‘Changed the game’ – Steve Nicol loved what he saw from 37-pass Liverpool hero on Saturday | OneFootball

Steve Nicol heaped praise on Liverpool defender Andy Robertson following the Reds’ 3-1 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday.

The Scottish left-back doubled his team’s lead in the 40th minute, just seconds after Freddie Woodman had made an astonishing save to prevent the Eagles from drawing level, with the 32-year-old justifying Arne Slot’s decision to hand him a third consecutive Premier League start.

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Our number 26 is now into the final month of a glittering nine-year stay at Anfield in which he’s been an integral figure in two top-flight titles, a Champions League triumph and several other trophy successes.

Woodman was rightly lauded by many after his heroics yesterday, although Nicol felt that his compatriot Robertson was the pick of the bunch for Liverpool.

(Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)

Nicol praises Robertson’s performance v Palace

He told ESPN FC: “The best of the lot was Andy Robertson. Woodman actually made a fantastic save, Liverpool broke from that save, Andy Robertson, streaking through the middle of the park to make it 2-0, great little ball from Curtis Jones, then first time, left foot, bottom corner across the goalkeeper which made it 2-0 and really changed the game.

“It’s always nice when you see somebody in his position, leaving the club and they’ve been so good for the club and the team, to get a goal at home.

“It’s different when you score at home. When you’re away you’ve got a little section of the crowd who are behind you and you enjoy it, but when you do it at home it’s just different, it’s just a little bit more special.

“It would be nice if he could do it on the last day of the season, but he’ll take that with four games to go.”

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Robertson set to extend starting streak after Palace outing

Robertson has had to play second fiddle to Milos Kerkez for much of the campaign, but having started each of Liverpool’s top-flight matches in April, his performance yesterday may well see that sequence extended into next Sunday’s clash against Manchester United.

Ian Doyle awarded him 7/10 in his ratings for the Liverpool Echo, while he was the highest-rated player of all according to Sofascore metrics, which’d lend weight to Nicol’s assertion.

The 32-year-old took his goal with all the aplomb of a seasoned centre-forward, never mind a left-back, and it came at an important juncture within seconds of Palace almost equalising in front of the Kop.

Slot doesn’t do sentiment when it comes to team selection, so Robertson’s run of games is down to his performance levels rather than simply being given a farewell tour in his final few weeks as a Liverpool player.

The Scotland captain seems thoroughly determined to go out on a high, both indidually and collectively, and surely nobody would disagree with John Aldridge’s verdict that he’ll be ‘a big miss‘ to the Reds after he leaves.