Liverpool FC Thread #158:- We are Liverpool. This means more.

[NI KI]

Andy Robertson secured his first win as Scotland captain with a 2-0 victory over Albania at Hampden Park on Monday night.

The Liverpool full-back completed the entire 90 minutes of the UEFA Euro League tie and created more goal-scoring chances than any other player on the pitch with four.

An own goal from Berat Djimsiti gave Scotland the lead early in the second half before Steven Naismith struck to seal the win.

Elsewhere for Reds on international duty, Rafael Camacho was a 54th minute substitute for Portugal U19s as they were defeated 3-1 by their Italian counterparts in Bologna.

[NI KI]

[NI KI]

Just in case you'd forgotten...

[NI KI]

[NI KI]

Dejan Lovren could face another month on sidelines as Liverpool refuse to rush back defender

Dejan Lovren may not feature in the Liverpool first team for another month with the Reds refusing to rush the defender back into action.

Lovren has yet to appear this season due to a stomach complaint he aggravated while helping Croatia reach the World Cup final in the summer.

The 29-year-old has stepped up his recovery at Melwood and has started running and doing work with the ball.

And while Lovren is expected to return to training with the first team later this month, Liverpool are wary of over-exerting the player given the nature of his injury and time on the sidelines.

The Reds, whose Premier League trip to Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday begins a run of seven games in 23 days, are not putting a timescale on the defender's comeback.

However, any match minutes between now and the next international break - after which Liverpool resume Premier League action at Huddersfield Town on October 20 - would be considered a bonus given the players' lack of match sharpness and fitness.



It is hardly the perfect timing for Jurgen Klopp given the important games in the next four weeks, including clashes with title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea, a Carabao Cup tie against the Londoners and Champions League matches against Paris Saint-Germain and Napoli.

Klopp revealed last month Lovren had been managing the injury during the closing weeks of last season, and originally anticipated the player to be available for selection after the current international break.

In Lovren's ongoing absence, Joe Gomez has established himself as centre-back partner to Virgil van Dijk with Joel Matip, now fit having missed the final two months of last season, also vying for a place.

[NI KI]

Even in an era of ever-increasing eye-watering transfer fees, keeping a £40million signing on the sidelines is going to attract some attention.

Such has been the case for Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp with Fabinho, the summer arrival who has yet to kick a ball in anger for his new club.

At first, it was just Reds supporters scratching their heads and stroking their chins at the Brazilian's continued absence.

Then, as Liverpool maintained their 100% start to the season with Fabinho not even making the bench, the debate extended beyond the fanbase.



People were talking. What's up with Fabinho? And if there's nothing wrong, why isn't Klopp playing him?

The intrigue deepened when the defensive midfielder finally made his first competitive action of the season at the weekend – for Brazil at right-back.

But this isn't the first time Klopp has made an initially curious decision during his time at Anfield.

And if it pays off as handsomely as the others, the early treatment of Fabinho will be regarded as another masterstroke from the Reds boss.

Asking for a leftfield move from Milner

When James Milner was signed by then Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers in the summer of 2015, it was while under the impression he'd finally be playing in his preferred central midfield role.

By January of that season, under Klopp he was filling in at right-back in the League Cup semi-final second leg against Stoke City.

That, though, was a minor inconvenience compared to the Reds boss taking Milner to one side that summer and asking if he'd fancy playing left-back that season.



Milner, ever the pro, didn't love the idea but succeeded to the extent the Reds qualified for the Champions League – and was then able to move back into midfield the following campaign.

Making Trent flow at Old Trafford

A visit to bitter rivals Manchester United is enough to get the butterflies stirring in even the most seasoned Liverpool campaigner.

So to be handed a full Premier League debut at Old Trafford at the eleventh hour was a definite sink or swim moment for Trent Alexander-Arnold in January 2017 after Nathaniel Clyne became unavailable.

Thankfully, the teenager very much kept his head above water. And 18 months later he was starring in a Champions League final and featuring in the World Cup with England.

[NI KI]

Proving there's nothing false about Firmino

One of the first tactical changes Klopp made after his arrival in October 2015 was to shift Roberto Firmino, then considered more of a wide man, into a central attacking role for the trips to Chelsea and Manchester City.

Liverpool won both games with the Brazilian scoring one and assisting three of the Reds' seven goals in the so-called 'false number nine' role.

Firmino then began the next season as the regular front man – and hasn't looked back since, netting a career-best 27 times last season.

Asking Mane to switch sides

It takes a brave man to take your player of the season and then tell him he was being replaced by a summer signing.

But that's what Klopp did last summer, when the capture of Mohamed Salah saw Sadio Mane told he was switching from the right flank to the left.



