Leicester City Clash Will Be True Barometer of Liverpool’s 2016/17 Credentials

Liverpool welcome Leicester City to Anfield on Saturday evening for their first home clash of the season, with a capacity crowd poised to oversee a landmark encounter for Jurgen Klopp’s men, who look to seal stability after the summer transfer window and the September international break.

Klopp saw 12 of his first-team stars head off on duty with their respective nations during 2016/17’s first interval, along with a host of his best young talent, a testament to the quality at his disposal:

Nathaniel Clyne, Jordan Henderson, Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge (England) Simon Mignolet and Divock Origi (Belgium) Philippe Coutinho (Brazil) Sadio Mane (Senegal) Georginio Wijnaldum (Netherlands) Dejan Lovren (Croatia) Ragnar Klavan (Estonia) Marko Grujic (Serbia)

With World Cup and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and friendlies out of the way, domestic action returns, and Liverpool will hope to stabilise the Premier League form that has seen them take just four points from three games so far.

A 4-3 victory away to Arsenal was followed by a 2-0 defeat at Burnley’s Turf Moor, before a trip to take on Tottenham Hotspur resulted in a hard-fought but ultimately deflating 1-1 draw. Klopp’s side sit 11th in the Premier League table.

Heading into the weekend, the Reds find themselves level on points with champions Leicester, and with Claudio Ranieri’s Foxes taking to Merseyside for the unveiling of Liverpool’s new-look stadium, this is a vital juncture for both sides to prove their credentials.

As Klopp’s internationals returned to their Melwood training facility in midweek, everything looked to be coming together for the German—and a win at Anfield is essential. 

Unfortunately, however, Liverpool will find themselves facing off against a Leicester side equally determined to nail down consistent form after the international break, as midfielder Andy King told reporters ahead of the trip up the M6:

After last season it was always going to be hard. After a few games, whatever we did, people were going to compare to last season and say it’s a slow start.

But now we have our first win, we can hopefully get up and running.

Winning at Anfield would be a real statement. We know it’s going to be tough because they’ve had a good start themselves, but we know if we play the way we can, then we can be a match for anyone.

King referencing Leicester playing “the way we can” conjures memories of Liverpool’s trip to the King Power Stadium in February, as the heroics of Jamie Vardy inspired a 2-0 victory for Ranieri’s side on their way to a remarkable title.

That day, the pace and dynamism of Vardy saw Leicester threaten the Reds on the break throughout, soaking up pressure from the likes of Roberto Firmino, James Milner and Adam Lallana before launching direct passes up to their No. 9, who struck twice to seal the three points in an emphatic showing.

Liverpool dominated possession at the King Power, seeing 63.9 percent of the ball, but Leicester were sharper (32 interceptions to the Reds’ 11), more stubborn (27 blocks to 15) and …

continue reading in source www.bleacherreport.com