Liverpool player ratings: Leicester (H)
Liverpool, not for the first time this season, shot themselves in the foot early in a game to gift the opposition a goal.
However, their response, against a tough and at times, snide, Leicester side, showed that the Reds do possess character and bottle, which hasn’t always been something that could be said about them too frequently when they’re forced into a scrap.
Two goals from Mohamed Salah earned Liverpool a huge three points from their last game of 2017, and the Reds will head to Burnley in just a couple of days full of confidence.
Here’s how I rated the Liverpool players today. Bare in mind, these ratings are based solely on my view from The Kop so if something happened at the Anfield Road End that I missed, then sorry about that!
Loris Karius – 7
Looked pretty comfortable throughout. Thought he was much better dealing with the ball in the air and he looked solid.
Joe Gomez – 8
Another class right-back performance from Gomez, who, bar the odd error here and there, has been very good this season. He was strong in defence and looked good in attack too.
Joel Matip – 5
Loses marks for his terrible pass that set up Leicester’s goal but after that, he looked comfortable so credit to him for not letting it wreck his head.
Dejan Lovren – 7
Lovren, when he plays like this, is a very good defender, it’s just the brain-fades that let him down at times. He was good in the air and on the ground, however, him looking like he’d simply given up when Vardy scores wasn’t not a good look. Even if he couldn’t get there, which he probably couldn’t, he should have been doing everything he could to stop a goal. Instead, he stood and watched.
Andrew Robertson – 6
A bit of a mixed bag really. At times, he looked good going forwards, but on other occasions he was sloppy with the ball. Looked pretty good in defence though.
Emre Can – 7
Similar to Robertson, really. At times, he looked useless, others, he was very good. Gets bonus points for being the one to stand up to Leicester’s players when they were trying to intimidate our players and the referee.
James Milner – 5
Too slow with the ball for me, although his range of passing was good.
Philippe Coutinho – 6
The ball looked like it was stuck to his feet at times and he waltzed about the pitch. Looked neat and tidy but failed to have he major impact we’re used to seeing.
Sadio Mane – 5
Looked completely lacking in terms of confidences. The quickest I saw him run was when his number went up to signify that he was going off! Having said that, his back heel to set up the first goal was class.
Mohamed Salah – 8
Could, and should have, had a brace by half time, but he made up for his misses with two calm finishes in the penalty area in the second half. He may not be a striker, but he has all the instincts of a genuine goalscorer.
Roberto Firmino – 7
Worked tirelessly as usual, but found things pretty tough against a resolute Leicester defence.
(Sub) Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7
A bit sloppy in possession at times but he’s willingness to work hard to get the ball back, added to his keen intentions to up the tempo of Liverpool’s play, helped massively.