Ex-Reds and England midfielder has been impressed by his former club’s stellar start and urged them to chase down the treble – but reckons Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah fitness is crucial
Ex-Reds and England midfielder has been impressed by his former club’s stellar start and urged them to chase down the treble – but reckons Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah fitness is crucial Ex-Reds and England midfielder has been impressed by his former club’s stellar start and urged them to chase down the treble – but reckons Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah fitness is crucial
Danny Murphy reckons the only thing that could derail Liverpool ’s campaign is serious injuries to their two most valuable players – Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah.
The Reds are runaway Premier League leaders after an outstanding start to their campaign. Ahead of Sunday’s game against nosediving Manchester United, they are six points clear having lost just one of their 18 games so far. They also top the Champions League table with six wins from six after new boss Arne Slot ’s impressive opening to life at Anfield.
Murphy, who won the League Cup, FA Cup and UEFA Cup during his own Liverpool career, admitted: “So far, so good: it’s been a phenomenal start. The only thing I can see for Liverpool falling away or jeopardizing the potential success is really bad injuries.
“If you were to have an unfortunate spate of injuries where Virgil van Dijk and Mo Salah were out for a period, that would make things difficult.
“Because the numbers tell you how reliant they are on Salah for goals and assists. Virgil marshals the team brilliantly from the back and gives them the security that nobody else can quite do.
“There’s always a risk that you can lose as the season goes on that you can lose your best players. We’ve seen that with Man City. Arsenal struggled early on without [Martin] Ødegaard, now [Bukayo] Saka’s injured. It’s the same for all the teams.”
Ex-England star Murphy, 47, also believes Liverpool’s players need to be ambitious and target all three major trophies – the Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup. They are also in the Carabao Cup semi-finals against Spurs so could yet win FOUR pieces of silverware.
In an interview with BonusCodeBets.co.uk he said: “We’ve seen in history that the treble is a very difficult thing to do. There’s always spells in the seasons, especially in cup competitions where one bad game or week can jeopardise that dream.
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“They’re playing so well that they should be ambitious. When you’re playing that well, everyone’s fit, there’s competition for places, I think it’s the right thing to try and win everything. I don’t see them trying to prioritise one competition.”
But Murphy, who made 170 appearances for the club between 1997 and 2004, admitted: “Maybe dream about the treble.
“But Liverpool fans, if you offer them either the Premier League or the Champions League, they would be more than happy with that, because the expectation when a new manager comes in, especially after someone like [Jurgen] Klopp is that there will be some transition.”
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