Lovren on a mission to turn tables on Kane
There were just 31 minutes on the clock when the fourth official’s board went up to signal the end of the Liverpool No6’s afternoon.
Dejan Lovren had just been run ragged by Harry Kane and a Tottenham Hotspur attack in full flow. He had been at fault for the opening two goals inside 12 minutes and Jur-
gen Klopp, the Liverpool manager, dragged the centre-half off.
In front of a Premier League record crowd of 80,827 at Wembley, there was no hiding place for Lovren. Up in one of the television studios, Peter Schmeichel accused Klopp of throwing Lovren under a bus. “He’s killed that player,” the former Manchester United and Denmark goalkeeper said.
What Kane and Gareth Southgate, the England manager, would give for a repeat of that October day nine months ago when they face Lovren’s Croatia in a World Cup semi-final at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium tomorrow.
The game was just four minutes old when Kieran Trippier chipped a pass over Lovren’s head for Kane, who rounded Simon Mignolet to score. Eight minutes later Lovren misjudged Hugo Lloris’s long throw on the halfway line, allowing Kane to wheel away and cross for Son Heung-min to score. With Lovren off the field, Kane would score again as Spurs ran out 4-1 winners and the Liverpool defender will be eager to erase that memory as he prepares to come face-to-face with the England striker, the tournament’s top scorer with six goals.
“He is one of the best strikers in the Premier League and he deserves every credit he gets,” Lovren said after Croatia’s quarter-final victory on penalties against Russia. “In the last few seasons, he has always scored more than 25 goals. He is one of the best strikers in the world now but I like to challenge these strikers and to show everyone that I am one of the best defenders.”
Lovren’s performances for Liverpool improved markedly following the arrival of Virgil van Dijk in January and, having played an important role in helping the club to reach the Champions League final against Real Madrid, where they lost 3-1, he has carried that form into the World Cup.
“We’re not worried about England, no,” he said. “We respect them, of course, and I think they respect us. It’s two great teams and it will be a big challenge to see who is better. Hopefully, I can do it better [against England] than in the Champions League final.
“We were underdogs from day one and that’s good for us. If you look at the other semi-finalists – France, Belgium, England – they are top teams from the start of the tournament.”
Eight of England’s 11 goals in Russia have come from dead balls and Lovren – whose side scored from a free-kick but also conceded from one against Russia – admits that is an area of concern.
“England are dangerous at setpieces – look at their players and the smallest is about 6ft 3in. So it will be a challenge. We also have qualities at set-pieces and we scored from one against Russia. Hopefully, we can write history.”