Michael Owen believes 'star player' Roberto Firmino has to start against Manchester City on Sunday after another outstanding performance in the 7-1 win against Rangers at Ibrox.
The Reds picked up their third consecutive Champions League win in emphatic fashion, coming back from an early Scott Arfield goal to thump Giovanni van Bronckhorst's side on their own turf. Firmino produced two smart finishes either side of half-time before producing a beautifully improvised flick to set up Darwin Nunez for the third. And as Rangers folded, substitute Mohamed Salah bagged a six-minute hat-trick and Harvey Elliott scored his first goal in the competition.
Despite Salah's rapid-fire hat-trick, it was the Brazilian who stood out from the first minute until his departure in the 73rd. And BT Sport's punditry trio for the evening, Ally McCoist, Rio Ferdinand and Owen, were in awe of the rejuvenated 31-year-old.
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“I said before the game, I was a great admirer of his game knowledge, game intelligence,” McCoist told BT Sport. “I think he’s an extremely clever player. He’s one of these players, if you make a run, they know where you are. There’s only certain players who have an awareness of where you are on the pitch, he’s one of them.”
Ferdinand also heaped praise on the forward, citing his ‘Brazilian samba’ as the difference maker: “I think in this atmosphere, the players can get caught up because it’s so electric, it’s hustle and bustle - never Firmino. Everything slows down, played at his pace, he just has this fluidity, he improvises, that’s that Brazilian samba that separates him from other players."
And former Reds striker Owen acknowledged that the majority on Merseyside would not have backed Firmino to be Liverpool’s most influential forward this season, particularly after the £64million signing of Nunez and Salah’s £350,000-per-week contract. But the silky forward is fast becoming one of the first names on Klopp’s team sheet, and Owen believes he has to start against Manchester City on Sunday.
"He was the star player tonight,” Owen added. “Okay Salah scored a hat-trick but it’s a lot easier to do that as a substitute - tired legs. Talk to me about that [the assist] the ball is slightly behind him but he’s just improvises and is total quality. It’s hard breaking the deadlock when it’s level or tight and he scored two really important goals that set Liverpool on the way - the rest was the icing on the cake.
“Even with that [Mane leaving] people would’ve put him [Firmino] in fifth in the pecking order. The biggest game in the Premier League is this weekend, I can’t imagine he’s not playing. He’s already had such a good season, recent form, I don’t think Jurgen Klopp can leave him out.”
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