Liverpool pair Naby Keita and Curtis Jones could struggle to get back in the side their displays vs Cardiff City. Neither did themselves justice.
We wrote before the game that Naby Keita and Curtis Jones could be a midfield pairing to tear Cardiff City apart. It didn’t work out that way, though. We also said that the pressure was on them – that certainly was correct.
Coming out of the fixture, talk is about Harvey Elliott. The teenager returned from injury after months away and marked the occasion with his first Liverpool goal. Elliott was fantastic here and immediately thrust himself back into first-XI plans.
He wasn’t the only one to return, though. Thiago is back, too, and Fabinho didn’t play because he’s back late from international duty. Liverpool, then, have an incredible selection of midfielders.
Keita and Jones had an opportunity to keep themselves ahead of the chasing pack but it’s an opportunity they didn’t take. That might cost them over the coming months.
Keita and Jones struggle for Liverpool vs Cardiff
The duo struggled here in different ways. For Jones, he was heavily involved but nothing came off for him. Three decent chances resulted in very poor efforts as he failed to show real quality.
It was different for Keita. As we say, Jones was involved in nearly everything – only Jordan Henderson, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold had more than his 70 touches when he left the pitch. Keita, who went off at the same time, managed only 48 in his hour.
Elliott came on for Keita and managed 40 in half the time. The Guinean just didn’t leave any real mark on the game and played his hour on the fringes.
And so coming out of this game, you’d put Fabinho, Henderson, Thiago and Elliott all ahead of Keita and Jones. And with the form that quartet is showing, it might be some time before the latter pair assert themselves back into first-XI contention.
At the very least, the pressure is now well and truly on.
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