He might not be a left-back by trade but a study has found that Liverpool‘s James Milner is one of the continent’s most proficient players in that position.
The former Manchester City and Aston Villa man initially joined the Reds looking to re-establish himself as a central midfielder but has been used on the left side of defence by Jurgen Klopp for pretty much all of this season.
The Premier League table shows Liverpool are hardly the stingiest defenders in the division, given Klopp’s men have conceded 42 times throughout the 2016/17 campaign – only eight more than relegated Middlesbrough.
But despite that, a study based on performance analysis and statistics by the CIES Football Observatory found that of all footballers who’ve played more than 2,000 minutes this season, only Juventus’ Alex Sandro, Real Madrid’s Marcelo and David Alaba of Bayern Munich have had a more impressive season than Milner.
Best XI, @CIES_Football, @premierleague: @LFC & @ManCity most represented teams with 3 players each, one more than champions @ChelseaFC pic.twitter.com/RjydUGbTbT
— CIES Football Obs (@CIES_Football) May 15, 2017
Klopp might have a left-back on his shopping list for the summer, but perhaps this could make him think again.
Should Liverpool keep Milner at left-back? What do you think?
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