Andros Townsend has praised the skills of Liverpool’s Alexis McAllister after challenging the midfielder at Kenilworth Road with Luton Town earlier this month.
McAllister, who joined the Reds from Brighton & Hove Albion for around £35m last June, was unexpectedly installed as Liverpool’s first-choice defensive midfielder following the departure of Fabinho to Al Ittihad in the summer.
Townsend met Luthom McAllister earlier this month and was full of praise for the Argentine, who has “fantastic quality”.
In an interview with BBC 5 Live’s Monday Night Club, the former Everton player said: “When the ball is at the feet of (Joe) Gomez, (Virgil) Van Dijk or (Ibrahima) Konate, there are three midfielders.
Get to the ball, turn, play forward. Now you mentioned Mac Allister as the sixth player. It has great quality.Townsend’s praise for Mac Allister is backed up by the latest stats from Sky Sports News.
Sky Sports News compares the No.6’s World Cup performances to those of Moises Caicedo and Declan Rice. Mac Allister averages more shots per 90 (2.8) in the Premier League than Rice (2.3) and Caicedo (1.9), who moved to Arsenal and Chelsea this summer for a fee of over £100 million.
Mac Allister also boasts a higher interception percentage than Caicedo, with a return rate of 1.5/90 compared to the Ecuadorian’s return rate of 0.9/90.
Liverpool’s number 10 had his best performance in a red shirt when Jurgen Klopp’s side beat Nottingham Forest 3-0 at Anfield in October.
Mc Allister played a key role in the Reds’ first goal, forcing Mohamed Salah to score in the center of the pitch before slotting home. Asked about deploying McAllister in a deeper role after the game, Liverpool boss Klopp said:
“Obviously it’s not something we’re discussing, otherwise we wouldn’t be playing him.” “But I think nowadays everybody can benefit from players coming from the attacking side of the game rather than the other side.
“In the game you have to create something, you have to pass, you have to change the side. This is. “Not every ball hits the target, but that’s normal if you’re trying to do something in tight spaces.
We have no problem losing the ball around the box because we have to counter-press. “I am very happy with him and there are many defensive moments.
Actually, they made the counter something like this. He was really there. He’s good at that stuff, so we play him there. “It’s great in private situations,” he said.
Mac Allister missed the Reds’ win over Brentford on Sunday after picking up a one-match ban for his fifth yellow card of the season against Luton, but is available for next weekend’s game against Manchester City.
