Here is your Liverpool digest for Friday, December 16.
Liverpool's best playmaker
It’s essential not to read too much into the result of any football friendly. This is particularly true at the Dubai Super Cup, where the rules of the competition offer the chance for a team to effectively win or lose a match twice.
This is what happened to Liverpool on Sunday. They were beaten 3-1 by Lyon in normal time then lost the post-game penalty shootout 5-3 for good measure. While this outcome can be ignored with regards to the Reds’ hopes for 2022/23, the method by which Jurgen Klopp’s side scored their goal needs to return to being a regular feature.
The Liverpool manager offers memorable soundbites at almost every press conference he gives. Perhaps the most important line he has ever uttered occurred when he stated that “no playmaker in the world can be as good as a good counter-pressing situation,” though. The Reds proved the point in style against Lyon.
Fabio Carvalho applied the finishing touch, finding the net within the opening 40 seconds. But he also played a key part in the build-up. The goal was so perfectly ‘Klopp’ that it’s worthy of an in-depth review.
Continue Andrew Beasley's look into that goal here.
Elliott on 'strange' camp
Harvey Elliott has opened up on Liverpool's 'strange' Dubai training camp during the current mid-season break.
The Reds have been preparing for December's Premier League restart over in the Middle East and are set to take on AC Milan today, having lost against Lyon on Sunday. Elliott, who has been one of the Reds' standout performers with 14 starts and three goals across all competitions, has lifted the lid on a 'strange' camp that he hopes will lead Jurgen Klopp's side to a strong second half of the season.
''It's been a nice camp as well as a strange one in all fairness,'' he told Sky Sports. ''To be out here in such hot weather when especially in England it is so cold with the snow and the temperatures are massively different. It's another wonderful experience and the support we have received at the games has been incredible wherever we go around the world, it's just nice to see the boys again to build on what we left off at the beginning of the season.
''Hopefully we can take it into the remainder of the season, just keep producing performances, keep getting wins and that is the focus for this camp. Work on things we needed to work on at the start of the season and that's what we have been doing.''
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