By Danny Wright

26th Sep, 2017 | 11:11am

'The worst' - Joey Barton tears Liverpool senior player to shreds ahead of CL clash

By Danny Wright

Joey Barton has ripped Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet to shreds ahead of their Champions League clash with Spartak Moscow on Tuesday night, dubbing him as being even worse than Manchester City’s Claudio Bravo.

Mignolet, 29, has come in for harsh criticism ever since signing for the Reds from Sunderland in 2013 and ex-Newcastle man Barton has become the latest pundit to slam him for not being good enough for the Anfield club.

The Belgium international has seen himself axed from Jurgen Klopp’s starting line-up for the trip to Moscow on Tuesday with Loris Karius stepping into his shoes between the sticks.

And now, Barton has hammered him for his poor decision making and has called on Liverpool to bring in someone who is befitting of a top six Premier League side as soon as possible.

“Mignolet looks dodgy every time the ball comes in and around him,” he said on TalkSport radio, as quoted on their website. “I don’t think he’s sure of himself.

“People perhaps forget that he was the Sunderland goalie – it’s not like he’s got top-class pedigree. He’s not an international goalkeeper. He’s in the Belgium squad but he’s never going to push Courtois for the number one jersey.

“You look at the Premier League’s top six sides, Liverpool have the worst goalkeeper. Man City have got Bravo, Man United have De Gea, Chelsea have Courtois, Tottenham have Lloris, even Arsenal have Cech.

“Then when you look at their central defence partnership and full-backs, you realise Liverpool have actually got the worst defensive structure of all the top six clubs.”

Mignolet is one of the more senior players in the Liverpool squad having been on the books at Anfield for the last four years, mainly being their No 1 choice goalkeeper in that time.

Karius was brought in with the view of providing him competition last summer, but the German has looked just as poor as the existing option in his performances.

The ex-Sunderland man has made seven appearances across all competitions this term, conceding 14 goals and keeping just one clean sheet in the process.

In other Liverpool news, Phil Neville has predicted the Reds clash with Spartak.

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