Nat Phillips produces man of the match performance on Champions League debut

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Six-time champions Liverpool progressed to the Champions League quarter-finals after a 2-0 win against RB Leipzig in Hungary.

Mo Salah gave Liverpool the opener inside 70 minutes before Mane sealed their place in the next round four minutes later.

A surprise for Liverpool at centre half this year has been 23-year-old defender Nat Phillips. The Bolton academy graduate has been presented a one in a million opportunity for the Reds this season after all of Liverpool’s first-choice centre backs: Virgil Van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Joel Matip, have endured season-ending injuries. He spent last season on loan at VfB Stuttgart in Germany due to not forcing his way into Jurgen Klopp’s plans.

Phillips has taken his opportunity this season, making nine appearances so far in the Premier League and being handed his Champions League debut by Klopp last night. His performance has impressed many Liverpool fans and his manager. Klopp, after the game, described him as a “monster” and praised his performance on his European debut and this season; “The concentration level he shows week in week out since he is playing for us is absolutely incredible.”

Phillips started the game by collecting the ball from deep and looking for either Salah or Mane out wide with an over the top through ball. His passing was brilliant on the night, and using the pace of Mane and Salah posed a dangerous threat to the Leipzig defence.

As the game went on, Leipzig looked for balls over the top as their Danish striker Yousef Poulsen poses an aerial threat standing at 6’4. But in Phillips and Poulsen’s battle, the Bolton born centre half came out on top, winning everything in the air and playing simple football across the backline.

Phillips at the back with Kabak proved to be a good partnership for the reds in their round of 16 second leg tie as they complimented each other quite well with their different playing styles. Phillips is an old school centre half, and Ozan Kabak is more of a ball-playing defender, so Liverpool can now adapt to different situations in a game.

Having Phillips and Kabak at the back for Liverpool means they can play Fabinho in defensive midfield and Thiago alongside him, which worked well for Liverpool when they wanted to turn defence into attack

Fabinho gave Thiago more freedom in midfield. Thiago has endured a difficult few months for Liverpool since signing from Bayern; with zero goals and zero assists so far this season, fans could see the quality he poses against Leipzig. Thiago had 78% passing accuracy and completed all his long passing yesterday too. Playing Fabinho at centre half gives Liverpool less freedom and has led to six home defeats in a row in the Premier League.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Phillips when Van Dijk, Gomez and Matip are all back, as now he’s shown his manager and the fans what he’s capable of. Will Liverpool be willing to play him more? Or will they look for big money signing to go next to Van Dijk for the next few years?