3 reasons Ben Davies must start for Liverpool vs Sheffield United

Ball-playing ability:

Liverpool have missed having Virgil van Dijk at the back. The Dutchman’ ability to spray the ball wherever he likes is integral to our style of play.

We’ve often seen him play his trademark cross-field balls to Andy Robertson and Sadio Mané on the left, and Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mo Salah on the right.

With Ben Davies’ arrival, he might be the second-best amongst the centre-backs in terms of his passing ability. Second, only to Van Dijk, that is.

Liverpool have only scored 2 in their last 4 Premier League games. While that is partially down to the front three’s misfiring, a major reason also lies with how the side plays out from the back.

I believe that with Davies playing as the left-sided centre-back, the side can restore some of their attacking play, which stems from cross-field passes from behind.

When Reds across the globe were confused about Davies’ acquisition, they took to Twitter to find out more about him. When Preston fans replied, almost every single one of them spoke of his impressive distribution.