Well, that’s the most deflated I’ve felt after a match so far this season!
You can tell me that the League Cup is worth nothing and that we have bigger fish to fry but this football club exists to win trophies and this one is by far the easiest to win of the four.
Once again Liverpool dominated most of the game yet the opposition come away with the victory. It’s another blow in an already disappointing start to the season and with three very tricky away games to come before the international break, we really need to buck our ideas up.
Anyway, here’s my ratings of the Reds:
DANNY WARD – 6
Didn’t do anything wrong, unlucky with the deflection for the first goal wrong-footing him and couldn’t do anything about the second. Actually quite impressed me with his kicking.
JON FLANAGAN – 4
I said before the game that I didn’t see the point in picking him and he did nothing to prove me wrong. I understand that Jurgen Klopp wanted to try Joe Gomez at centre-half and didn’t want to tire out Trent Alexander-Arnold, though. Remember one really bad cross, one really bad pass and one piece of really bad defending where he got rinsed. Didn’t offer us an outlet at all. Can’t see him getting too many more minutes in a Liverpool shirt.
RAGNAR KLAVAN – 4
Far too easily beaten for the second goal. Can’t remember him having to do much but he is part of a defence that had hardly anything to do yet conceded two goals. He’s going to play a lot of football for us this season and that is criminal.
JOE GOMEZ – 5
Not really convinced by him at centre-half. See the comment under Klavan’s rating. Don’t really think he can do much about either goal so we’ll give him an extra point on Klavan.
ANDY ROBERTSON – 7
Put in some wonderful crosses in the first half and I felt we didn’t get the ball out to him quickly enough at times. Didn’t really offer the same outlet second half, I think Leicester cottoned onto the fact that he’s pretty good. Going to be a great player to have against teams that park the bus.
JORDAN HENDERSON – 3
His passing was well off and he didn’t give us enough creativity in midfield at all. Put some incredibly dire and pointless crosses into the box.
GINI WIJNALDUM – 3
Getting to the point where I’d literally only play him against top six sides. His decision making was terrible, he held onto the ball for far too long at times, didn’t offer us anything.
MARKO GRUJIC – 5
I think this lad could be a smashing player and you could see signs of potential in this game.. However, you can also see why he has been nowhere near the Premier League squad this season, he still has a lot of developing to do and looks raw at times. Big lad though, wins his headers. Another 90 minutes of senior football will do him no harm.
PHILIPPE COUTINHO – 6
Looked to get on the ball all the time but it played out a bit like his performances under Brendan Rodgers when he had Mario Balotelli/Rickie Lambert/Christian Benteke ahead of him. He benefits massively from having Sadio Mane and Mo Salah either side of him to either offer him the through ball chance or open up enough the space for him to work his magic. Improved showing though. Must’ve always been the plan to take him off at half time because it certainly wasn’t down to his performance.
ALEX OXLADE-CHAMBERLAIN – 5
You’ll see a lot of low ratings for Chamberlain but I’m actually going to give him a bit of credit for not hiding and actually looking to make something happen. Unlucky not to score early on. Did some good things, did some bad things. At least did things quickly when he could instead of taking 378 needless touches just like the rest of them.
DOMINIC SOLANKE – 6
Wasn’t really his night. Felt he could’ve attacked some of Robertson’s delightful crosses a bit better first half but showed some lovely touches. Has a lot of learning still to do but the signs are there.
SUBSTITUTES:
BEN WOODBURN – 8
One of the very few who can come out of the game with their head held high. Played like Coutinho at times, standing up his men and beating them with ease. Was inches away from scoring an absolute peach to make it 1-1. Seems like a bit of a mad shout but I would rather see him start on Saturday than Gini Wijnaldum.
DANNY INGS – 6
Nearly equalised for us. Good to see him playing. Strange that a lad who has been out for basically two years and a teenager were our only attacking substitutes (No, Lazar Markovic does not count!)
