Divock Origi deserves Liverpool start at Watford, says Phil Thompson
Sunday 20 December 2015 12:34, UK
Liverpool legend Phil Thompson believes Divock Origi deserves the chance to start at Watford on Super Sunday.
Origi has started just twice in the Premier League this season but came off the bench to salvage a point against West Brom last weekend, adding to his hat-trick heroics at Southampton in the Capital One Cup.
Soccer Saturday pundit Thompson is wary of the challenge in-form Watford possess and feels Origi will offer a greater threat than Christian Benteke at Vicarage Road.
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Thompson told Sky Sports: "I would think Origi has done enough to warrant a starting place, especially for an away game where his pace will be a real threat.
"Jurgen Klopp is obviously struggling to get the best out of Benteke and the needs to find a way of breaking teams down at home.
"This will be a difficult challenge for Liverpool but they seem to relish the tougher tasks."
Thompson was full of praise for Watford after covering their 1-0 victory over Sunderland on Soccer Saturday last weekend, with special credit going to their match winner Odion Ighalo.
That third successive victory means the Hornets head into Sunday's showdown a point ahead of their visitors, having started the season as on of the favourites for relegation.
"They [Watford] have been fantastic," added Thompson. "They were great in the first half last week then managed to hang on in the second, showing they can do both sides of the game.
"Ighalo was brilliant. His movement is terrific and he's technically gifted. He obviously got the winner and was unlucky not to get a second when he turned John O'Shea with a fantastic bit of skill, beat the goalkeeper and was only denied by a goal-line clearance from Sebastian Coates."
