Liverpool saw the answer to their midfield troubles on Saturday – but it wasn’t at Anfield
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If it was not clear enough last season, Liverpool have again made it blindingly obvious to just about everybody that their midfield is a huge, huge issue.Fans could see that the Reds needed something different added to the squad during the summer, but despite weakening themselves further by selling Curtis Jones, Liverpool took the opposite stance and did nothing at all.During Saturday’s 0-0 draw against Fulham, the problems looked as bad as ever, with Ryan Gravenberch and Dominik Szoboszlai struggling to close the gaps which Sander Berge and Shea Charles gladly ran straight through. Liverpool face Fulham at Anfield Alexis Mac Allister provided something like a remedy in the second-half, but there are doubts about the Argentine’s long-term future at Anfield, and he is not a natural defensive midfielder anyway.Liverpool need a master of duelling and tackling, and it is no surprise that they have been heavily linked with Monaco’s Lamine Camara as a result.
On Saturday, while the Reds were labouring against Fulham, the Senegal international once again showed why they really should have signed him.Lamine Camara continues to excel for MonacoHaving had a move to Chelsea cancelled on transfer deadline day, Camara has started the season in brilliant fashion for Monaco.Although they failed to win for the first time in four Ligue 1 matches this season, drawing away to Strasbourg, the 22-year-old stood out once again.READ MORE: One surprise Liverpool player has just become undroppable after what happened vs FulhamHe has made the most tackles in the French top division so far this season, and he added to that on Saturday, making four more. Between them, Gravenberch and Szoboszlai made only two against Fulham.A lack of the ability to win duels has also been a big, big part of why Liverpool’s midfield looks so easy to play against, and Camara has continuously shown that he would help to solve that as well.He has won 41 duels so far this season, putting him within the top 4% of midfielders in Ligue 1, and he showed this off against Strasbourg, coming out on top in seven out of nine ground duels.This makes Liverpool’s pairing look even worse.
On Saturday, Gravenberch attempted five duels and Szoboszlai nine.Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP via Getty ImagesThe Dutchman didn’t fare too badly, winning two, but Szoboszlai’s afternoon could not have gone much worse in this respect, as he came out on top only once out of nine battles.Obviously, though Gravenberch in particular has been much-maligned for a while now, Liverpool’s midfielders have different qualities which will make them assets to Andoni Iraola.But what they need right now is a midfielder who can get around the opposition, win the ball off them and stop them playing. Liverpool know Camara can do that having reportedly been scouting him extensively for a while now.