Former England manager Sam Allardyce has fired a warning to Liverpool’s defenders ahead of their clash with Chelsea this weekend.
Allardyce has lambasted Liverpool’s defending against Leeds and labelled it as “shambolic” as they conceded three goals to the newly-promoted side.
Liverpool won the game 4-3 after seeing Leeds level the score three times before Mo Salah finally won the game for the Reds at Anfield.
Speaking to TalkSport, Allardyce blasted Liverpool’s defending. “Their attacking movement is so fast, their running off the ball, little one-twos, little give-and-goes, little runs in behind defenders, it was there for us all to see yet again.
“But what we also saw today was some shambolic defending that almost cost them.
“Liverpool last season had the best defensive record in the league.
“So it’s unusual to see the players making those errors and those errors have been punished by Leeds United.
“Chelsea will be looking at that and saying ‘can we be putting this Liverpool team under pressure defensively and will they crack again and can we take advantage of that?’”
ANFIELD WATCH VERDICT
After conceding just 33 goals in the Premier League last season, it is slightly disappointing to see Jurgen Klopp’s side concede three to a team coming up from the Championship.
It is hard to argue with Allardyce’s comments given the nature of the three goals conceded. Virgil van Dijk made an error leading to Patrick Bamford’s goal for Leeds as he failed to control a mistimed ball over the top.
That goal was stuffed between an excellent solo goal from Jack Harrison and a fine strike from Klich – with both strikes coming relatively unopposed by Liverpool defenders. The Leeds players were not closed down quickly enough and that allowed them to finish past Alisson with a degree of ease.
Hopefully, Liverpool will be able to keep their levels high and maintain their concentration against Chelsea this weekend coming in order to produce a better defensive display.
