Liverpool fans will be longing for the return of Premier League football after the international break, with Arne Slot’s Reds currently top of the pile in the tough division by five points.
It should be a relatively straightforward transition back to the bread and butter of the top flight too, as a trip to St. Mary’s to take on basement club Southampton awaits.
Of course, nothing can be taken for granted, but it’s very much a winnable fixture on paper for Slot and Co.
Away from the return to league action, the international break has been kind to a certain Ben Doak, with the promising Reds youngster terrorising Croatia again for Scotland.
Doak's electric international break
Doak will be banging down the door for more opportunities on Merseyside when his Middlesbrough loan deal has expired, based on his continued electric showings on the international stage for his nation.
The 19-year-old would again give Josko Gvardiol a constant headache in his attempts to keep him under control, with the slick Scotsman more than playing his part in Steve Clarke’s men picking up an impressive 1-0 win in the Nations League.
Minutes played
90
Goals scored
0
Assists
0
Touches
42
Shots
1
Accurate passes
27/30 (90%)
Key passes
2
Successful dribbles
2/4
Looking at the table above, Doak excelled against the Croats when darting forward with pace and energy with two successful dribbles managed coming up against the might of Gvardiol, in what was another fearless showing from the teenager.
His enthralling performance would see The Herald dish out an 8/10 match rating to him after the contest, with journalist Ewan Paton simply stating that Doak is going to be ‘some player.’
Unfortunately, football doesn’t always play out like that, with this once highly praised winger – who played with the same level of flair and trickery as Doak – going on to be known as a huge transfer misfire at Anfield.
Liverpool's original Ben Doak
Away from the scrutinising pressure of Reds fans who will instantly want you to be a star in the top-flight, thankfully for the Reds winger, he has been given time away from the club to grow and develop with Middlesbrough this season.
Lazar Markovic is the poor soul, who unfortunately had that pressure on his back from minute one when arriving in England. He cost a substantial £20m to pick up from Benfica as a 20-year-old, with European football writer Andy Brassell stating at the time that the Serbian had “enormous” potential.
“He’s a player with a rare talent. The raw potential is absolutely. If he can progress at the present rate he’s going to be worth twice the money that they paid for him in 12 to 18 months’ time, so it’s a good investment.”
Known as an explosive and unpredictable winger playing in his native Serbia for Partizan – just like Doak is now – Markovic registered seven strikes and seven assists during the final season of his first stint at the club.
Then moving to Portugal, it was in Lisbon where Markovic took to his new surroundings well with a further seven strikes and five assists, yet the gigantic leap up to the Premier League proved too much for the expensive purchase to handle.
Speaking of his wild aspirations to win the top flight upon his arrival in 2014, Markovic would get nowhere near as his paltry return of three goals and one assist from 34 contests in all competitions saw his new employers finish in an unsatisfactory sixth position, leading to Jurgen Klopp’s appointment after the campaign was up.
After this poor first year, the Serbian was routinely loaned out time after time to the likes of Hull City and Anderlecht to name a few, before Fulham snapped him up on a free transfer in 2019.
In truth, it was a risky buy that never paid off for the Reds, with many perhaps surprised that Liverpool went out to get Doak in from Celtic when they did.
But, unlike this whole saga with Markovic, that looks to be an ingenious decision rather than a haphazard one, with the Scottish attacker tipped for big things at Anfield as his career goes on.
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