Former Premier League champion Martin Keown is backing Tottenham Hotspur to beat Liverpool on Saturday with Alexis Mac Allister a potential weak link in Jurgen Klopp’s side.
Now, in an ideal world, this is not the role Jurgen Klopp would have bestowed upon his World Cup-winning summer signing since that £35 million summer arrival from Brighton and Hove Albion.
After thriving as a box-to-box playmaker under Roberto de Zerbi, Liverpool’s Alexis Mac Allister has been forced into a more deep-lying, defensively-minded position at Anfield. Klopp’s hand forced by the lack of genuine alternatives in the ‘number six’ spot.
It hasn’t all been bad. Mac Allister produced a gorgeous assist in last week’s 3-1 win over West Ham.
But, hauled off at half-time against Wolves and shown a red card against Bournemouth (albeit a highly contentious one), Yves Bissouma, James Maddison and co may be licking their lips at the prospect of tearing into a Liverpool side with a dictator rather than a destroyer at the base of their engine room.
Liverpool face Tottenham this weekend
“I think (Mac Allister) is a great player,” Arsenal legend Keown tells talkSPORT (29 September, 10am). “But I am not sure he’s playing in the right role.
“As wonderful as he is, he is losing the ball too much in that area.”
A repeat of Mac Allister’s first-half Molineux horror-show, and a first defeat of the new Premier League season could be coming Liverpool’s way on Saturday night. Do not be surprised, then, if Klopp opts to bring in an extra sheet of steel in the shape of Wataru Endo – a more natural defensive midfielder – to combat the guile of Maddison and the ball-carrying talents of Bissouma.
Will Klopp start Alexis Mac Allister?
“Macca, some others as well, you could just see they struggled,” Klopp said after that Wolves clash, Mac Allister given the runaround by Jean-Ricner Bellegarde. “We couldn’t change five (players) at half-time, so we thought we’d change the system and one player, and give us a bit more speed up front.
“(Mac Allister) had some good moments in the first-half. But he was not disappointed to come off. More relief!’
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