Liverpool faced off against Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this evening looking to book a place in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Jurgen Klopp opted to make a whole host of changes to his side, and it paid off in the early stages as the Reds were the dominant team. However, the home side began to threaten on the counter and got a deserved lead courtesy of Raul Jimenez’s goal in the 38th minute to go into half-time with a narrow one-goal advantage.
The Merseyside giants hit back in the second half through Divock Origi’s terrific strike from outside the box. However, Wolves regained their lead just four minutes later when Ruben Neves had a pop from long range and the ball rifled into the net. Nuno Espirito Santo’s men defended valiantly to secure a 2-1 win on the night.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the match against Wolves.
GK: Simon Mignolet – 6/10
The Belgian keeper couldn’t do much about either of Wolves’ goals tonight. However, he distributed the ball well at the back which will please Klopp.
RB: Rafael Camacho – 6/10
The Reds youngster tried too hard to have an impact going forward which left a lot of space exposed behind him. However, it was an eventful performance from him on his Liverpool debut.
CB: Dejan Lovren – NA
The Croatian centre-back hardly got into the game before he had to go off with an injury.
CB: Fabinho – 6/10
The Brazilian slotted in well at centre-back and passed the ball quite accurately. However, he got dragged into making a challenge in midfield which let Wolves in to score the opening goal of the contest.
LB: Alberto Moreno – 5/10
Another disappointing showing from the Spaniard! He played a poor pass back to Milner which led to the Englishman’s error in the lead up to the opening goal of the contest. He got into some dangerous positions but was mostly wasteful with his final passes.
CM: Curtis Jones – 6/10
The teenager was always looking to link up play with others and was adventurous at times. However, his inexperience showed as the Wolves midfielders got the better of him in the second half.
CM: James Milner – 5.5/10
The English midfielder worked hard and played the quarterback role for Liverpool. He distributed the ball well but was guilty of making some uncharacteristic errors which gave Wolves the impetus to go and snatch a win.
CM: Naby Keita – 6/10
Keita showed some flashes of his brilliance and was full of energy, but he was mostly ineffective during the match.
RM: Xherdan Shaqiri – 6.5/10
He hardly got into the game in the first half. However, the Swiss international produced some brilliant moments of magic in the second half and was so unlucky with his superb strike that hit the post and went out.
ST: Daniel Sturridge -3/10
He was a spectator during the game. Sturridge looked lazy and was largely uninterested throughout the match which begs the question of whether his time is nearing an end at Liverpool.
LM: Divock Origi – 7/10
The Belgian was always willing to work hard and create something on his own up top. Even though he hardly received any service during the game, he managed to score a fantastic goal for the Reds.
Substitutes:
CB: Ki-Jana Hoever – 6/10
The 16-year-old made quite the impression after coming on to replace the injured, Lovren in the first half. He was confident with his passes and made a terrific interception in the second half before running out with the ball and setting up Shaqiri for a chance on the counter-attack. However, he also made a few errors defensively which is understandable considering how inexperienced he is at this stage of his career.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 5/10
The Egyptian international failed to be the rescue act for Liverpool.
CAM: Roberto Firmino – 5/10
The Brazilian forward showed some neat touches in midfield after coming off the bench.
