Gary Neville has said on his podcast that Leeds United midfielder Kalvin Phillips could not do his job against Liverpool, but Thiago could for Jurgen Klopp’s side.
The former Manchester United defender believes that Thiago brought composure to the Liverpool midfield during the Premier League game at Elland Road yesterday.
Liverpool won 3-0.
The Sky Sports pundit does not think that Phillips brought composure to the Leeds midfield.
Neville said on his podcast: “They needed composure, and Kalvin Phillips is normally that player that brings a bit of composure to it, but he couldn’t bring the composure to the game, and Thiago particularly was bringing composure for Liverpool.”
How did Kalvin Phillips play?
Thiago was superb for Liverpool in the middle of the park and showed why the Spain international is a world-class midfielder.
The former Bayern Munich star knew when to play the right passes and how to control the momentum of the game.
Phillips is a very good midfielder, and although he had his moments, he simply could not get the better of Thiago in the midfield battle.
That being said, the England international did not actually have a bad game.
It’s just that Thiago and the rest of the Liverpool midfield were better.
Phillips had a pass accuracy of 84.6%, took 67 touches, attempted two dribbles, made two tackles and two interceptions, and put in one cross.
The Englishman started the game strongly and was also the one who was pushing Leeds forward.
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