Liverpool 5 Hull City 1: Three talking points

Mignolet makes way for Karius

While Jurgen Klopp is one of the most lovable characters in the Premier League, there is an underlying ruthlessness to the Liverpool manager. We have already seen the Reds boss get rid of a lot of deadwood in the summer transfer window and Klopp didn’t hesistate to drop Mignolet in favour of Loris Karius in the Liverpool goal for the visit of Hull. The summer signing made his competitive debut in their 3-0 League Cup win at Derby County mid-week but Klopp didn’t wait to ease Karius into his Premier League line-up. The Liverpool manager’s selection even caught out club legend Jamie Carragher who tweeted: “Big call from Jurgen Klopp with Karius after playing just one game, thought he would give it a few games before changing them”. Hopefully Karius can provide the solid base that the Liverpool defence requires to produce some consistency.

Lallana continues to thrive under Klopp

Klopp has improved many of the players that the former Borussia Dortmund manager inherited when he took over the reins from Brendan Rodgers back in October. Top of that list is Adam Lallana. The England midfielder’s Anfield career appeared to be stalling after his £25m move to Liverpool from Southampton in 2014. However, Klopp has reignited Lallana and the playmaker is looking like an indispensable members of the Liverpool side. The 28-year-old has often been criticised for his poor goal record. However, Lallana has now scored four times in his last four games for club and country.

Milner excels at left-back

Ok - Hull City were down to 10 men for most of the game but James Milner was still impressive at left-back. The former England international has been used in the unorthodox role following Alberto Moreno’s erratic performances since Klopp’s arrival at Anfield. The Liverpool manager now very much views the former Manchester City man as a left-back: “We can now talk about Millie if you want because he was not a left full-back last season”. Aside from the defensive side of his game, Milner is now Liverpool’s joint top goal-scorer this season after a return of three goals in six games.