Adam Lallana made his first start for Liverpool since New Year’s Day in the 1-0 win over Huddersfield last weekend.
Liverpool ground out a 1-0 win away at Huddersfield on Saturday thanks to a fourth goal of the season from Mohamed Salah.
They rode their luck in the game, most notably as Jonathan Hogg crashed one off the post for the hosts, but a sixth Premier League clean sheet for the Reds was enough to secure the points.
Another positive for Liverpool was the return to the starting line-up of Adam Lallana, who had not featured from the start since New Year’s Day.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted that the game was hard work for the 30-year-old but he appears to be happy with the performance.
“He loved it, he even loved the pain he felt during the game! That’s how it is after that long period without proper football – he was fine, he just had little cramps in the calf, but it would have been a surprise if he didn’t,” Klopp told the club’s official site.
“Apart from that, everything is good. It was a good game for him; it was hard work, not for shining because there was not enough space for that. The whole game was like that, but it was good to see and to have him back.”
Klopp was also quick to suggest that Lallana is looking excellent in training, showing form that will take a bit of time to bring into games.
“If he would have played like he’d trained in the last two weeks before the game, we would have scored four,” said Klopp.
“He was unbelievable. It’s all good and the game was more intense than what we did with him in the last few sessions because we didn’t want to kill him, we only wanted to prepare him – that’s good.”
That certainly sounds promising, considering Lallana looked slightly off the pace at times at the weekend, although most Liverpool players did.
Klopp sounds certain that he is going to be a real asset for the club this season, if he stays fit, which should be great news for fans who feel Liverpool need more from their midfield.
But he will need patience after being without regular football for so long; it is a long time since Lallana even played back-to-back games and expecting him to jump right back in was asking too much.
Klopp is clearly confident, however, and that should be enough to allay some fears at Liverpool this season.
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