Being Absent In The First 6 Premier League And UCL Matches, Now Is The Time For Minamino To Strengthen Liverpool

Takumi Minamino (Instagram @ takumi18minamino_official)

JAKARTA - Liverpool assistant coach Pepijn Lijnders said Takumi Minamino is likely to feature when the match against Norwich in the English League Cup.

Lijnders says Minamino has had a good pre-season and is currently in good form and happy to be part of Liverpool.

"He's back and it's complete, pre-season was full of us training. He made an impact in pre-season, we're really excited about him," Lijnders said.

"Then he had a small problem, with the national team, but he is back now. He was not 100 percent fit because he came back sooner, but now he is good and we are happy that he is part of the team."

The Dutch assistant coach continued to say, Minamino played a good combination when playing with players who were close to him.

He thinks the Japanese national team player can become a better player and the Liverpool coaching team likes that and has seen the potential of the Japanese player.

"That's what we needed, we needed that in the last game. He has great timing when moving from behind, a good combination of play when players are around him.

"He can get even better. That's what we like, that's why we brought him in now because we saw potential, not just the final result," said Lijnders.

Liverpool will face Norwich City in the third round of the English League Cup on Wednesday morning at 01:45 a.m. Indonesian Western Time at Carrow Road Stadium, Norwich, England.

In this match, Liverpool is believed to field several players who rarely get playing time including Takumi Minamino who did not play in The Reds' first six games in the Premier League and Champions League.