15/12/2022【Feature】Petit: Well-rested Liverpool to improve

Emmanuel Petit - Eng Premier
Emmanuel Petit won EPL and EFA double with Arsenal in the 1997/98 season and later played for Chelsea. Also, he was the member of the French squad that won 1998 WC and 2000 EURO.

Petit: Well-rested Liverpool to improve 

Below the top two, Liverpool have a huge challenge to rise up the table and secure a Champions League place for next season. 

I think a key benefit for them is they’ve been able to have their mid-season break in Dubai with many of their big stars present. Compared to other sides, fewer of Jurgen Klopp’s players were at the World Cup and, notably, Mohamed Salahand Roberto Firmino Barbosa will be well rested, with DiogoJota hopefully coming back from injury soon. 

Then I can add in Darwin Nunez because Uruguay exited at the group stage. He was under the spotlight in the first half of the season and, of course, he needs to control his emotions and improve his stats but he will have learned a lot and I expect big things. 

He has all the attributes to succeed – great movement and explosive pace – so if he can be more clinical in front of goal, he can be one of the best strikers in Europe. After Uruguay’s poor World Cup, he also has something to prove. 

However, they have suffered a blow as Luis Diaz has had a recurrence of his injury and will be out for a while. It will be interesting to see if they try and recruit someone new in January.

Liverpool are sixth in the league but have winnable games coming up – Aston Villa, Leicester, Brentford and Wolves, so I can see the Reds climbing back into the top four. Before that, Liverpool face Manchester City in the League Cup which will see a renewal of the Jurgen Klopp versus Pep Guardiola rivalry. Although the German has a better record against the Spaniard than most managers, it’s been fairly even between them over the years and I find it one of the most fascinating aspects of English football. 

While Liverpool and Manchester City won’t fight each otherfor the Premier League title this year, I’m sure Jurgen Klopp would view a win against the best side in the country as the perfect preparation for crucial league games.

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