In his pre-game press briefing today, Jurgen Klopp has taken to heaping praise on Newcastle’s Miguel Almiron.
As reported in the Liverpool Echo, Klopp was rather complimentary of Newcastle in his Friday morning presser, which makes a change as he’s been quite critical in the past with comments about the club’s wealth.
Newcastle’s playing style finally suits Miggy
One player that the Liverpool manager singled out for praise was Miguel Almiron who has had an incredible season so far for the Magpies. Klopp said “I always like Almiron and the way they are playing now suits him.”
The stats certainly back up Klopp’s claims with the £21m signing finally living up to the promise he arrived with when he was signed from Atlanta FC in January 2019. Almiron reached double figures for goals this season when he calmly slotted the ball beyond Bournemouth’s Neto, the first time he’s hit that milestone for Newcastle.
In October, Almiron went goal-crazy, scoring in six goals in seven games, earning himself a Premier League Player of the Month award.
Call off the dogs… for now
It wasn’t just Miggy who Klopp heaped the praise on either, going on to say of Eddie Howe: “Eddie has made Newcastle a proper threat for everyone. It is a really difficult place to go.” He also appeared to back down from his comments earlier in the season regarding the club’s spending power saying: “The financial possibilities they will have in the future are exceptional but it [their success] is not because of that.”
This softening in tone and praise for Newcastle doesn’t make me any less hopeful that Newcastle absolutely crucify Liverpool on Saturday. We owe them too much. They’re our nemesis, being the only team to beat us in the league this season and the last visiting team to win at St James’ Park.
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