Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy thinks the World Cup break will come at an ideal time for Jurgen Klopp and his side.
The Reds beat Napoli 2-0 last night to continue their excellent form in the Champions League and receive some much-needed respite from their poor start to the Premier League campaign.
Encouraging victories over Manchester City and West Ham were followed up by back-to-back defeats to Nottingham Forest and Leeds United over the last two weekends.
And Liverpool are now down to ninth in the Premier League table and are already 15 points off the pace after winning just four of their 12 fixtures.
A lot of blame has been put on the midfield this season for both Liverpool’s offensive and defensive difficulties but Murphy doesn’t think it’s “as big a problem as people make out”.
Murphy said on talkSPORT: “Although I think Fabinho is a bit down on his form, with him, Thiago [Alcantara] and [Jordan] Henderson fit and playing every week I don’t think the midfield is as big a problem as people make out. Although you would like more choice.
“[Alex] Oxlade-Chamberlain is never fit. Keita’s probably been the worst signing out of the big ones, all the others have done well.
“And the two young lads, although super talents, you can’t rely on them week in week out, it’s not fair. So, an overview would be there’s lots to improve on and it’s not going to happen overnight.
“The World Cup is going to be a welcome break for Liverpool I think, I really do.”
The World Cup is only a couple of weeks away now but former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant doubts Joe Gomez will be part of Gareth Southgate’s England squad heading to Qatar.
Gomez made a mistake for one of Leeds United’s goals at Anfield in a 2-1 defeat at the weekend and Pennant thinks he should forget about going to the World Cup.
Pennant said: “You don’t play the ball back blind. It’s basic football. There was talk about England and him wanting to go to the World Cup and it’s a dream and he’s got to take one game at a time.
“He needs to take England right out of his mind. He’s not going anywhere near England.”
Liverpool now have a League Cup match against League One side Derby County sandwiched in between matches against Tottenham and Southampton.
READ MORE: Eight of Jurgen Klopp’s biggest transfer regrets during his time at Liverpool: Mane, Keita and more…
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