All five of Liverpool’s loanees were involved in their respective matchday squads this weekend, with four of them having successful weekends and picking up three points. Let’s see how heavily involved our boys were.
Taiwo Awoniyi – Royal Excel Mouscron
After his loan spell got off to a slow start last season, Taiwo Awoniyi found a bit of goalscoring form toward the end of the 2016/17 campaign. Liverpool will be pleased to see that he has managed to carry this form on to his new club at the start of this season. Making his debut for Mouscron, Awoniyi scored the opening goal in the 2-0 win over KSC Lokeren. The young striker proved himself as a target man and an aerial threat when he rose well to meet a cross from the right-hand side and placed his header, expertly, into the bottom corner of the goal. Mouscron were on top for most of the game and Awoniyi was a constant option during all their attacking movement. He was eventually substituted just before the final whistle, and his performance must surely warrant a starting spot next week. Mouscron has made a positive start to the season winning two out of their three opening fixtures.
Connor Randall – Hearts
Randall for the first time this season during Saturday’s away trip to Kilmarnock. Following last week’s disappointing loss to last season’s champions, Hearts were looking to kickstart their 2017/18 campaign and they will obviously be happy with their 1-0 victory. Randall had a decent game in the centre of midfield but ultimately had nothing to write home about, except for a picking up a yellow card after a foul in the 76th minute. Both sides finished with 10 men after goalscorer, Esmael Goncalves and Kilmarnock defender, Kirk Broadfoot was dismissed for engaging in an off the ball scrap.
Pedro Chirivella – Willem II
One of seven Willem debutants, Chirivella took the field for the first time, yesterday, with his new Eredivisie club. It was a poor day for Willem II as they went down 2-1 at home to Excelsior on the opening day of the Dutch season. Chirivella slotted in the side as a central defensive midfielder and also had a fairly average game. He ran the play nicely with a 79% pass success rate and three tackles, but by the time the 90 minutes were up he’d had just one, off target shot and, like Randall, found himself cautioned in the referee’s book. Next week, Willem II make an away trip to FC Utrecht.
Brooks Lennon – Real Salt Lake City
Over the last few weeks, Brooks Lennon has established himself in the Real Salt Lake side as a second half substitute. This trend continued on Sunday night when the 19-year-old was brought on with just 12 minutes left in the 1-0 victory over DC United. Unsurprisingly, Lennon had little time to make an impact, but did a decent job of helping RSL see the tight encounter home and keep their feint hopes of making the playoff alive.
Shamal George – Carlisle United
He was an unused substitute when his side picked up a 2-1 away win over Cambridge United.