Pep Lijnders has claimed that ‘everybody forgets’ Naby Keita after he was asked about Liverpool being without both Sadio Mane and Mo Salah, as he told his pre-match press conference.
The Liverpool assistant was asked about the absence of Salah and Mane, who are on Africa Cup of Nations duty, before he corrected the journalist by sharing they are missing ‘three players’, including Keita, who has won two Man of the Match awards for his country.
Just because Mane and Salah are first-team regulars for Liverpool, and Keita has always been in out of the side, it doesn’t mean that his absence should be forgotten about.
It could even be argued that Keita has outperformed his Liverpool teammates out in Cameroon, as Guinea, Egypt and Senegal have all progressed to the last-16 of this all-action AFCON tournament.
That means that the trio will be missing for Liverpool’s showdown with Patrick Vieira and his Crystal Palace side.
Nonetheless, Liverpool fans would have loved Lijnders’ response when asked about the club being without Salah and Mane whilst Premier League games are being postponed.
“First of all, we miss three players from the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Lijnders. “Everybody forgets Naby (Keita).
“Naby, two times, best players of Guinea and during the last game, he scored. So, we miss him as well and we forget this.”
Ever since Keita has been in Liverpool colours, he has had an indifferent time and struggled to cement a regular place in the midfield.
But injuries aside, he could argue that this has been his best season since he moved from RB Leipzig to Liverpool.
The ball-carrying midfielder has also added some spectacular goals to his locker, including a few volleys.
And when he returns from the AFCON’s, he will be hoping to have a medal around his neck even though Guinea are one of the outsiders for the tournament.
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