Craig Shakespeare’s Leicester City managed to pile on more misery on a struggling Liverpool side who failed to break them down at the King Power Stadium in the third round of the FA Cup. Shinji Okazaki came on as a substitute to open the scoring for the Foxes and their record signing Islam Slimani pulled out a 20-yard rocket to push Liverpool out of the competition early.
Questions will be asked of Jurgen Klopp after this debacle but the players will also have to show some responsibility. Here are the player ratings for the Reds in their lacklustre performance:
Danny Ward (6):
Commanded his box well and could do nothing for either of the goals on a night where he did not really have much to do.
Jon Flannagan (5):
Was hardly visible in the first half and failed to create enough in the final third. Was also caught out of position a couple of times, most visibly late in the game against Demarai Gray.
Joe Gomez (5):
Should have done better in the build-up to the first goal but otherwise, did well to keep Leicester City away from goal.
Ragnar Klavan (4):
Struggled all night against Slimani, Ujjoa and then Okazaki and just did not look ready enough for the occasion.
Andrew Robertson (6):
Was excellent in the first half, putting in some delicious crosses but slowly faded away later in the game.
Jordan Henderson (4):
Hardly did justice to his captain’s armband as he failed to control the game and help his side fight for a place in the next round.
Marko Grujic (5):
Was right in the middle of the tussle in the midfield and did enough to impress Klopp to keep him in his plans.
Georginio Wijnaldum (5):
No doubting his commitment but the Dutch ace was far from his usual self, losing the ball too often, before being subbed off.
Philippe Coutinho (7):
Was bright all night, troubling the Leicester City defence, creating chance after chance, but was subbed off at half-time with Liverpool still level with the Foxes.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (4):
Created zero chances on the night but had loads of possession on the flank. It is quite clear that he needs more time to settle down with the Reds.
Dominic Solanke (6):
Missed a couple of half-chances in the first half but failed to have any kind of an impact in front of goal as the game progressed.
Subs:
Ben Woodburn (7):
Came on for Coutinho and took off from where he left but he too, like the Brazilian, failed to break the defence of the home side.
Danny Ings (6):
Showed great energy and wanted to make a mark on the game but came on too late to change the outcome.
