Your Liverpool evening headlines as Ian Wright makes Merseyside derby prediction as Jurgen Klopp handed squad boost.
Ian Wright makes brutal Liverpool vs Everton prediction
Ian Wright believes Liverpool supporters are well aware that Everton could come to Anfield and win the Merseyside Derby on Monday because everything good about the Reds has gone.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had hoped to start the new year in good shape after a disappointing start to the Premier League season, but the complete opposite has unfolded. The Reds are currently winless in the Premier League since the turn of the year and added a 3-0 drubbing at Wolves on Saturday to a list of embarrassing defeats in January that included a 3-1 loss at Brentford and another 3-0 hiding at Brighton & Hove Albion.
The alarming situation was discussed on NBC Sports by Wright, alongside Darren Lewis, Lianne Sanderson and show host Kelly Cates, who tried to unpick what has gone wrong with the Reds.
Liverpool set for huge squad boost as Jurgen Klopp ‘game-breaker’ returns
Matters are rarely so simple in football. But the two related facts are too glaring to be mere coincidence for Liverpool.
Diogo Jota hasn’t scored a Premier League goal since netting in the 2-2 draw at Manchester City back in April, a wait that has now gone on for almost 10 months.
And since then, Liverpool have played 27 top-flight games and conceded first on 16 occasions. While the travails of the defence have been well documented this campaign, perhaps overlooked, until relatively recently, have been the issues at the other end of the pitch, with the Reds struggling to convert the chances they continue to create.
Although Mohamed Salah has notched an impressive 17 times and Darwin Nunez a not inconsiderable 10 overall this term, there is no doubt Jurgen Klopp’s side have been missing a particular attribute that has become a hallmark of Jota’s during his time at Anfield.
The forward scored 21 times for Liverpool last season, of which 14 were the first goal in the game – starting with the season opener in the 3-0 win at Norwich City – while a further six were the pivotal second, half of which came having already opened the scoring.
