Stephen Warnock says Liverpool didn’t get out of exhibition mode against Rangers at Anfield. But he's warned Ibrox gaffer Giovanni van Bronckhorst that if he decides to go for their throats on Wednesday night - the Reds could cause them MORE problems.
The former Liverpool and England full-back was in Merseyside last week to see Jurgen Klopp’s side win 2-0 in their Champions League Battle of Britain. Warnock was left stunned by Rangers’ passive approach in the Group A clash and expects to see a different outfit in Govan for the return.
But he believes if Gers pile men forward at home - the likes of Mo Salah, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz could have a field day. Warnock told MailSport : “I was disappointed in Rangers. Their system told you they went to Anfield just to try and contain Liverpool. There wasn’t much attacking intent shown at all so it was tough for them.
“Liverpool were always going to play on the front foot. But Rangers surprised me after seeing them in the Europa League last season. They didn’t seem to have a game plan for when they had the ball. It’s a step up in class going from the Europa League to Champions League. There’s a big gulf.
“But they got great results on the road last season so it was disappointing to see them go to Anfield and play so negatively. Maybe the plan was to get a point here and attack them at Ibrox in the hope of getting three. I certainly don’t expect to see the same Rangers on Wednesday. I expect them to go at Liverpool.
“But if they open themselves up they’ll leave themselves very vulnerable. The pace in this Liverpool team can hurt them and that’s going to be a problem. It’ll be a completely different atmosphere at Ibrox. It wasn’t that great at Anfield because it was more like an exhibition at times. It didn’t really get out of gear for Liverpool. But in Glasgow, it’ll be different. It’ll be tough for Liverpool to deal with Ibrox. But I can still see them causing Rangers all sorts of problems.”
Warnock knows what to expect in terms of noise at Ibrox after sampling it in an old boys game three years ago. He said: “I played there recently in a legends game for Liverpool when Steven Gerrard was managing Rangers. Even in that game, there was a big crowd. I’ve always wanted to go there for a big European game and sample the atmosphere.
“The noise from the Rangers end at Anfield was non-stop so it’ll be electric on Wednesday night. It’s a special place when you look at the history of the club. I felt that as soon as I got to the ground. When you walk around, you get that special feeling - just like Anfield.”
Liverpool would have won by more in midweek if it wasn’t for Rangers’ 40-year-old goalkeeper Allan McGregor. He pulled off a string of superb stops to deny the likes of Salah, Jota and Darwin Nunez. Warnock is full of admiration for McGregor and knows his character personally.
He said: “I actually know Greegs a little bit, I’ve met him a few times. He’s great isn’t he? He’s good friends with Alan Hutton so we spent a bit of time together when I was at Aston Villa with Alan. Greegs is a brilliant guy, a real character. And you look at his performance at Anfield - it was incredible.
“His save from Jota in the second half was out of this world. He had a few others from Nunez and Salah and at 40, he’s a credit to himself. He’s a legend at Rangers and he’ll go down as one of the great Scottish goalkeepers.”
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