Defender makes appearance for U-23 side
Liverpool’s Mamadou Sakho has made his first appearance for the club this season in a under-23 game against Wolfsburg.
The last time Sakho played for Liverpool was back in March in the Reds’ dominant 4-0 win over Everton. Since then, he’s been involved in all sorts of scandals, including a failed drugs, an achilles injury, being sent home for ill-discipline during Liverpool’s pre-season tour of the USA, and most recently, his 3am snapchat story talking about the ‘lies’ taking place at Liverpool.
Given what had happened at the weekend, the 26-year-old was perhaps a surprise inclusion in Michael Beale’s U23s side. But just five days on from his ill-advised Snapchat posts, there he was, at the heart of Liverpool’s defence alongside Tiago Ilori.
This was the opportunity he had asked for in those social media messages, a chance to prove to the club that he is indeed fit and ready to resume his career – be it at Liverpool or elsewhere. He was given a warming applause as he emerged to warm-up before kick-off, and his name was heard being chanted around the ground.
Despite losing the game, Sakho appeared a level above the rest of the players on the pitch due to his age. Defensively, Sakho was untroubled, heading away spectacularly as Wolfsburg looked to find Borja Mayoral, their on-loan Real Madrid striker, on the edge of the area and then positioning himself perfectly to cut out a low cross from the right.
It will be interesting to see how this develops giving the controversy he’s been wrapped up in over the last couple of months. Will he get the chances in the first team if he proves himself at lower levels?
By Ben Kelly – @benkelly_10
