Liverpool clashed heads with Brighton and Hove Albion at the American Express Community Stadium earlier this afternoon hoping to secure maximum points on the road. The Reds were lacklustre in the first half as they struggled to break the Seagulls defence down. Both teams went into the half-time break with nothing to split them.
Diogo Jota finally managed to break the deadlock at the hour mark when he scored with a tidy finish from close range. However, the referee controversially awarded Brighton a penalty in injury-time which Pascal Groß converted to salvage a point for the home team. The contest ended with the Merseyside giants being held to a frustrating 1-1 draw at the Amex.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the match against the Seagulls.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10
The Brazilian goalie didn’t put a foot wrong in the game and was unfortunate to concede from the late penalty which extinguished his chances of a clean sheet.
RB: Neco Williams – 4/10
The youngster was defensively vulnerable and struggled to create anything of note in the opposition half. He got subbed at half-time.
CB: Nathaniel Phillips – 6/10
The English defender won his fair share of aerial duels but was caught out of position a couple of times during the game.
CB: Fabinho – 6/10
The Brazilian talent wasn’t up to his usual high standards but did enough to keep the Brighton attackers frustrated throughout the 90 minutes.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7/10
Robertson worked his socks off and performed his defensive duties well. However, he struggled to make too many darting runs in the final third. Unfortunately, the Scottish international ended up giving away a dubious penalty in injury-time, which ultimately cost his team the win.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
The Dutch midfield ace kept possession ticking in midfield without creating too much going forward.
CM: James Milner – 6/10
The English veteran worked hard but failed to engineer too many chances for his teammates to score in the first half. He picked up a hamstring injury which will worry Klopp.
CM: Takumi Minamino – 4/10
The Japanese international tried too hard and gave away the ball way too many times during the game. It was far from a convincing performance from him today.
LW: Diogo Jota – 8/10
The Portuguese speedster was mostly frustrated in the first 45 minutes. However, he popped with the opening goal in the 60th minute with a clinical finish from close range.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 8/10
The Brazilian striker dropped deep and created most of Liverpool’s goal-scoring opportunities. He was a joy to watch but never looked like he had a goal in him.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 6.5/10
The Egyptian winger got a goal chalked off by VAR in the first half. He was a constant threat during his time on the field.
Substitutes:
CM: Jordan Henderson – 7/10
The England international brought some control back to the Liverpool midfield in the second half.
RW: Sadio Mane – 6/10
The Senegalese international was unlucky to see his goal ruled out as offside.
CM: Curtis Jones – 6/10
He didn’t offer much on the field.
