Liverpool Loan Watch: October 2019

Welcome to the third part of my series of monthly articles; tracking the progress of Liverpool’s loanees for the 2019/20 season. This is an ongoing series which will hopefully help keep fans up to date on how our players are getting on at their temporary homes. The club has fourteen players on loan, and this series will follow their campaigns closely, and assess which of the loaned players are likely to have a future at Anfield. This series was something I enjoyed writing last season, and hopefully we will see players have similar successes to those that were out on loan last season.

If you didn’t catch my September piece, you can find it here: http://fanscorners.com/liverpool-loan-watch-september-2019/

Let’s see how they got on in October…

Marko Grujic – Hertha Berlin

It was an excellent start to the month for Grujic and Hertha Berlin as they defeated Fortuna Dusseldorf 3-1. While Grujic wasn’t on the scoresheet, he put in a terrific performance, winning ten duels and showing an outstanding range of passing. It was a more understated display from the Serb as his side drew 1-1 with Werder Bremen. It was a defeat to Hoffenheim next for Hertha, going down 3-2 at home. Grujic started and hit the post with a shot, though wasn’t able to influence the game as much as usual. Hertha qualified for Round Three of the German Cup with a dramatic win on penalties over Dynamo, after a 3-3 draw after 120 minutes. Grujic was on target in the shootout, scoring confidently to aid his team’s progress.

Liam Millar – Kilmarnock

Kilmarnock pulled off a good 1-0 win away from home against struggling Hearts. Millar started and played 90 minutes, performing well and nearly scoring early on when his header was saved. Millar was a substitute for the home fixture against Livingston, which Killie won 2-1, with Millar dragging a chance wide when he eventually came on. Kilmarnock got another big win at home, this time 1-0 against St Mirren, with Millar coming on from the bench. It was a battle of the form teams at Fir Park as Kilmarnock travelled to take on Motherwell, though it was the home side who came out on top, with a score of 2-1. Once again, Millar was brought on from the bench in the latter stages.

Nathaniel Phillips – VFB Stuttgart

Phillips was back in from the start as his Stuttgart side were beaten 2-1 at home by Wehen. While this was a first start since early September for the Liverpool man, he didn’t finish the match, being subbed off on 71 minutes as manager Tim Walter went chasing the game. Phillips was left out of the squad for the 1-0 loss against Holstein. It was an ugly defeat away at Hamburg for Stuttgart as they went down 6-2, with Phillips an unused sub. Stuttgart got the perfect revenge in the next match though, dumping Hamburg out of the cup by two goals to one, with Phillips getting some minutes from the bench.

Ovie Ejaria – Reading

Ejaria and Reading made a terrible start to October, losing 4-1 at home to early Championship favourites Fulham. Reading fans were hugely critical of their team’s performance, with concerns expressed over whether Ejaria has the fight to get involved in the game when things get tough. It was another loss for Jose Gomes’ side as they were beaten 1-0 at Ashton Gate by the impressive Bristol City. However, Ejaria played well and was responsible for most of Reading’s good creative work. This proved to be Jose Gomes’ last game in charge, and he was replaced by Mark Bowen in a hugely controversial appointment. Bowen’s first match at the helm was a 1-0 win over Preston, earned with an injury-time winner over Preston North End. Ejaria was the best player on the pitch, going on a number of mesmerising runs past Preston defenders, and could have had a penalty. Ejaria played a simply stunning through ball for Reading’s equaliser at Loftus Road in the next fixture, threading a delightful pass to George Puscas, who finished well. Ejaria was confident on the ball and showed a nice skill set in a 1-1 draw. Reading’s away fixture at Nottingham Forest on 26^th was postponed due to heavy rain, meaning that goal involvement was Ejaria’s last action of the month.

Sheyi Ojo – Rangers

The month started for Rangers with a Europa League fixture in Switzerland, taking on Young Boys. Ojo started on the left of a front three but had a thoroughly disappointing evening as the Gers fell to an unfortunate 2-1 loss with a goal in the 92^nd minute, despite Alfredo Morelos giving them the lead. Ojo completely wasted a gilt-edged opportunity when Ryan Jack won possession back and had Young Boys exposed, only for the winger to play an awfully underhit pass and put an end to a freat chance to score. A brilliant performance from Rangers saw them thump Hamilton 5-0 at Ibrox and move to the top of the table after Celtic’s loss at Livingston. Ojo started but was once again disappointing and predictable in his play. He started at Tynecastle as his side came from 1-0 down to grab a point against Hearts with a goal from Alfredo Morelos. It was a very poor performance from Ojo and was too laboured in possession, while struggling to cause any problems for Aaron Hickey. Ojo was replaced by his former Liverpool team-mate Ryan Kent after an hour, who having recovered from injury, replaced Ojo for the Europa League trip to Porto, in which Rangers earned a brilliant 1-1 draw. The winger came on late in the game and had a few iffy touches and remained on the bench for the hard-fought 2-1 home win over Motherwell, once again making a cameo appearance from the bench. Ojo finished the month with a far more positive performance, starting in Rangers’ 4-0 away win over Ross County. Ojo got on the end of a nice one-two to assist Alfredo Morelos for the first goal and ran the channels well all night in one of his best performances since the early part of the season.

