A much changed and a fairly young Liverpool FC side were held to a 1-1 draw at Bordeaux in the opening of game of UEFA Europa League that sees their win-less streak stretch to 4 games. Manager Brendan Rodgers hailed the performance of defender Mamadou Sakho and midfielder Adam Lallana in the aftermath of the game.
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Rodgers had drafted in defender Mamadou Sakho for his first start and the defender did not disappoint, putting in a solid display with the manager admitting the defender is now in contention to feature at the weekend against Norwich.
Midfielder Adam Lallana also returned from injury and scored a sublime goal to put the Reds 1-0 ahead. Lallana, understandably, was not too sharp from the start but improved as the game went on.
Rodgers hails Lallana’s impact
The former Southampton captain had spoken about his frustrations from the sidelines, after being unable to help Liverpool FC in their recent slump. His creativity and ability to score have been missed sorely at Anfield with his career interrupted with injuries.
Praising the England international’s impact, Rodgers was quoted saying by ESPN FC: “It was an outstanding goal. It was his touch and creativity which we have not seen so much of this season.
“It was a wonderful goal and [substitute] Danny Ings was unfortunate not to score.”
Rodgers praises ‘immense’ Sakho
Sakho has been overlooked in the starting XI so far in favour of Dejan Lovren and Martin Skrtel. The defender started his first game this season and it never looked as if it was his first game. Although the opponents weren’t exactly of the highest caliber, still, the performance from Sakho was very encouraging.
Praising the defender, Rodgers admitted that he is now in contention to play at the weekend against Norwich.
He said: “[Mamadou] Sakho was immense at the back. He knows he has had to be patient and his attitude has been first class.
“He has trained very well, kept professional, done his extra work on his fitness and he has got his rewards for that.
“He certainly comes into the reckoning for the weekend [against Norwich].”