The Reds are more than capable of picking up a win over the Premier League champions in the club’s first home game of the season.
Liverpool will play host to Premier League champions Leicester City in Saturday’s late kick-off. Both clubs sit in the league table with four points after varied starts to the season and it is fair to say that the match will be an early indicator of the intents of both sides.
Finally enjoying a home advantage, Jurgen Klopp’s side have a real chance of scoring a morale-boosting victory over Claudio Ranieri’s men, provided they take the game to the away side with confidence and incision.
Here are three reasons why the Reds can inflict a second defeat of the season on the league champions.
3. Leicester’s defence can be exposed by the unpredictability of Coutinho and Mane
The Premier League champions’ defensive frailties have been demonstrated to full effect so far this season, particularly during the opening-day defeat to Hull City, and Liverpool possess the players who can carve up the back four even more.
Philippe Coutinho and Sadio Mane have the ability down the flanks to get behind the defence on a frequent basis, and their pace and skill on the ball will be crucial in beating the likes of Danny Simpson, Robert Huth, Wes Morgan and Christian Fuchs.
Mane in particular, who has enjoyed a blistering start to life at Anfield, is incredibly unpredictable and will be a headache for Leicester’s back four, but the Reds’ attackers will also need to have their shooting boots on to inflict maximum damage.
Scoring only once in the past two games since the 4-3 win over Arsenal, firepower has been something of an issue for Klopp’s side, and this will need to be corrected come Saturday.
2. The Reds can dictate the middle of the park with steel
The loss of N’Golo Kante to Chelsea this summer has been a massive blow for Leicester and, while Claudio Ranieri has brought in Daniel Amartey and Nampalys Mendy, replacing a player who made the most successful tackles in the league last year is always going to be difficult.
Kante’s ability to dictate the game from the middle was crucial to the club’s Premier League triumph last year, and without that presence anymore, Liverpool can make Leicester’s loss their gain.
Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum are presences in the middle and, if they can make the game their own against the likes of Amartey and Danny Drinkwater, it can go a long way in determining victory.
Should Leicester fail to command the midfield battle, their resilience will begin to break, and the Reds can begin building towards victory.
1. Nullifying the impact of Riyad Mahrez
Mahrez was arguably Leicester’s standout performer last year and shined with unrivalled attacking input.
His start to this season has been rather muted and he has yet to hit the heights that made him FWA Footballer of the Year in the previous campaign.
Making sure Mahrez does not see much of the ball will be crucial to Liverpool’s chances, as his influence would be significantly lessened, but the Reds’ defence will need to be up to the task.
As one of the pillars of the Foxes’ campaign last year, nullifying his impact will break the away side’s resolve, meaning that their attacking options will be limited to a great extent.
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