Pep Lijnders has named the one player who Liverpool are ‘missing’ a lot at the moment despite their strong start to the campaign.
The Reds, who travel to Bournemouth tomorrow night in the fourth round of the League Cup, currently find themselves fourth in the Premier League table – just three points adrift of league leaders Spurs – and top of their Europa League group with a 100% record.
Despite the promising performances and the impressive impact made by Liverpool’s four summer signings, assistant manager Lijnders believes the Anfield outfit can improve even further once Thiago Alcantara returns to fitness (in comments relayed by @neiljonesgoal on X).
Pep Lijnders on Thiago fitness
"We miss Thiago. I miss him a lot. can you imagine our midfield, our new players and then Thiago Alcantara in the middle as well, guiding everyone? We hope to get him back soon."#LFC 🔴
— Neil Jones (@neiljonesgoal) October 31, 2023
The Spaniard has not featured for Liverpool since the 2-1 defeat of West Ham back in April after sustaining a hip injury.
Despite now being the wrong side of 30 the ex-Barcelona and Bayern Munich man is one of the most talented players in Klopp’s squad.
He can dictate play from the middle of the park with his exceptional passing and reading of the game so it’s a huge blow to be without his services at the moment.
Our No. 6 is out of contract at the end of the season and with his disappointing injury record it’s unlikely that he will be offered a fresh deal.
Let’s hope we can get him back to full fitness sooner rather than later because on his day he’s a real game changer.