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Who starred in the Premier League thriller at Anfield and who started the season with a groan …
Last Updated: 09/12/20 8:23 pm
2:59 FREE TO SEE: Highlights from Liverpool’s win over Leeds
Liverpool
Alisson – 5
He’s not particularly impressive on any of Leeds’ first-half goals, with the first-half concession to Jack Harrison especially questionable.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5
The embarrassment of a notable second-half own goal was spared by a marginal offside and all were beaten by Harrison for the winger’s brilliant solo goal. Unusually for him, he lacked a threat of his own at the other extreme.
Joe Gomez – 6
He kept his in his match battles with Patrick Bamford, but not always on the same wavelength as Van Dijk and could have been quicker to cover Alexander-Arnold when Harrison scored.
Virgil van Dijk – 4
So he is human. Jamie Carragher accuses him of “arrogance” for the mistake that caused Bamford Leeds’ second draw with Graeme Souness describing his performance as “stinky”. And to think that Van Dijk was Liverpool’s second scorer, with a free header from a corner at 20 minutes.
Andy Robertson – 7
He is not to blame for any of Liverpool’s many defensive failures and continued to offer plenty of width and verve down Liverpool’s left.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 6
Quiet. Kalvin Phillips seemed more concerned with Wijnaldum having the ball than Wijnaldum, or indeed any of his colleagues, when Phillips took possession.
Jordan Henderson – 6
Returning from injury earlier than expected, his return to the starting lineup ahead of Fabinho on the bench is an instant illustration of the value Jurgen Klopp places on his captain. But his performance itself didn’t add much, as the Liverpool captain isn’t the most influential.
Naby Keita –4
A bright spark in the opening minutes but, as so often during his fledgling Liverpool career, he failed to fully ignite thereafter and drifted to the periphery. Replaced before the hour mark and needs a great performance soon.
Mohamed Salah – 8
Exceptional. A ruthless penalty conversion was followed by a fabulous shot in the top corner to give Liverpool a lead at halftime before the cold conversion from the spot in the final minutes gave the champions a somewhat fortunate victory.
Roberto Firmino – 6
Guilty of a glaring error in judgment when he pulled his back instead of pulling the trigger in the opening minutes, but his linking game remains absolutely central to much of Liverpool’s game. He won’t score the goals of a conventional center forward, but there is a reason Liverpool value his type of center forward above all others. That said, his indecisive move when he was clean a minute before Salah’s second penalty was hard to appreciate.
Sadio Mane – 5
Not in his prime and failed to make a firm impression on the proceedings, taking his best chance of the night midway through the second half. However, the best thing about Liverpool’s ‘great three’ is that when one doesn’t shoot, at least one of their other two bigwigs almost always does.
Substitutes
Fabinho
Introduced to the disappointing Keita and he’s sure to start most of the time this season.
Curtis jones
A cameo to quickly forget. Blame Leeds third draw after failing to follow his man and rightly saw the penalty appeal dismissed. But it’s clear from his introduction alone that Klopp sees the youngster as an important part of his plans for the season.
Mateusz Klich is harassed by Leeds teammates after their draw
Leeds
Illan Meslier – 7
He couldn’t do anything for any of Liverpool’s goals, but when necessary he made some crucial saves to keep Leeds in the game. The acrobatic save after Pascal Struijk deflected a Robertson cross towards his own goal in the first half and the blocking early in the second half to deny Wijanldum were the highlights.
Luke Ayling – 6
There were not many opportunities to advance for the Leeds captain in what was a difficult night for the visiting defense. However, he did have a crucial run in preparation for Mateusz Klich’s goal and some major tackles on the cover to keep Mane relatively calm.
Robin Koch – 5
A very difficult start to life in Leeds for the German. He donated the penalty for Liverpool’s first before losing to Van Dijk in a corner for the second of the Premier League champions. He made a couple of crucial blocks to deny Mane on both sides at halftime, but Bielsa will want more from his summer signing as he tries to settle into the Premier League quickly.
Pascal Struijk – 5
It was not an easy night for the Leeds defense and at times Struijk struggled with the brilliant movement of Mane, Firmino and Salah. He was nervous at times in possession and his header before Salah’s second was not very good.
Stuart Dallas – 6
He had the difficult task of keeping Salah at bay. However, she had a couple of chances to advance and made some crucial runs and passes as Leeds kept Liverpool’s defense honest.
Kalvin Phillips – 7
Fresh from his England debut, it was a tough night for Phillips as he was tasked with protecting his team’s rear four. He was sometimes cut off by the forward runs of Hernandez and Klich, but the England midfielder went through a lot of work. His passing was accurate, he made a series of crucial tackles and nearly gave his team the lead at the end with a wonderfully hit free kick.
Bright Coast – 7
There will be nights when the Portuguese winger gets more space, but it was a good start for Leeds on the right. He produced a wonderful pass to cut Van Dijk and pick Klich for the midfielder’s goal.
Mateusz Klich – 8
Much effort from the midfielder and also a touch of quality. He linked most of Leeds’ good attacks with smart passing and smart forward runs. One of those runs created his goal and it was a sweet shot to bring Leeds level for the third time. A crucial block at the end typified his full-action performance.
Pablo Hernandez – 6
It’s not one of Hernández’s best nights. Sloppy in possession at times and struggles to regain the frenetic pace of the game.
Jack Harrison – 8
Two magnificent touches and a brilliant shot to create and score Leeds’ first. His pace and his wiles were a problem for Alexander-Arnold throughout the night.
Patrick Bamford – 7
A somewhat surprising inclusion with new signing Rodrigo sitting on the bench, but he worked hard for his team in the 62 minutes he was on the field and showed good poacher instinct to take advantage of van Dijk’s mistake to get off the mark in the Premier. League.
Substitutes
Rodrigo – 4
It is not the debut that the former Valencia forward would have wanted. He struggled to get into the game after replacing Bamford with 28 minutes to go and then produced a tackle towards Fabinho in the box to give Liverpool the win at the end.
Tyler Roberts – 6
A difficult game to influence for the substitutes, but Roberts made a good change at both ends of the field for his team. Clean and tidy in possession in his 28 minutes on the field and also helped with defensive work.
Jamie shackleton
It went on for the last nine minutes and I didn’t really get a chance to make an impact on the game.
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