren has been very impressive.
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Lovren picked up an injury last weekend versus Bournemouth, but thankfully will be ready for the away trip to West Brom today.
Like the fans, he’s pumped for the coming weeks, and has singled out Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for praise.
“We will give everything to get to the Champions League final. It will be two tough games against Roma but I believe in our team,” he told the Echo.
“We need to secure a top four spot in the Premier League and we’ve got the Champions League so there’s a lot to play for.
“Of course it’s good to have clean sheets but it’s not just Virgil and myself who have defended well.
“We defend as a team. Look at (Andy) Robertson, look at Trent (Alexander-Arnold), even the midfield and how they have been working so hard – Millie (James Milner), Gini (Wijnaldum) and Hendo (Jordan Henderson.
“Emre is injured but then there’s Ox (Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain), the most improved player this season.
“It’s about team work. We have shown everyone that we can defend well as well as play really nice football. When we don’t have the ball we are like a Chinese wall and it’s difficult to break us.”
As brilliant as Roberto Firmino, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane are, it’s just as vital that our defenders are on their game for the Roma matches.
And with Chelsea winning, we need positive results domestically as well.
It’s all to play for, but the feeling around Liverpool is ultra-positive.