Jurgen Klopp must unleash Naby Keita for Liverpool vs. Porto

Naby Keita is the key player for Jurgen Klopp ahead of Liverpool’s first-leg tie against Porto in the Champions League.

Naby Keita scoring his first Premier League goal in a Liverpool shirt isn’t the only reason he must start against Porto for the Champions League quarterfinal first leg on Tuesday.

Keita netted the equalizer to send the Reds en route to a 3-1 win away to Southampton on Friday. The result put Liverpool two points above Manchester City and top of the table.

It was Keita’s performance that stood out. Specifically, the extra dimension he added to Liverpool’s attacking play.

Keita gives the Reds something no other midfielder in Jurgen Klopp’s squad can offer. Klopp has found himself frustrated since signing the former RB Leipzig star for an initial £48 million last summer.

Yet Klopp can’t help but have been impressed by how Keita helped Liverpool overload the Saints in the final third. He did it by positioning himself high up the pitch.

Keita regularly drifted into positions among and beyond the front three of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah. It meant Liverpool often had four players in the box, with Keita an extra man for full-backs Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold to aim for with crosses from wide areas.

He was in the box when Alexander-Arnold’s cross picked him out nine minutes before the break. Keita met it with a header to finally open his league account for the Reds.

It’s taken a while, but Keita finding the net is a reminder of what he adds to Klopp’s midfield. Namely, the drive to go forward and an eye for goal.

For a team pushing City all the way for the title, there’s a woeful shortage of goals from the middle of Liverpool’s team.

Keita winning in the air is another bonus for the Reds. Neither Mane, Firmino nor Salah are exactly known for their prowess in the air.

Liverpool need aerial power to take full advantage of the quality deliveries Robertson and Alexander-Arnold are overloading defenses with.

Keita won in the air again shortly after his goal when he ghosted into the center-forward position and nodded down Robertson’s cross for an overlapping Firmino. The latter crossed for Mane, who had moved onto the right, and the usually prolific No. 10 wasted a chance he should have taken.

Mane’s profligacy aside, Keita’s desire to get forward made Liverpool’s attack a more fluid unit.

That fluidity showed itself again when Keita should have been awarded a penalty in the second half. The Guinea international received the ball in the middle and played a slick one-two with Mane, taking the return and breaking into the box.

Quite how Maya Yoshida’s desperate challenge was deemed unworthy of a spot-kick remains a mystery.

Keita didn’t get the decision, but he did prove his unique value in this Liverpool team. His appetite for running from deep can prove a nightmare for defenses.

The link up with Mane must have been a gift for a forward line too often required to do it all in the final third. Given how much attention opponents pay to Klopp’s star-studded trio up top, a willing midfield runner will find more joy in front of goal.

Keita would enjoy himself against a Porto side set to miss a key man in the middle at Anfield. Mexico international Hector Herrera is suspended, and his industry will create a void along the spine of manager Sergio Conceicao’s starting XI.

Conceicao is likely to play a cagey game even without the tenacious Herrera manning the middle. He’ll want to avoid the kind of open performance that led to a 5-0 first-leg defeat that doomed Porto against Liverpool in last season’s round of 16.

Having Keita attack with direct runs from deep, the way he did against Southampton, can give Klopp’s men the edge on Merseyside. Keita’s movement will make Porto enforcer Danilo passive and render playmaker Otavio a non-factor.

Getting Keita forward will give Liverpool a free man in the opposition box by overwhelming Porto’s attempts to keep Salah and Co. in check.

Klopp needs to go against his instincts this season and put his more progressive midfielder in the lineup. It won’t be easy for the manager who has relied on a workmanlike midfield group in most of the big matches.

Georginio Wijnaldum, Fabinho, James Milner and Jordan Henderson offer Liverpool energy and steel. Those qualities are ideal for a secure base in the tough European fixtures away from home.

It’s a different story against a team the Reds know they can beat on home soil, though. Porto are the ideal opponents for Keita to build on the confidence he earned against Southampton and continue to give Liverpool something extra in attack.