Ben Woodburn – Oxford United

Oxford’s winning run came to an end as they were held 2-2 by Accrington Stanley at the Wham Stadium. Unfortunately, Woodburn left the field with an injury after just 14 minutes. This injury has turned out to be a fractured metatarsal which sadly is expected to keep him out until early 2020. Oxford continued well though, with back-to-back wins over the fancied Doncaster and Rotherham, which moved them into the playoff places for the first time. They continued their good form with a win over Rochdale, cementing their top six place. Karl Robinson’s team rounded off a superb month with a penalty shootout win over League One rivals Sunderland in the Carabao Cup, qualifying for the quarter finals and getting a plum draw at home to Manchester City.

Harry Wilson – Bournemouth

Bournemouth travelled to North London in search of their first ever win at the Emirates, though were beaten 1-0 by a David Luiz goal in the first half. Wilson started on the wing in a 4-4-2 and was pretty quiet, being replaced with 11 minutes left. The Cherries drew 0-0 with Norwich in a surprisingly low-scoring game. Wilson improved on his Arsenal display but still could not have a telling impact and failed to last the full 90. Wilson came on from the bench in a 0-0 draw with Bournemouth and looked bright, impressing Bournemouth fans with his influence on the latter stages of the match.

Kamil Grabara – Huddersfield Town

Huddersfield Town finally got their first victory of the 2019/20 Championship season with a 1-0 win away from home against Stoke, Juninho Bacuna scoring the winner in the 82^nd minute. This was also Grabara’s first clean sheet for Huddersfield, though ironically this was one of his quieter nights – the struggling Stoke rarely threatened. Huddersfield’s upturn in form continued with a comfortable 3-0 win over Hull City at the John Smith’s Stadium, Grabara keeping a second clean sheet in a row, making a very good save from former Gillingham striker Tom Eaves. Danny Cowley’s team also kept quiet the threat of free-scoring Jarred Bowen and Kamil Grosicki. Unfortunately he could not extend his run of clean sheets to three games, as Huddersfield were held 2-2 by Blackburn in an entertaining game live on Sky, featuring a brilliant goal from Bradley Dack. Grabara was not at fault for either goal and on the whole had a quiet afternoon. Grabara missed his first league game of the season through illness as his side drew 0-0 with Middlesbrough at home, though was immediately back in the team for the visit of Barnsley, and demonstrated his coolness as his side continued their resurgence with a  2-1 win over the now Daniel Stendel-less Barnsley.

Loris Karius – Besiktas

Loris Karius took on English opposition for the first time since May 2018 when Besiktas hosted Wolves in the Europa League group stage, the German starting between the sticks against Nuno’s team. The German was looking on course for his second clean sheet of the season until Willy Boly popped up with an excellent finish inside the box deep into added time to earn Wolves a precious away win. They responded well though, comfortably beating Alanyaspor 2-0 at home in their next match, Karius getting his second clean sheet of the campaign. Karius kept another clean sheet with a 0-0 draw away at Ankaragucu. Besiktas’ hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages of the Europa League were dented with a 2-1 defeat at home to Braga, before an excellent 1-0 win over Galatasaray, with Karius keeping his fourth clean sheet of the season.

Allan Rodrigues de Souza – Fluminense

Fluminense started October with a 1-0 win away at Botafogo, who interestingly had former Liverpool goalkeeper Diego Cavalieri on the bench. Allan played 90 minutes and was booked in the win. After missing a few games, he was restored to the starting eleven as his side fell to a 2-0 defeat at Flamengo. Allan started in a 1-1 draw with Chapocoense but was not involved as his side were beaten 2-0 by Ceara.

Anderson Arroyo – Mlada Boleslav

Arroyo’s new team advanced to the fourth round of the Czech Cup with a 4-2 victory over Chrudim, though Arroyo wasn’t involved in the squad. Arroyo was once again left out as Mlada recorded a late win over Viktoria Plzen, with a winning goal in the 93^rd minute to make it 2-1. Arroyo once again didn’t make the squad as Mlada defeated Zlin 2-0 away from home. They finished the month with a 3-1 loss at home to Liberec, Arroyo once again not involved.

Taiwo Awoniyi – Mainz 05

Mainz achieved a solid 2-1 win away from home at Paderborn, although Awoniyi was an unused substitute. The Nigerian was awarded a rare start in the away fixture at Fortuna Dusseldorf, though after a quiet 45 minutes he was replaced at the break, his side losing 1-0 with a goal in the second half. Following this disappointing showing, he was kept on the bench for the next game, a 3-1 win over FC Koln.

Shamal George – Marine 

It was a great start to the month for Marine with a 6-0 win over Mossley, George keeping his second clean sheet. The goalkeeper was in impressive form again as Marine defeated Marske United 3-1.

Rhys Williams – Kidderminster Harriers

A combination of weather and lack of FA Cup involvement have conspired to leave Kidderminster with just two games in October – a 2-0 win over Farsley Celtic which Williams didn’t play in and a 1-0 loss up north at Darlington, in which Williams made his twelfth start of the season.

Thanks for reading my loan watch, I hope you enjoyed it. See you again for November’s report!

Daniel (@daykind19)

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Daniel Daykin

A non-biased voice of reason among fellow Liverpool fans. I'll always tell you the truth, no matter how hard you find it to accept. I miss Suarez. A lot.

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