Mark Lawrenson joined Football Saturday this weekend to discuss Liverpool.
Jurgen Klopp's team is better than ever.
Mark Lawrenson believes Liverpool are better now than they've been in a long time because of the quality of players available to them and the relative health of the squad. Luis Diaz, a new arrival, and Mohamed Salah, an established favourite scored as they beat Brighton 2-0 on Saturday. It was a routine win.
Routine wins are the theme for Liverpool in the league right now. They are back in the title race. A matchup with Manchester City in a matter of weeks will be decisive.
Until then, Liverpool must keep winning games. But they must also work on Mohamed Salah's contract. Mark Lawrenson believes it's a straight-forward decision. Paying Salah makes sense financially because replacing him will cost much more. It's not even a point worth debating for him.
Instead, Lawrenson is more focused on Liverpool's form and the setup of the team.
"No," Lawrenson replied when asked if there was anything to be worried about with Liverpool after their loss to Inter Milan.
"I was at the Milan game, I was at the West Ham game. The only thing in the West Ham game was Konate's positioning was a little bit awry. He's still very much learning the Premier League and [how to play] with Van Dijk. He was caught out on a few occasions. But that's the only way he's going to learn."
Konate is a young defender. Young defenders take time to develop. Fortunately, Liverpool don't need to play him every week. Joel Matip is having a great season. He set up a goal and helped keep a clean sheet for Liverpool against Brighton. And when Konate does play, he's showing huge upside.
Liverpool have the perfect balance in their squad right now. They have experienced young players, players in their prime and hungry young players looking to prove themselves.
Luis Diaz added a personality type and skill set they didn't have. Diogo Jota remains a constant threat, while Roberto Firmino is lying in wait as he returns from injury. With Matip, Van Dijk and Fabinho setting the foundation, Liverpool are executing better than ever.
"Majority of the time they defend with three. The three are the two center backs and Fabinho because we know where the fullbacks are. They're on the right and left wings. This is the best they've ever been under Klopp in terms of the quality, in terms of the way they're playing...[and they have] nearly all their players available.
"I can't think of anyone whose not available. In the month of March, that's a big, big thing. He can just keep changing the team around...they're all desperate to get in the side.
"All they've got to do is just keep playing."
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