Liverpool vs Huddersfield: Dejan Lovren ‘bizarre’, Xherdan Shaqiri ‘buzzed about’?

Liverpool took on Huddersfield and won thanks to a Mohamed Salah goal, but was Dejan Lovren bizarre and did Xherdan Shaqiri buzz about like the pundits say?

Both players were handed a rare chance to start, along with the returning from injury Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge.

After Salah hit the back of the net mid-way through the first half, the Reds may have expected the floodgates to open – but once again they were stilted in attack and the Egyptian missed a few chances to extend their lead.

However, Jurgen Klopp will be pleased with the defense as they kept another clean sheet. Liverpool have only conceded three times this season, and that record is definitely one to be proud of.

Lovren hasn’t had many chances to impress since the end of the World Cup. Joe Gomez and Virgil van Dijk have been the preferred duo, but the former was moved to right-back to give Trent Alexander-Arnold a rest and allow the Croatian his second Premier League start this season.

But did he make the most of that chance? Well the Liverpool Echo gave the defender a 6/10 match rating, which wasn’t helped by his ‘bizarre attempted clearance’ that presented a late chance to Huddersfield.

The Mirror and the Indepedent both agreed with that score and reckoned Lovren had a very quiet game – which isn’t always a bad thing from a central defender.

Shaqiri was picked in midfield and notched up his second league assist for the season. Once again the Independent opted for a 6/10 match rating, which was hampered by the fact that Shaq couldn’t go forward as often as he would have liked. But still, the Swiss international ‘buzzed about’ throughout the 90 minutes.

The Mirror were slightly more generous with their 7/10 rating, but suggested that Shaqiri looked slightly out of place with his new position until he magicted up an excellent assist. The Liverpool Echo agreed, and added that his defensive work improved a lot in the second half.

The Reds next play on the 24th as they look to add a second Champions League win to their season.