Ziegler: Liverpool are mentally weak

Sion took advantage of Liverpool’s mental weakness to earn a 1-1 draw in the Europa League at Anfield, according to Reto Ziegler.

Adam Lallana gave Brendan Rodgers’ side the lead after just four minutes of the match on Thursday but Sion responded later in the first half through Ebenezer Assifuah to claim a share of the spoils.

Having needed penalties to overcome Carlisle United in the League Cup last week, Liverpool have now won just one of their last eight matches outright in all competitions, and Ziegler confirmed Sion were keen to exploit the home side’s lack of confidence.

“We were disappointed with the first 15 minutes,” he told UEFA.com. 

“It was not the best way to begin a game, but after that we were calm on the ball – we didn’t just kick it away, we tried to play football. We have quality up front and we showed that. We knew if we could put them under pressure and score a goal they are a bit weak mentally at the moment.”

The former Tottenham defender praised head coach Didier Tholot for his tactical approach to the game, adding: “Liverpool have a strong midfield so the mistake teams make is they try to play in the middle where they are strong. 

“Our coach was right – he showed us a lot of videos and Liverpool are always focused in the midfield so we tried to play down the sides as we have pace and players like Carlitos, who is really strong one-against-one.”

Sion now top the group with four points from their opening two games and Ziegler hopes to see Europe sit up and take notice of their performances.

“Our confidence is high but we know it’s a really tough group and our opponents know us a bit better now and will respect us more,” he said.