In recent years, football’s striking partnership has been given some acronyms such as BBC ( Bale, Benzema and Ronaldo), MSN (Messi, Neymar, Suarez). So don’t be too eager to ask what’s SOS or MSF because the answers are right before you.
SOS stands for Sturridge, Origi, and Shaqiri while MSF stands for Mane, Salah and Firmino. Now you understand what I’m talking about right?
For the first time since May 2017, Jurgen klopp’s named a starting lineup without any of the ‘MSF’ as the German tactician gave the three strikers the rest they richly deserved.
Instead, Klopp opted for an SOS attacking setup giving Divock Origi his first start of the season, while Daniel Sturidge returned to the first XI after some time on the bench.
Xherdan Shaqiri continues to get regular game time under Klopp as he partnered the other two strikers from the blast of referee’s whistle
How do they fare?
The Reds were outclassed by the Clarets right from the first minute of the game as they tested Alison Becker more often than expected.
Burnley surprisingly took the lead in the first half of the game as it appeared Jurgen Klopp’s men couldn’t withstand Dyche’s men.
As for the striking partnerships, Origi looked sharp and was involved in the game but his liveliness wasn’t enough to bring his team back into the game.
Shaqiri was a threat with the ball but wasn’t deadly enough to trouble the home side’s defensive setup.
Sturidge was like every other striker in the team as he could do nothing to change the scoreline throughout the first half.
Firmino makes the difference.
Despite all SOS’ efforts to break the deadlock for the Premier League’s giants, it remained the same until Roberto Firmino was brought into the game.
The Brazilian’s introduction into the game turned out to be the missing inspiration needed by the Reds to break down Burnley’s rock-solid defence.
The Reds finally broke the deadlock via James Milner who benefited from Van Dijk’s great and attractive header.
The Brazilian scored his second goal in three matches as he latched home the ball after a great assist from Origi.
The goal brought out the best out of klopp’s team as they become more rampant and deadly at the final third of the pitch.
Some minutes after Firmino’s goal, the Reds doubled their lead via Shaqiri in a very swift and pacy counter-attacking fashion.
SOS might be the perfect substitute for MSF
The goal didn’t just put the game out of Burnley’s reach, it equally shows that Jurgen Klopp now has another striking partnership that could still perform brilliantly.
Irrespective of the fact that they didn’t score in the first half, SOS have a great chance of becoming as deadly as the MSF combination.
With the League’s busy schedule, Klopp shouldn’t hesitate to give SOS much chance to lead the attacking line while he rests the tired legs of MSF
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