Liverpool entertained Brighton and Hove Albion at Anfield earlier tonight hoping to continue their two-match winning run in the Premier League. The Reds were dominant in the first half but struggled to create too many clear-cut chances in the final third. Both sides went into the half-time break with a goalless scoreline.
The Seagulls grew in confidence in the second 45 minutes and managed to grab the lead in the 56th minute via Steven Alzate’s inadvertent goal. However, Jurgen Klopp’s men looked tired as the match wore on and didn’t have anything left in them to come with a response. The contest ended with the Premier League champions suffering a lacklustre 1-0 defeat at Merseyside.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the match against the Seagulls.
GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – 6/10
The Liverpool keeper came out of his lines to make some important clearances and made a solid stop in the second half as well. However, he couldn’t do much about the Brighton goal.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
The English right-back was quite sharp with his passing and delivered some inviting crosses into the Brighton penalty area. However, his teammates often let him down. Defensively, he was mostly untested during the 90 minutes.
CB: Nathaniel Phillips – 6/10
Phillips stood strong and won some crucial headers for his team. However, he could have done better in the lead-up to Alzate’s goal in the 56th minute.
CB: Jordan Henderson – 6/10
Henderson organised his backline quite well in the first half. However, his influence on the game faded after the Brighton goal.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 6.5/10
The Scottish full-back worked his socks off on the left flank but struggled to deliver any quality crosses during the 90 minutes. However, he was solid in the back as usual.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 6/10
Thiago spread the play quite well in the first half. But he struggled to get hold of the ball in the latter stages when his teammates needed him.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
The Dutch midfielder put on a strong showing in the first 45 minutes. However, he gave way the ball way too many times in the lead-up to his substitution in the second half.
CM: James Milner – 6/10
Milner fought for every loose ball but lacked quality with his passing in the attacking third.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 5/10
The Egyptian winger was poor on the ball and wasted two glorious chances to find the back of the net.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 5/10
The Brazilian striker faded in and out of the match but never looked like he had a goal in him.
LW: Xherdan Shaqiri – 4/10
Shaqiri offered very little on the offensive end of the pitch. He is just not good enough to be a first-team starter in the Premier League every week.
Substitutes:
CAM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 4/10
He gave away the ball cheaply and was wasteful with his shooting from long range.
ST: Divock Origi – 5/10
The Belgian striker struggled to get into the rhythm of the game.
CM: Curtis Jones – 5/10
Jones kept the ball moving without creating anything of note inside the opposition penalty box.
