Chris Sutton thinks Brendan Rodgers will take time to study Liverpool’s build-up play in preparation for Celtic’s next Champions League fixture.
No, the Hoops are not playing the Anfield giants in the league phase of UEFA’s premier competition – it’s actually German high-fliers RB Leipzig.
However, the Bundesliga played Arne Slot’s men in the Champions League in midweek as Liverpool earned an impressive 1-0 win at the Red Bull Arena.
Despite the narrow victory, it wasn’t all plain-sailing for the Reds, who had former Celtic defender Virgil van Dijk and Bhoys fan Andy Robertson in the starting line-up.
RB Leipzig pressed Liverpool aggressively as they tried to build out from the back and on some occasions, it looked like Slot’s team were about to get caught out.
And Sutton believes Celtic boss Rodgers will be analysing this aspect of the game ahead of the Bhoys’ test against RB Leipzig on November 5 and perhaps adapt accordingly.
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Chris Sutton on Celtic learning from Liverpool
Sutton wrote in his Daily Record column: “I’ll be honest, there are aspects from Bergamo (draw against Atalanta) you would have to consider for the next tie against RB Leipzig.
“Don’t be fooled by the fact the Germans have no points. They still possess top talent and caused Liverpool all sorts of problems in the early stages of their match in midweek with their own aggressive press.
“Arne Slot’s team were caught on occasions and got away with not being punished. Rodgers will look closely at that.
“Of course, there is more onus to go for it at home, but, while expansive and excellent against Slovan Bratislava, it may need dialled-down for Leipzig.”
Sutton hails Rodgers for Atalanta adaptation
Celtic put on a defensive masterclass to earn a 0-0 draw away to Atalanta in midweek and Sutton was delighted Rodgers proved his critics wrong by showing he is able to adapt his style of play to get results against the bigger teams.
Sutton says Rodgers learnt from the 7-1 hammering from Borussia Dortmund and rubbished the ‘utter garbage’ that was aimed at the Northern Irishman ahead of the trip to Bergamo.
The former Celtic striker continued: “Brendan Rodgers returned with a clear target of making progress in the Champions League.
“Bergamo provided key signals for the future as well as the firm steps in the right direction. Rodgers had every right to be satisfied with his work.
“He’d had to listen to some utter garbage in the wake of Dortmund about his coaching, that it was one-dimensional and that he couldn’t adapt.
“Rodgers had already proven it when taking a Leicester team to the Etihad and beating Manchester City 5-2 with a counter-punching performance.
“Following the Borussia beating, he had to put up with that rate of flak and I said clearly in this column that it wasn’t deserved because he had every right to go into that game with confidence because of the way his side were playing at the time.
“The scoreline was embarrassing, but the approach could only be classed a crime if he repeated exactly the same mistakes.
“We could all see in Italy, he didn’t do that. That’s all you can ask for. Lessons to be learned and progression to be made. Now it’s all about taking that forward again and there’s no reason to suggest Rodgers won’t flip and match for the upcoming ties.”
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