Liverpool beat Cardiff City 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Liverpool midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum has told the Liverpool Echo that he thinks Xherdan Shaqiri gave the Reds ‘more arrogance’ against Cardiff City.
The Reds were expected to thrash the Bluebirds at Anfield on Saturday afternoon, and took an early lead thanks to Mohamed Salah’s close-range finish.
Sadio Mane smashed home a second, but when Callum Paterson grabbed one back for Cardiff, there was a certain level of nervousness at Anfield as Neil Warnock’s men threatened to get back into the game.
However, substitute Shaqiri came off the bench to slot home a third, and Mane raced clear to make it 4-1 late in the day, handing Liverpool a thumping win.
Manager Jurgen Klopp made some changes for the game, handing starts to Alberto Moreno, Fabinho and Adam Lallana, but left Shaqiri out of the starting line-up.
The Swiss wide man, snapped up by Klopp from Stoke City over the summer, had started Liverpool’s last two games, and was on a run of three assists in three games for the Reds.
Shaqiri ended up scoring himself this time and made a real impact as a substitute, with fans praising the 27-year-old for a strong cameo having been brought on for Lallana after 61 minutes.
Now, midfielder Wijnaldum has told the Liverpool Echo that he felt Shaqiri brought arrogance to Liverpool’s play, and calmed the game down when Cardiff thought they could grab an equaliser at 2-1.
“He helped to give us a little bit more arrogance,” said Wijnaldum. “He helped us to calm down the game again because they were pressing, they had a feeling that they could score the second goal and he took that away,” he added.
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