Rio Ferdinand gives strong defence of 'limping'…

Rio Ferdinand gives strong defence of 'limping' Liverpool

Rio Ferdinand has defended Liverpool following their defeat to relegation-strugglers Nottingham Forest.

Jurgen Klopp's side were without a number of key members of the squad and their problems worsened in the build-up to the trip to the City Ground as Thiago Alcantara pulled out of the squad with an ear infection.

Taiwo Awoniyi's first-half goal proved to be the difference despite the Reds having opportunities on Dean Henderson's goal.

The former Manchester United defender moved to blame the recent injury troubles as one of the reasons behind the Reds' defeat.

Speaking on the Vibe with Five podcast, he said: "I didn't see that result coming I'll be honest.

"One thing I would say in defence of Liverpool is their squad have been decimated by injuries, they've got a lot of players injured you can't argue that.

"Trent would've played, Thiago would've played, Konate or Matip would've played, Henderson would've played, Nunez would've played, Diaz would've played. It's half your team, any other team has five of their players and probably another three or four subs out, every other team bar Man City are limping."

He added: "Their best player the other day was Harvey Elliott after Alisson, a young player coming through. Liverpool can get themselves up for a couple of big games, Man City.

"This game on the weekend, Van Dijk could've had a hat-trick, he missed two maybe three glaring chances and on another day he scores them with his eyes closed, at the same time, Alisson pulled off a number of saves, it wasn't 'Liverpool should've won and they've been robbed'.

Former Liverpool defender Steve Nicol, however, issues a brutal response, claiming that the defeat wasn't much of a surprise following their start to the season.

"The result on the face of it is a shock but if you sit down and look at Liverpool from the beginning of this season, is it such a huge shock?" He said speaking to ESPN FC.

"I mean away from home, they've got two draws away from home out of five, they've been inconsistent all season, not just away from home, but at home.

"If you look at the team that finished last year and the team that started against Nottingham Forest, you're talking about six changes, those six changes; Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Carvalho, Milner, Gomez starting. Gomez, lets be honest, has had one incredible game but every game he's making mistakes.

"Right now, Liverpool is Liverpool in name only and we're holding them to last year and previous seasons where they've looked incredible, scoring goals, back line has been solid, this is the Liverpool right now that we still expect to see but half the normal team isn't there, it's not the Liverpool side of last year, they really are struggling so it's not a huge shock."

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