Mbappe injury should force Liverpool tactical change, says pundit

Former Arsenal midfielder and ESPN FC pundit Stewart Robson believes Jurgen Klopp should consider altering his tactical approach to Liverpool’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain next week if Kylian Mbappe isn’t fit to start.

Mbappe is a major doubt for Wednesday’s match in Paris after being substituted with an injury 10 minutes before half time in France’s international friendly against Uruguay.

The young forward injured his shoulder after running into Uruguay goalkeeper Martin Campana, and will now go through a 48-hour treatment period before being evaluated further.

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Brazil’s striker Neymar lays injured on the pitch during the international friendly football match between Brazil and Cameroon at Stadium MK in Milton Keynes, central England, on November 20, 2018. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP)

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Robson thinks the possibility of Mbappe not playing should encourage Klopp to play a higher line against PSG.

“Liverpool’s backline, they have to decide when Mbappe’s playing ‘do we squeeze up?’” said Robson, according to the Daily Star.

“Because if we leave too much space in behind, he’s going to run in behind or do we drop that little bit deeper?’

“They’re going to have to make decisions if Mbappe’s playing.

“If Neymar’s playing they’re going to squeeze higher up the field and try and get tight to him, get someone marking him all the time, nick the ball off of him and try to counter attack from there.

“Mbappe is the more dangerous player.”

Brazil forward Neymar is also a doubt for the match after suffering an injury while on international duty on the same night as Mbappe damaged his shoulder. However, former Liverpool player Steve Nicol thinks Mbappe is the bigger loss for PSG.

“What you should do is go and ask the rest of the PSG team,” said Nicol.

“Because I tell you they’d probably all go for Mbappe.

“When you’ve got a player like Neymar, who time after time after time is losing the ball, they all know he’s playing for himself, he’s putting them all out the game, he’s putting the team at risk.

“But then you’ve got Mbappe who, if he is maybe having a bad game, you know he’s losing it because he’s actually trying to help his team.

“That makes a huge difference during a game to the attitude of everybody else around you.”

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Source: anfieldhq.com