Divock Origi hasn’t been handed as many opportunities as he might have hoped for after last season’s Champions League heroics, but when manager Jurgen Klopp elected to start the Belgian forward against Everton, getting straight down to business early on.
Liverpool finished 5-2 winners on Wednesday night, and Origi made the most of his time on the pitch. He opened the scoring and later adding a third after Sadio Mane found the back of the net, that now means only Robbie Fowler and Steven Gerrard have scored more goals for Liverpool against Everton.
Along with the brace after just 31 minutes, the striker threatened the Toffee’s defence with two successful dribbles, causing the opposition to foul him on three occasions as he made himself a menace for Michael Kean, Yerry Mina and Mason Holgate. Though there were some areas for improvement, as Origi was dispossessed twice while in possession and made three unsuccessful touches in total. His manager will be looking for the striker to keep hold of the ball more often if he is to start more regularly.
Before being substituted after 72 minutes Origi did make the lowest number of passes of any Liverpool starter, 10, seven of which were successful. However, he was competing against three centre defenders, so space was at a premium.
Defensively Origi left a little to be desired. He did not make a single tackle, interception or clearance during the game, which is perhaps part of the reason Klopp has favoured Roberto Firmino as his first-choice centre forward.
Ultimately though his manager will be thrilled that when he was presented with two opportunities, last season’s European hero finished both with aplomb.
There is room for improvement in Origi’s performance, but he will have been thrilled to get the start and to have killed the game off early on as Liverpool begin their busiest time of the year. It was a step in the right direction to showing his manager he deserves to start more often than the three he had been selected for before the Everton encounter.
