3 reasons why Ozan Kabak must start against Leicester City

Ozan Kabak must start for Liverpool against Leicester on Saturday.

The 20-year-old signed for Liverpool on deadline day and was included in Jurgen Klopp’s matchday squad for the first time in an embarrassing defeat to Manchester City.

Although the Turkish International did not make his debut for Liverpool, he should do so in the club’s next fixture. A trip away to Leicester was one that we all remember fondly from next season, and if for this to be repeated on Saturday, I believe Kabak must start.

Liverpool must start Ozan Kabak

For much of this season, Liverpool has been impaired by injuries, with all three senior centre-backs (Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joel Matip) ruled out for the season. This has forced the likes of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to replace them, while Rhys Williams and Nathaniel Phillips have been used occasionally as well.

Along with Kabak, the club signed Ben Davies from Championship side Preston North End as well. While Kabak has joined on a six-month loan with an option to buy, Davies signed a four-year contract which will keep him at the club until the end of the 2024/25 season.

With neither of the new signings playing yet, Liverpool fans have questioned why they haven’t started yet. To me, this is a bit critical, as they’ve barely had time to settle into the squad.

Liverpool don’t have time

This time around against Leicester though, Kabak and Davies will have additional time to take in what is expected of them. In Jurgen Klopp’s pre-match press conference for the game against Manchester City, he confirmed that the two new recruits were shown a “CB movie” as part of analysis meeting.

Kabak is considered a long-term prospect for Jurgen Klopp to develop. He is nowhere near the finished product, but to ascertain whether he’s decent enough to become a permanent part of this squad, he needs to play.

Here are my three reasons why Kabak must be picked from the get-go against Leicester City.