Neco Williams made his Liverpool debut in the EFL Cup win over Arsenal last night.
Neco Williams followed in the footsteps of Harvey Elliott, Rhian Brewster and Sepp Van den Berg on Wednesday night and made his first ever senior appearance in the famous red shirt of Liverpool tonight.
The young defender has stood out since being promoted to the U23s and he was rewarded with a maiden start at right-back when Arsenal arrived at Anfield with the EFL Cup quarter-finals on the line, thanks largely to the fact that Ki-Jana Hoever is away with Holland at the U17 World Cup.
And it’s not often that a defender emerges from a 5-5 draw with his reputation enhanced. But 18-year-old Williams can hold his head high after that remarkable 10-goal thriller, showcasing his boundless energy down the flank throughout while setting up Divock Origi’s dramatic stoppage-time equaliser with a pinpoint cross.
Liverpool eventually emerged triumphant via a penalty shoot-out and the victory would have been impossible if it wasn’t for Williams’ last-gasp intervention.
But while Jurgen Klopp will rightly be applauded for his faith in youth, Steven Gerrard too deserves praise for the role he played in the Wrexham-born defender’s rise from budding talent to first-team player.
It was under Gerrard that Williams first really caught the eye with Liverpool’s U18s after all. The 2005 Champions League winning captain even described the fresh-faced Welshman as ‘magnificent’, in quotes reported by the Liverpool Echo.
And, after last night’s display, don’t be surprised if Gerrard gets in touch with a loan move to Rangers on his mind.
Since the 39-year-old took over at Ibrox, Ryan Kent, Ovie Ejaria and Sheyi Ojo have all spent time on loan at Ibrox.
And Williams, who proved himself more than ready to be thrown in at the deep end, would certainly benefit from sampling the atmosphere and the pressure at the top of the Scottish Premiership – especially when you consider that he is still behind Trent Alexander-Arnold, Joe Gomez, Hoever and arguably James Milner too in Jurgen Klopp’s pecking order.
With Matt Polster out of favour and Jon Flanagan suffering from some long-standing fitness issues, Rangers don’t exactly have a glut of right-backs capable of competing with a rather erratic James Tavernier.
So Liverpool should perhaps ready themselves for a call from their old skipper as January draws near.
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