Liverpool’s depth is just as good as Man City’s

One of the major fallacies about Liverpool’s team is that they do not have enough depth, or never have.

Some say that they improved their depth over the summer, but are still a way off of Manchester City’s bench. However, when you analyze both squads they are really not that much different. Note, that the Red’s squad will not be entirely full strength until the end of this season when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has recovered from his brutal knee injury.

When our team is full strength, the most likely version of our bench will include: James Milner, Jordan Henderson, Xherdan Shaqiri, Dejan Lovren, Daniel Sturridge, Nathaniel Clyne, and Simon Mignolet. That is contingent on a midfield of Fabinho, Keita, and Oxlade-Chamberlain, which I rate as our best middle three when they start to play together.

Reviewing that list, you have seven international players that have all contributed heavily to Liverpool, or another Premier League’s team success.

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Milner is one of the most class veteran utility players in Europe, Henderson is our skipper and a dominant defensive midfielder who led the Redmen to a Champions League final just last year. Xherdan Shaqiri carried Stoke City for multiple years, Dejan Lovren made the World Cup Team of the Tournament this summer, and Daniel Sturridge was once a striker the entire league coveted but has just been riddled by injury. Lastly, even Clyne and Mignolet have been contributing members of very good Liverpool teams, with the defender even being a very important member of the England squad.

It doesn’t matter how you cut it, that bench is world class, and has to be one of Europe’s best, when they are full strength. When you look at City’s bench in their last game against Wolves, it included: John Stones, Fabian Delph, Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez, Nicolas Otamedi, Gabriel Jesus, and Arijanet Muric. How much better is it than Liverpool’s really?

The Reds definitely have the advantage in goalkeeper, and the midfield, and the defense is probably equal. The Citizens might have an advantage on forwards with Sane and Jesus slightly edging our combo of Shaqiri and Sturridge.

It is time for people to stop raving so much about City’s depth without rating Liverpool just as high. It was a stereotype that needed to be exposed because it was just not true. The scary part is that nobody has really saw Fabinho or Shaqiri in with the starting squad, but when they do get put in, it is going to be thrilling. And when Oxlade-Chamberlain is added and eventually inserted into the starting lineup, our rotation will be filthy good all around the pitch.

This depth will serve us greatly in the coming years and will allow us to compete and put together good teams in both domestic and foreign competition. Not to mention it speaks as to how well Jurgen Klopp has built and upgraded this team from what it was under Brendan Rodgers. Not to throw disrespect at Adam Lallana, but I think Liverpool will be over the days soon enough when he is subbed on first in a Champions League final.

The team also has a brigade of young players such as Curtis Jones, Rafa Camacho, Nat Phillips, Rhian Brewster and Dom Solanke that will definitely be thrown into the mix at points in the season. In the middle of the year when we are playing 2-3 games per week in the FA Cup, Premier League, Champions League and the League Cup, having these young squad players around to fill in will be a quality substitute.

Overall, the main argument here is that Liverpool’s squad depth is much better than people actually perceive it to be. People will start to realize this when we are putting solid teams together across every competition come winter this year.