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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
John Aldridge

Cardiff fans get what they deserve as Liverpool eye Premier League revenge

Jurgen Klopp might have been tempted to make more changes than he did for the match against Cardiff, but I think he did the right thing.

Players need games and you need to keep the momentum.

Klopp showed Cardiff and the FA Cup a lot of respect and put out a team worthy of winning that match.

It was great to see Thiago come on. All of sudden, you’re looking at the squad we’ve got and it looks very rosy.

Luis Diaz has come in, Harvey Elliott has come back, Thiago’s now fit, the cavalry of Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are coming back.

READ MORE: Harvey Elliott and Liverpool can benefit from difficult situation

READ MORE: Mohamed Salah wants instant Liverpool return after AFCON heartbreak

If you think about all the little problems that we’ve had over the past couple of years, it’s as strong now as it’s ever been under Jurgen at this present moment in time.

Let’s hope we keep them all fit between now and the end of the season, as we’ve got three cup competitions to sort out and we can still keep Manchester City on their toes.

Bluebirds weren't on song at Anfield

Cardiff brought about 8,000 fans to Anfield. They got a lucky draw. They enjoyed the day out but their fans didn’t impress me.

The likes of Shrewsbury, Leicester, and now Cardiff - some of the things that we had to endure - they don’t sing about their own team half of the time.

But they’ve had a day out, had a bit of a jolly and got a goal. I thought they’d won the whole game the way they celebrated it.

I’ve noticed that the away fans this season seem to have gone a lot more volatile.

You used to get an atmosphere like that in the old days of the Kop when it was all standing.

But all of a sudden the away fans are coming and standing and they’re definitely more volatile than they were before.

In any case, we got the result and their goal didn’t matter because it was a cup game.

The Cardiff fans have had a good day out in one of the best stadiums in the world. They’ve made a few bob for the club, now off you pop!

AFCON final lacked punch but Mane could benefit

It was a shame that one of Liverpool’s great strikers had to lose the AFCON final on Sunday evening but I’m not surprised the competition concluded the way it did.

I always thought it was going to penalties to be honest, because of the way Egypt were playing with such a defensive system.

It was always going to be hard for Salah to become Player of the Tournament because of the way his national team play. Senegal are a little more outgoing.

The best team may have won it in the end, which is how it should be.

It’s a huge boost for Mane, who has seen his place in the Liverpool starting XI come under threat with the arrival of Diaz.

You want competition, absolutely, he needs pushing.

Divock Origi is probably going in the summer and we’ll see what happens with any of the other forwards. Maybe another one will go and then Liverpool will need another top striker?

Little motivation needed to strike back against the Foxes

Liverpool face Leicester at home next and can’t afford a slip up. We owe them big time.

The last league game against them will have hurt the players, the way it panned out.

We missed a penalty, Mane missed the easiest chance he’ll get all season and it will have stung, the way we got beat.

The players won’t need much motivation for this one. It will be interesting to see what team Jurgen puts out.

I think Fabinho will come back in and I expect Salah and Mane to play even though they had such a big game on Sunday. It will be a strong team.

Fans will be itching to see Diaz again but I don’t think he will start the match. Diogo Jota is a goalscorer and has been getting vital goals. He also gets assists as well.

His movement in the box is brilliant. He scores a lot of headed goals, which is important for a Number 9.

He misses some chances, as he did on Sunday, but you’ve got to miss a few to score them and he always gets in the areas where you need him to create opportunities.

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