World Cup 2018 scouting report: Can Denmark's Yussuf Poulsen secure dream Premier League move?

RB Leipzig's key player says he is a Liverpool fan and hopes to one day play in the Premier League

Nicklas Bendtner has been Denmark’s chief goal scorer for a number of years, so when he was ruled out of the World Cup with an injury it meant their goals will have to come from elsewhere. With Christian Eriksen behind them, Denmark have every chance of notching up a few goals, and one player who might emerge as their star is Yussuf Poulsen.

Denmark’s Poulsen has been a long term part of RB Leipzig’s project but has repeatedly made clear that he wants to play in the Premier League, and revealed he is a Liverpool fan in an interview with German newspaper BILD.

“I would try it sometime in another league. But, whether that is 2021 or 2025, no idea. The Premier League would generally interest me. That would fit well with my game.

“As a kid I kept Liverpool. My best friend was a fan of the club – and then you are somewhere, too.”

Poulsen started on the right side of an attacking midfield in Denmark’s first game of Group C against Peru and opened the scoring by finishing a quick counter attack. Denmark rapidly swept forward as Poulsen beat the offside trap and collected Eriksen’s pass to score from the left side of the box.

The 24-year-old, who has three years left on his contract, has been a regular part of Leipzig and Denamrk’s plans this season, but is struggling to provide a decent goals return to match his tireless efforts. This was a similar story of his first half performance against Peru. For all his aerial duels won, take ons and tracking back, it still felt a little underwhelming, like there is a spark inside him in need of lighting.

His presence in the air emerged as the best way for Denmark to utilise his strengths given Peru’s significantly short defence, and he started to become a real handful in the opposition penalty area. From corners he came close with glancing headers and his 1.9m frame was the Dane’s only attacking option in the early parts of the game.

Poulsen scored the only goal as Denmark beat Peru 1-0 (Getty)

Tracking back emerged as an inconsistent flaw in Poulsen’s game. In a 4-2-3-1 it is vitally important that the two wide attacking midfielders work backwards to prevent an overload on either wing. Far too often Poulsen was caught slacking and was found scrambling back in a last-ditch bid to help out his defenders.

Perhaps one reason Poulsen stays forward when his side are out of possession is because he is in foreign territory in defence. With half time just a minute away, Christian Cueva’s smart turn inside the box out-witted Poulsen who swiped a leg at the ball but instead caught the Peru forward.

VAR was consulted and a penalty was awarded, which Cueva blasted over. A let off for Denmark and Poulsen. The attacking midfielder made up for his earlier error with a vital block as Denmark scrambled to clear from their own goal line.

Poulsen conceded a penalty just before half time (Getty)

Poulsen’s overall performance was fairly mixed. At times he looked a little short of technical ability and the important moments in the match seemed to pass him by without a trace. While he did look off the pace, he was always on the mind of Peru’s defence and took his goal very well.

Whether he would get away with letting games pass him by so easily in the Premier League is probably the real reason there is little Premier League interest in him. Without improvement a move to England’s top league is far-fetched, and the dream remains exactly that.