Liverpool 3-0 Bournemouth: Five things we learned as the machine gathers momentum
You can play Keita and Oxalde-Chamberlain together
Against Arsenal it seemed like the combination we all wanted to see together would never happen in a Premier League game. The Carabao Cup win over the Gunners was thrilling football but Liverpool were fast too exposed with Keita and Oxlade-Chamberlain in the middle and it seemed like that experiment was abandoned.
But has Klopp showed us the blueprint for putting both destroyers in the side and delivering results? Olxade-Chamberlain certainly would rather play in the middle and will only feature on the wing if Mane or Salah are rested, but that opens an avenue for putting Keita in the midfield alongside more stable influences.
This foray on the left worked well for Liverpool as the Ox burst onto a beautiful, lofted through ball from Henderson and displayed keen poacher’s instincts to slow past the onrushing Aaron Ramsdale in the Bournemouth goal. It was exactly the type of behind-the-lines run Oxlade-Chamberlain is great at from midfield, but it can leave the side exposed.
Klopp is unlikely to play these two in the same side together very often, but the German has shown us the way it can be done and it would be great to see them play together more often.