Liverpool Loses to Napoli, Klopp Expects Return of Key Players
- Liverpool defeated by Serie A Napoli
- Firmino, mane, Salah and Alisson to return soon
- Harvey Elliott is the newest Liverpool acquisition
Liverpool’s loss to Serie A’s Napoli is significant, but not fatal, as the majority of players are returning from holidays.
Liverpool’s Loses to Napoli While Most Players Are Away
After a phenomenal 2018/2019 season in the English Premier League (EPL) and the Champions League, Liverpool are back in the soccer fray, with Jurgen Klopp anxious about the future. Liverpool demonstrated its qualities against Barcelona, besting the LaLiga powerhouse with 4-0 in the decisive game of the Champions League.
Yet, they are off to a rather uncertain start after suffering a defeat on Sunday by the hands of Serie A team Napoli played at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Liverpool’s 0-3 defeat isn’t surprising with a number of players missing due to injuries and other business.
Liverpool faced Napoli without Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohammed Salah and Alisson who remained unavailable for the game. Meanwhile, Xherdan Shaqiri and Naby Keita also couldn’t attend because of injuries, putting Liverpool in a tough spot in the interim season.
Klopp didn’t downplay Napoli’s victory to Liverpool missing key players, but he did stress that the pre-season has been altogether strange for him as a manager.
“I never had a preseason like this, without six players missing a complete pre-season. It’s just strange.”
In his own humorous style, Klopp noted that Manchester City which Liverpool are due to play against on Sunday will probably have no idea what they are facing, because Liverpool themselves would have no idea what they are capable of with so many players missing.
Manchester praised the EPL title from Liverpool in the 2018/2019 season by defeating them with a slim point advantage. Suffering a defeat from City could potentially be another blow to the team’s morale, but if we learned one thing from Liverpool’s legendary comeback against Barcelona, that is that no point advantage could protect you from Klopp’s team.
More Talent at Anfield, Signing Harvey Elliott
With one eye always on the present and one on the future, Klopp has secured the talent of 16-year-old Harvey Elliott who will shape his future in one of the best soccer teams English soccer knows to date.
Klopp was also very receptive of the signing and said that he had “many good things to say about the boy.” The manager acknowledge that to grow, Elliott would need actual game time which Klopp was prepared to grant him.
Speaking of transfers, it has been a rather subdued summer so far and as much as Liverpool’s transfer window goes, the team is probably going to stick to a very minimalist approach, picking only a few new additions to the squad.
Manchester United has already learned the bitter lesson of not bringing fresh blood into the team on time in the 2018/2019 when the then-manager Jose Mourinho decided not to renew the roster, leading to a catastrophic half-season for the Red Devils, until Mourinho was ousted in the end.
Still, a fate like this is unlike to befall Liverpool who are waking up after rather slow few months.
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