Thiago and Xherdan Shaqiri combination continues to impress by accident

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Liverpool certainly didn’t plan on a Xherdan Shaqiri and Thiago partnership. It’s one that continues to look exciting, however.

Liverpool reportedly tried to sell Xherdan Shaqiri in the summer. The Liverpool Echo believes that’s the case, saying back in September that the Reds wanted £20m for him.

Now, no one paid that, of course. But watching Shaqiri’s performance on Sunday against Manchester United made it look like a bargain price.

The Swiss was one of the more dangerous players on the pitch. His movement and touch had him heavily involved and, most of all, led to a wonderful-looking partnership with Thiago.

Accident

There’s clearly no way that Liverpool planned on Thiago and Shaqiri working together. Not if they tried to sell the latter after buying the former.

So the coaching staff must have been thrilled with Sunday. Shaqiri’s movement got the best out of Thiago, with his ability to drift between the lines offering a passing option again and again.

Thiago’s passing between those lines is one of his absolute greatest strengths. The dream was for him to link with Roberto Firmino but the Brazilian’s poor form hinders that.

Shaqiri stepped up, though, and looks like the natural ‘partner’ for Thiago right now. That’s a complete accident, of course, but a very happy one.

We first noticed it as the two shared the pitch against Aston Villa last week. That was against an Under 23 side, however – we needed proof it worked against top teams.

And as it turned out, it does.

Thus we’d like to see Shaqiri keep his place alongside Thiago in midfield. While Liverpool struggle to find their flow, this kind of combination can work wonders.

It gets the team moving forward in the right areas, simply by using two players’ complementary strengths. That’s a positive Liverpool can work with.