Rio Ngumoha impressed for Liverpool on his first Premier League start in the meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
Ngumoha was the top performer in the stalemate, matching a Florian Wirtz record in 64 minutes on the pitch.
Now, Gary Lineker has stated the teenager has the ‘stop-start sharpness’ of Kylian Mbappe while also expressing his surprise at the fact Arne Slot took him off against Spurs.
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Rio Ngumoha has ‘stop-start sharpness of Mbappe’
Speaking on The Rest Is Football, Lineker said while he doesn’t want to compare Ngumoha to Mbappe, the Liverpool gem does have one trait which is similar to the Frenchman.
He explained: “I don’t want to get carried away. I’m not comparing him, but I’m saying that he’s got that stop-start sharpness of Mbappe.
“I’m not saying he’s Mbappe. Not because obviously he’s one of the great players, but he’s got enormous potential. He wasn’t scared to take people on.
“He went very close a couple of times outside of the post. I thought it was really special. I was surprised he went off, actually.”
Micah Richards then commented on Ngumoha being taken off, responding: “Yeah, I thought the game changed a little bit when he went off because he was pushing Spurs all the way back. Then Spurs stayed in the game and then got their goal. But I thought he was the player of the match by far.”
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Will Rio Ngumoha start for Liverpool vs Galatasaray?
After being handed his first start in the Premier League and, as expected, playing well, fans will want to see him in action again from the off on Wednesday.
However, it seems unlikely that Slot will opt to start the teenager in a game that could define Liverpool’s season.
Speaking last week, the Liverpool manager commented on Ngumoha playing more and suggested he will start one game in the next three.
He said: “Rio is a player who could start for us. “He’s been coming in for longer spells. He’s definitely an option to start one of the three games in the coming week.”
In turn, it likely means Slot will opt to use Cody Gakpo or Florian Wirtz on Wednesday instead.
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