Liverpool took on Norwich City at Carrow Road earlier this evening looking to stretch their lead to 25 points at the top of the Premier League standings. The Reds began the contest on the front foot but failed to create any clear-cut chances in the first half. However, the Canaries looked threatening on the counter and went close to scoring when they were through on goal, but Alisson Becker was there in the right position to make the clearance.
The Merseyside outfit were a little sloppy after the half-time break and allowed Norwich to create more opportunities on the break. However, Sadio Mane came off the bench to register the winning goal in the 78th minute. Jurgen Klopp’s men ended up grinding out yet another 1-0 victory and continued their relentless march towards the league title.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the clash against the Canaries.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7.5/10
The Brazilian keeper made a brilliant last-gasp clearance in the first half to deny Norwich a goal. He also made a solid stop to deny Teemu Pukki in the latter stages of the contest.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
The English full-back defended valiantly inside his own half and played some wonderful diagonal passes to Robertson on the other flank. He was unfortunate not to get an assist when he delivered a powerful cross to Firmino, but the Brazilian couldn’t keep his shot on target.
CB: Joe Gomez – 8/10
The Liverpool centre-back passed the ball well out from the back and got stuck in with a few well-timed challenges to restrict the opposition from scoring tonight. Since the turn of the year, he has excelled at the back and deserves all the game time he has been getting of late.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 7.5/10
The Dutch colossus was composed when in possession of the ball and was good enough to cope with Pukki’s threat on the break.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7.5/10
It was another bright and energetic display from the Scotland international. He made several darting runs with the ball down the left flank and was responsible for driving in some inviting crosses into the Canaries penalty box.
CM: Naby Keita – 6/10
The Guinean midfield ace made a clever run in the first half and distributed the ball accurately from midfield. However, he was lacklustre in the final third, which was summed up by his miss from point-blank range in the second half.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 7.5/10
The Reds skipper was contesting for every loose ball in midfield and delivered some world-class long crosses to the front players. He got a deserved assist for picking out Mane’s late run in the dying embers of the encounter.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
The Dutch midfielder interchanged passes well from midfield but didn’t show enough invention to unlock the opposition defence. He will be hoping for better days wearing a Liverpool shirt.
RM: Mohamed Salah – 6/10
The Egyptian wide player was often holding the ball up and made some clever turns in the attacking third of the field. However, he didn’t have his shooting boots on after wasting some glorious chances to get his name on the scoresheet.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 7/10
The Brazilian maestro was full of tricks when linking up with others in the opposition half. He was also relentless with his pressing after the half-time break. However, Firmino was guilty of missing a sitter when the goal was at his mercy.
LM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10
The ex-Arsenal playmaker was predictable with his ball movement and struggled to create anything meaningful up top.
Substitutes:
LM: Sadio Mane – 9/10
The Senegalese speedster made an immediate impact after coming on and cooked up some decent openings going forward. He finally managed to make the breakthrough in the 78th minute with an unforgiving finish from a tight angle.
CM: Fabinho – 7/10
The Brazilian added some steel to the Liverpool midfield and kept possession ticking towards the end of the game.
CM: James Milner – N/A
The veteran midfielder came off the bench to run the clock down for the home side.