The move took a little getting used to. But by the end of the season, the Senegalese had scored 20 goals and has four in four already this term.

Seeing Henderson can sit properly

In 2017, everybody knew what Jordan Henderson brought to the Liverpool midfield – energy, enthusiasm, the odd goal and assist while generally pestering the opposition.

But last year Klopp saw more. Not least discipline, tactical understanding and an ability to sniff out danger.

Henderson was moved to a defensive midfield role, and from there helped the Reds into the top four once more and the Champions League final.

[Robson]

Originally Posted by NI KI

Already
The interest in Europa already not there, what’s the meaning of this? Who are we watching?

[NI KI]

Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson hand Jurgen Klopp a triple Brazil boost ahead of Liverpool's trip to Tottenham

Liverpool have been given a boost ahead of this weekend's trip to Tottenham with the news that Brazil trio Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino are set to be rested against El Salvador.

Tite's Brazil side take on the central American nation in Maryland in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and the Selecao coach is expected to make several changes to the team that beat the United States 2-0 last week.

They include the resting of the Reds trio, which is welcome news to manager Jurgen Klopp ahead of Saturday lunchtime's visit to Spurs.



Various reports in Brazilian media have claimed that Tite is set to name Neto, Eder Militao and Everton star Richarlison in place of Alisson, Fabinho and Firmino respectively as the South American coach rotates his options.

With the three Brazil internationals not expected back until after Thursday's training session at Melwood, the rest will be a big bonus for Klopp as he begins the first of seven fixtures in less than a month on Saturday.

Fabinho, who is yet to make his Liverpool debut, was named in the Brazil squad as a right-back and started the game against the United States after Fagner withdrew from the squad with injury.



Alisson was able to keep his fourth clean sheet of the campaign as Firmino opened the scoring at the MetLife Stadium on Saturday.

Goalkeeper Alisson and Fabinho played the whole game in New Jersey with Richarlison replacing Firmino on 75 minutes.

Fabinho, who joined from Monaco for £39.3million just days after the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in May, is yet to make his first competitive start for the Reds as Klopp eases his defensive midfielder into the fold at Anfield.



However, Alisson has been named in every game since making his £65million summer switch from Roma and the Brazil No.1 has impressed so far, helping Liverpool to the top of the Premier League.

Firmino netted his first goal of the season in the 2-1 win against Leicester before the international and is likely to lead the line against Spurs at Wembley.

[NI KI]

Napoli are threatening to move their Champions League tie against Liverpool to the opposite side of Italy over a row concerning their San Paolo home.

Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis has asked UEFA for permission for his club to this season play their European matches in Bari – which is more than 160 miles away on the east coast of the country.

Liverpool play at Napoli on Wednesday, October 3 with many Reds supporters having already made travel arrangements for the trip.

The situation has arisen due to the ongoing controversy over Napoli's 60,000-seater San Paolo stadium, which is owned by the local council.

The seats inside the stadium do not meet UEFA requirements, and the club have for several years been given an exemption to be able to play their home games in Naples.

However, a planned replacement of seats didn't take place this summer, threatening the granting of another UEFA exemption.

And De Laurentiis, who recently admitted the stadium has “become a joke”, has now expressed the possibility of moving European games to Bari's 58,00-capacity San Nicola stadium should Napoli's licence be revoked.

Speaking at this year's European Club Association summit in Split on Monday, De Laurentiis said to Corrierre dello Sport: “For me, it's a nightmare. Such a bad stadium limits the status of Napoli at an international level.



“It's a shame. For this reason, I say enough: I don't want any more controversy, so I'll build my own stadium.

“And that's that. We can't go on like this anymore. Nobody can tell you to do anything if you put in your own money and have the land to build a stadium.

“In the meantime, I've asked UEFA to authorise us to play Champions League matches at Bari.

“I'll pay for 1,000 buses out of my own picket so Napoli fans can attend the match.”

In May, Napoli chose Palermo’s Stadio Renzo Barbera for the ninth year in a row as their preferred destination for European competitions.

Since then, however, De Laurentiis has also become owner of Bari after the club were excluded from Serie B and demoted to Serie D for financial reasons. De Laurentiis' son, Luigi De Laurentiis Jnr, has become the Bari chairman.

“One thing is for certain – Bari will not be an appendix of Napoli, but they will be run as a separate entity, with separate efforts,” said De Laurentiis last month.

“We cannot mix Napoli and Bari, which are two separate cities, each with their own history and their own fans, who must be respected.”

Liverpool played out a goalless Europa League group stage draw at the San Paolo on their only previous visit to Napoli in 2010.