‘That’s incredible’ – Jurgen Klopp pours praise on West Ham star ahead of Sunday clash
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has hailed the goalscoring achievements of Tomas Soucek ahead of their clash with West Ham on Sunday.
The Reds will arrive at the London Stadium only two points better off than their hosts who have the opportunity to leapfrog them in the Premier League table and burst back in to the Champions League slots.
Liverpool will be coming up against a Hammers side in a rich vein of form and containing one of the top players of the whole campaign so far.
Soucek has impressed since his move from Slavia Prague in January 2020 but it is this season where he has really taken it up another level and he is West Ham’s top scorer this season with seven Premier League goals to his name.
He has made a host of top managers sit up and take notice with Klopp the most recent of these after he told Liverpoolfc.com: “I think everybody’s really impressed about the goal threat of Soucek, that’s incredible.”
With Liverpool shorn of central defenders and having to play midfielder Jordan Henderson at the back Soucek will be licking his lips at set-piece opportunities on Sunday.
Who can stop the in-form Irons enforcer?
It has certainly been one hell of a season for the big Czech so far with Tuesday’s 3-2 win at Crystal Palace possibly the highlight as he scored his first Irons double with a quick-fire first-half double.
He has been a goal scoring revelation from the centre of midfield with his ability to arrive into the box late coupled with his aerial prowess.
It is in the air where he has really established himself as one of the Premier League’s elite.
Per Wyscout no player has been involved in more aerial duels than Soucek (223) this season
The 25-year-old really has proved himself to be a dynamic central midfielder player capable of producing anything and he will have the chance to further test himself when he competes against a midfield full of Champions League winners on Sunday.
The likes of Thiago Alcantara and Georginio Wijnaldum will be expected to line up in the Liverpool midfield and will represent a different kind of threat.
Soucek will be confident of imposing his game on any player at the moment though regardless of reputation.
If he continues his fine form on Sunday the Irons will see no reason why they can not spend the rest of the season competing with clubs like Liverpool.
Klopp knows the talents of Soucek and he is not alone with the midfield enforcer set to be a marked man from now.
In other West Ham news, our view on what Jesse Lingard will offer the Irons after he completed a loan move from Manchester United on Friday.