Football news – Liverpool's Naby Keita, Adam Lallana not title-winning quality, says John Aldridge

Both Keita and Lallana started in Liverpool’s draw at West Ham on Monday night, and the club have since been leapfrogged into first by Manchester City following their win over Everton on Wednesday.

Liverpool have a game in hand and can restore a three-point advantage against Bournemouth on Saturday, but Aldridge believes manager Jurgen Klopp has a midfield issue to address, after both Jordan Henderson and Georginio Wijnaldum were sidelined for Monday’s game.

"Klopp’s side dropped more points at West Ham, but a bigger issue for me in both games has been the performance or lack of it from Liverpool ’s midfielders," Aldridge told Independent.ie.

"My first impressions of Lallana when he came to Liverpool were not positive and while he proved me wrong to an extent with some good performances before his recent injury problems, it looks like he is struggling to get back to those levels once again after so long in the treatment room.

"As for Keita, he has not settled at Liverpool and has failed to deliver the performances we were expecting from him, with Klopp and his coaching staff fighting to get him up to speed and still waiting to see if he will be good enough to play in this team."