Liverpool entertained Leicester City at Anfield earlier tonight as they hoped to win and progress into the semi-final stage of the EFL Cup. The Reds made a poor start to the game and conceded the opener in the ninth minute when Jamie Vardy scored with a neat finish. It was Vardy who doubled Leicester’s advantage just four minutes later when he found the back of the net from close range.
The Merseyside outfit got a goal back in the 19th minute when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain scored with a powerful strike. However, James Maddison restored the visiting team’s two-goal lead after the half-hour mark when he banged in a screamer from long range. Liverpool went into the half-time break 3-1 down on the scoreline.
Diogo Jota pulled a goal back for the Merseysiders in the 68th minute before Takumi Minamino netted a magnificent equalising goal for Liverpool in injury time to take the match to penalties. Jurgen Klopp’s men ended up winning the shootout by a 5-4 margin.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the match against Leicester City.
GK: Caoimhin Kelleher – 9/10
The Reds keeper made a few decent saves at the back. More importantly, he ended up winning the penalty shootout for Liverpool by pulling off two crucial saves and deserves to be named the man of the match because of it.
RB: Conor Bradley – 5/10
Bradley was quite brave when in possession of the ball but gave away the ball a few times which hurt his teammates at the back. It was a learning experience for him tonight.
CB: Billy Koumetio – 6.5/10
He was not afraid to get on the ball and played some promising diagonal passes from the back. Defensively, he struggled to cope with the pace of the Leicester frontmen.
CB: Joe Gomez – 6/10
The English centre-back was sloppy on the ball and couldn’t deal with Jamie Vardy’s threat in the first 45 minutes. To his credit, he kept things solid at the back in the second half.
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LB: Konstantinos Tsimikas – 7/10
The Greek left-back delivered a lot of inviting crosses into the Foxes penalty box. He also worked hard defensively during his time on the field.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 6/10
The Liverpool captain struggled to dictate the pace of the game and got replaced near the hour mark.
CM: Tyler Morton – 6/10
He failed to offer enough protection for the Reds backline and got substituted at half-time.
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8/10
The English playmaker scored Liverpool’s first goal with an excellent strike. He was guilty of missing a couple of half-chances in the second half but kept his composure and converted his penalty in the shootout.
RW: Neco Williams – 7.5/10
He was full of energy down the right flank and made a few dangerous runs with the ball.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 7/10
The Brazilian attacker linked up play quite effectively with others around him and led the press well in the Leicester half. He scored his penalty in the shootout.
LW: Takumi Minamino – 7/10
Minamino showed a few moments of brilliance without threatening the Leicester goal for most of the game. However, he kept going and scored a wonderful injury-time equaliser to keep his team in the EFL Cup but failed to score his penalty in the shootout.
Substitutes:
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 7/10
He bossed the game at the back and kept the opposition attackers frustrated in the second half.
CM: James Milner – 8/10
The English midfielder fought for every loose possession of the ball and picked a good assist for setting up Minamino’s equaliser. He also converted his penalty in the shootout.
ST: Diogo Jota – 7/10
The Portuguese netted the home side’s second goal with a great finish. He also scored the winning penalty for the Reds in the shootout.
CM: Naby Keita – 7/10
Keita added a lot of quality to Liverpool’s midfield in the final 30 minutes of the game.
LB: Owen Beck – 6.5/10
He was composed on the ball and cleared his lines when needed.
