Wout Weghorst: what problems can Liverpool expect to face from Burnley’s towering new striker

When Burnley announced the deadline-day signing of Wout Weghorst from Wolfsburg there wasn’t much of a reaction.

They had just sold Chris Wood to Newcastle for £25 million and spent less than half of that - £12 million - bringing the striker over from the Bundesliga outfit.

The Dutchman has made an instant impact at Turf Moor, becoming a fan favourite despite playing just two games.

His performances have won praise across the football world and it is quickly becoming known that the signing of a player of Weghorst’s pedigree is an unbelievable coup for Sean Dyche’s side.

So what exactly can Liverpool fans expect to see from Weghorst when he lines up against the Reds on Sunday?

Playing style

At 6ft 6in, Weghorst is likely to prove handful even for his compatriot Virgil van Dijk.

The 29-year-old isn’t just a target-man, however, and has shown himself to be an effective presser, a skilful link-up player and deadly finisher.

At Wolfsburg, the Dutchman fulfilled all the responsibilities of a traditional centre-forward and he is expected to do exactly the same at Burnley.

He is both good enough in tight spaces to receive the ball to feet and physically adept enough to run behind a high-line and get on the end of crosses.

Out of possession, Weghorst is one of the most effective pressing strikers in Europe and will not give Van Dijk or Matip a second to breathe.

Statistics

During the first half of the season in the Bundesliga, Weghorst hit six goals in 18 games, and that is for a Wolfsburg side who have only hit 21 goals in total.

Last season the Dutchman found the net 20 times in 34 games as his side finished fourth, continuing his run of netting double figures in every season since 2015/2016.

He also racked up a personal record of eight assists.

Over the last year, Weghorst has averaged a huge 22.41 pressures per 90 minutes which puts him in the top 2% of strikers across Europe’s major leagues for that metric and highlights his defensive work-rate.

Burnley so far

Despite only playing twice for the Clarets, Weghorst has become a fan-favourite and shown his quality - earning him high praise from the football world.

His assist in midweek against Manchester United epitomised the striker’s qualities as he received the ball to feet before turning Harry Maguire inside-out and playing in Jay Rodriguez.

And it caught the eye of Match of the Day pundit Dion Dublin.

“He is just out of the defender’s eyeline so Harry Maguire has to watch the ball,” said Dublin, speaking on the BBC football show on Wednesday night.

“And what Weghorst does really well is he comes into an area really quickly and his turn leaves two players for dead.

“He has vision and can see Rodriguez out of the corner of his eye and it is a lovely finish because he has a lot do Rodriguez.

“He goes across Maguire who can’t touch him and it is a lovely dink.

Dublin added: “I like him, I think he is a big old unit that you would expect not to do what he does.

“He holds the ball up, he is reliable, he has really good silky feet.

“His reliability was good, he is happy to have a shot from 25 yards and his all round game was very impressive. I think he is a good signing.”

Weghorst can continue where he left off and make an early cult hero of himself with another good performance against Liverpool, and Klopp’s defence better be prepared for a fight.