Graeme Souness praised Liverpool central defender Nathaniel Phillips on Sky Sports Premier League (7:48pm, October 31, 2020) for his performance against West Ham United.
The Liverpool legend was impressed by the display produced by Phillips on his Premier League debut against the Hammers at Anfield on Saturday evening.
Souness, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, believes that the 23-year-old centre-back was almost faultless, as Jurgen Klopp’s side won 2-1.
The Scotsman said about Phillips on Sky Sports Premier League (7:48pm, October 31, 2020), as transcribed by The Liverpool Echo: “The manager now knows that he can deal with Premier League football. OK, he didn’t have the most testing time against (Sebastien) Haller. I’m trying to think, there was one unforced error he made when he tried passing into midfield which was a little bit careless, but other than that, he was faultless.
“He’s now proven he can play in the Premier League, and they may need him depending on how bad Fabinho’s injury is. We know that Virgil van Dijk is gonna be out for a period of time. You just never know what’s round the corner in football, and when you’ll get an opportunity.”
Encouraging performance from Nathaniel Phillips
With Fabinho and Virgil van Dijk injured, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp turned to Phillips to play at the back.
The 23-year-old did not disappoint at all, as the youngster was strong at the back, did not take any risk, and produced a superb display of no-nonsense defending.
According to WhoScored, Phillips played one key pass, had a pass accuracy of 81.5%, won five headers, took 96 touches, and made two interceptions and nine clearances.
Of course, it was just one match, but it was a very encouraging performance, and the signs are positive for Phillips, who will now hope to get a run of games in the Liverpool first team.
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