Liverpool’s Three Stars: Maribor (A)
Liverpool have looked like they were going to give somebody a pasting for a few weeks now and they finally did just that by putting seven past Maribor in their third Champions League group game.
As you can imagine, it wasn’t particular easy to pick just three standout players from the game, but that was the take I was given, so here are my three stars:
Philippe Coutinho
Coutinho was simply too good for Maribor to handle. He came off the pitch after 90 minutes with a goal and two assists, but that’s only part of the story. His touch was fantastic, his passing was exquisite and he just looked like a player who knows how good he is.
Mohammed Salah
Firstly, I’m so glad that he scored a goal where he had to place the ball with his left foot as he’s missed that exact chance a few times this season. Maribor couldn’t handle Salah’s pace, tenacity or skill and in truth, he could easily have scored more had Jurgen Klopp not taken him off on the hour mark.
James Milner
Yes, I know Roberto Firmino scored twice and got an assist and he could easily have made this list but I have to give some love to James Milner. He put in a complete captain’s performance. He was as industrious as ever, but he showed his quality on the ball too. He’s not been a regular this year but if he plays like this more often, he’ll find himself back in the starting line-up more often.