Sir Kenny Dalglish has admitted on the Kenn7Dalglish Youtube channel that he was surprised to see Xherdan Shaqiri start for Liverpool against Manchester United.
Shaqiri was drafted into Liverpool’s starting line-up for the big game on Sunday, as Jordan Henderson played in central defence.
Jurgen Klopp did have the option of picking James Milner or Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
However, it was Shaqiri who got the nod to start against United.
And Dalglish admits that he was shocked to see the £13 million man (Guardian) in Liverpool’s starting line-up.
“The surprise was Shaqiri coming in to play in midfield, in front of Milner and Oxlade-Chamberlain,” he said.
“I don’t think he’d have risked Curtis in a game like that.
“It was difficult not having Jordan in the middle, but defensively he did well.
“Shaqiri has a magic wand in his left-foot at times, so you can understand why it was done.”
Shaqiri has put in some strong showings off the Liverpool bench this season, but his performance against United was not particularly eye catching.
The Swiss international could not inject the creativity that Liverpool have been lacking recently, as Jurgen Klopp’s men drew yet another blank.
The Reds have now failed to score in any of their last three Premier League matches, which is becoming somewhat of a concern.
It will now be interesting to see whether Shaqiri can keep his place, with Liverpool’s next game coming against Burnley tomorrow evening.
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