Owen wants to watch Liverpool star 24/7 with nobody in Premier League like him

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has lavished praise on Reds midfielder Thiago Alcantara after the Spaniard's second-half display against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.

Despite fielding a strong line-up against an inexperienced Villa team, Jurgen Klopp's side were drawing 1-1 when Thiago was brought on.

Sadio Mane had given Liverpool the lead after just four minutes but 17-year-old striker Louie Barry equalised shortly before half-time to restore parity.

They ultimately ran out 4-1 winners, with Georginio Wijnaldum, Mane and Mohamed Salah all finding the back of the net in the space of five minutes in the second-half.

But it was Thiago who impressed Owen, with the former England international proclaiming that "there’s nobody in the Premier League, nobody that plays like him."

Speaking on BT Sport, Owen said: "This fella just makes me want to watch football 24 hours a day. The way he looks around, the way he gives it the eyes.

"There’s nobody in the Premier League, nobody that plays like him. He’s playing a different type of game than everyone else. His disguise on passes is unbelievable."

Thiago replaced Jordan Henderson at half-time and Klopp revealed the change was pre-planned and not the result of an injury to the Liverpool skipper.

"Hendo and Thiago, it was clear before the game that we do it like this for 45 and 45," Klopp said. "There is no [injury] problem and no, we had no reservations [over playing].

"We had our test results and they came back yesterday (Thursday), so everyone was negative and what they did was right with their Under-23s.

"I think they got tested and got the results at 10 o'clock when we were in the car park at the airport and so everything is fine."

Liverpool will be back in action next Sunday when they face Manchester United in the Premier League at Anfield.

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