Liverpool given reality check over ‘pretty poor’ Bradley Barcola despite Champions League hat-trick

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Bradley Barcola was the man of the moment for Liverpool on Wednesday as he hit a brilliant hat-trick against LASK. The Frenchman has had a slow start since joining from Paris Saint-Germain in August, but against weaker opposition in the Champions League, he finally got his confidence boost.Liverpool players were delighted for Barcola, as were his former PSG colleagues, but while there will be hope that the 24-year-old can now kick on and show why the Reds forked out £123m to sign him, BBC pundit Chris Sutton has sounded a word of warning, claiming that Barcola has not looked up to scratch where it matters in the Premier League.Here's our player ratings!

Who deserves higher or, perhaps, even lower? 🤔 Chris Sutton still has doubts over Barcola It was not only the fact that Barcola scored three times against LASK, it was also that every goal was of such high quality. Despite all the positives, though, Sutton is not convinced, telling BBC Football Daily that he would put greater emphasis on Barcola’s ‘pretty poor’ displays in the Premier League so far.

“The signing of Barcola… good for him, he’s got off the mark this evening, but other than that, he’s looked pretty poor in the games he’s played in the Premier League so far. They’re not out of the woods yet.” It is fair to say that Barcola has not impressed in the Premier League up to this point, and he did not step up when Liverpool badly needed him to against Manchester City last Sunday.