Liverpool vs Napoli: Stars panned for lack of forward motion

Liverpool stars Jordan Henderson and Gini Wijnaldum have been panned for their lack of forward motion against Napoli in the Champions League.

Wijnaldum started the game while Henderson came on as an early substitute for the injury Naby Keita – and the pair have been criticised for their lack of probing passes.

The Dutchman has had a fine start to the season but experienced a rare off night in Naples, while Hendo has struggled to get going after his excellent World Cup campaign with England.

Stats have come out of the game that suggests the pair were a big part of why Liverpool failed to have a single shot on target throughout the whole 90 minutes. Between them, Henderson and Wijnaldum made only 12 forward passes the whole night!

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As a contrast, Keita managed five before being subbed off – and that was in under 20 minutes. In a nutshell, that should prove why Jurgen Klopp loves the bloke so much.

But it’s easy to take things out of context and demand a new midfield against Manchester City. Both Henderson and Wijnaldum have been impressive for Liverpool, while James Milner might not be the most probing – but he is effective and already has two assists this season.

Milner is also probably playing the finest football of his Reds career, so cut him some slack. Wednesday night was just one of those rare moments when things go wrong at the same time, but it’ll get better.

However, Xherdan Shaqiri and Daniel Sturridge must feel like they’re in with a chance of making the XI against City on the weekend.

Sturridge was left late until he were introduced to the game, and it was always unlikely that the English striker would have the same level of impact as he did against Chelsea. But all eyes on the weekend now!