Liverpool faced off against Napoli at the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium earlier tonight as they hoped to earn a good result on the road in the UEFA Champions League group stages. The Reds made a horror start to the game as they conceded a penalty in the fifth minute which Piotr Zielinski scored to put Napoli 1-0 up on the night. Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa doubled the home side’s advantage in the 31st minute with a good run and finish. Giovanni Simeone found the back of the net just before the break as the Merseyside club trailed 4-0 at half-time.
Jurgen Klopp’s men made a sloppy start to the second half and conceded their four goal in the 47th minute when Zielinski got his name on the scoresheet yet again. Luis Diaz scored a good consolation goal soon after but Liverpool crashed to a humiliating 4-1 defeat away from home.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player performed during the match against Napoli.
GK: Alisson Becker – 6/10
The Brazilian keeper failed to stop Zielinski’s penalty but did well to save Victor Osimhen’s one soon after. He let in four goals tonight which will be quite disappointing.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5/10
The English right-back delivered some inviting crosses into the Napoli penalty box but showed no desire to defend when his teammates were in trouble inside his half.
CB: Joe Gomez – 4/10
He committed a handful of poor mistakes at the back which ended up costing Liverpool the result.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 4.5/10
The Dutch centre-back has not been playing well this season and it showed in his performance tonight. He gave away a cheap penalty and was too slow to close down the Napoli defenders.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 5/10
The Scottish talent tried to get forward at every chance he got but lacked quality in the final third. He was even quite poor defensively.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 5/10
Elliott’s inexperience showed on the field. He struggled to gain any control of the midfield battle and was fortunate to last 76 minutes.
CM: Fabinho – 6/10
He struggled to cope with the pace of the Napoli counter-attacks in the first half. Fabinho was slightly better in the second.
CM: James Milner – 4.5/10
The English veteran looked way past his prime. He failed to organise his teammates and gave away too many needless fouls.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 5/10
The Egypt international lacked quality on the ball and hardly got a sniff at goal.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 6/10
He linked up play well at times but was mostly quiet during his time on the field.
LW: Luis Diaz – 7.5/10
Diaz was quiet in the first half but showed real hunger when his team were trailing 4-0. He scored a superb individual goal but it was just not enough tonight.
Substitutes:
CB: Joel Matip – 7/10
He fared far better than Gomez and gave Liverpool some control in the game.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 6/10
His impact on the game was minimal.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 7/10
The Spaniard ran the show for Liverpool at the centre of the park after coming off the bench.
RW: Diogo Jota – 6/10
He struggled to threaten the Napoli goal.
CM: Arthur Melo – 6/10
Arthur kept the ball moving really well.
