Tottenham Hotspur 1–3 Liverpool: Player Ratings
Liverpool powerfully ended their six-game winless skid with a dominant performance in North London on Thursday night. Here are my player ratings from the match.
Alisson Becker — 5
Not much was required from Liverpool’s №1 tonight, but he performed the basics well. Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg’s strike to bring Spurs within a goal at the start of the second half was a stroke of pure mastery against which no goalkeeper on earth would stand a chance. Had a shocker in the opening 5 minutes when he was beaten at his near post by Heung-min Son, fortunately for Mr. Becker it was chalked off the scoreboard so most fans probably won’t remember it ever happened. Echoes eerily the non-save he made against Marcus Rashford in the FA Cup last week, when another tame effort wriggled through his save radius into the net.
Trent Alexander-Arnold — 8
So much of Trent’s performance is reliant on his confidence, so the shift that he put in tonight was crucial going forward. I thought he was much more effective and tactically composed tonight, defending strongly against the dangerous Son and putting in crosses at a calculated rate as opposed to the spamming we’ve seen in recent weeks. His finish for the second goal was outstanding, and the cross he put in for Mané to ice the game was refreshingly vintage Trent. More of the same needed.
Joel Matip — 7
His tackle coming from behind on Son who would’ve otherwise been 1-on-1 with the keeper reminded me of Virgil doing the same in the Champions League final. No mistakes from him tonight but the story surrounding him will be the fact he suffered yet another injury and had to come off at half-time. The harsh reality about Matip is that he is simply too injury prone to be relied upon as one of only three senior centre backs long term. Another reminder for Klopp that Liverpool desperately need reinforcements at the back.
Jordan Henderson — 7
Henderson played a fairly quiet game but was consistent and mitigated Spurs’ attacking threat for large swathes of the game. Another captain’s performance from a man who will give everything and play anywhere if the circumstances demand it. Very impressive.
Andy Robertson — 6
Robertson was to me Liverpool’s best player during the 6-game slide. Tonight when others finally stepped up to the plate, Robbo took a bit of a backseat, but he made some very decent runs on the left hand side and continued to provide service to Mané in behind the inexperienced Rodon.
Thiago Alcantara — 6
Very aggressive midfield play from Thiago tonight which surprised me. I thought he should’ve been booked before he eventually was for a totally needless tackle, which kept him from competing for the ball 100% later on in the game. Passing however was once again world class and he looked hilarious with the turbanesque head dressing. Long term I think he’s better suited serving in an attacking capacity, providing Bruno Fernandes type service to the front three, rather than sitting in front of the defence where he’s struggled to produce much activity in attack.
James Milner — 7
His blushes were saved by Nat Phillips at the end of the game when he attempted a weird overhead kick back into his own area, but overall Milner had a solid game. As is standard for him these days he was second to a few balls and lost a few 50–50s but his work rate is absolutely unparalleled and is forgiven his occasional sins for the mentality boost he brings to the team.
Gini Wijnaldum — 7
Curses upon Liverpool’s board who have bottled the contract situation with Gini, who is sure to leave on a free transfer at the end of the season. Potential suitors such as Barcelona would’ve paid a princely sum for Gini last summer, and you can see why. He’s a very consistent midfield maestro who if anything is improving this year on the ball and off. It will be sad to see him go.
Mohamed Salah — 7
Denied a great goal to end his mini-drought by a VAR technicality — I suppose it was handball but it seemed very harsh in the moment. Hopefully after Liverpool have scored 5 goals in 2 games Salah will return to regular programming and resume scoring goals. A little bit concerning that defences have sussed his routine of cutting onto his left foot and he’s developing an annoying habit of just running into players in the box.
Roberto Firmino — 9
Bobby’s best performance in a very long time. Looked supremely confident on the ball, found some great passes on the break and scored to top it all off. Many, including me, were questioning his place in the side long-term, especially with the return of Diogo Jota approaching (or so we were promised). Bobby definitely took a swipe back at his critics tonight.
Sadio Mané — 7
Started the game off poorly but heated up quickly as it progressed. Mané thrives in moments where his footballing instincts are allowed to take over, which is exactly what happened for his goal which was a wonderful hit to beat Lloris who was covering pretty much the whole goal. Also got in behind Tottenham’s back three which is an improvement on recent matches.
Nat Phillips — 8
Nat is obviously the better choice than Rhys Williams at centre back this season. He’s stronger, taller, faster and has a better football IQ. Made a great challenge on Son in the dying moments of the game to deny any sort of comeback. Still not a long-term solution though in case you’re reading this from your yacht, John W. Henry.
Curtis Jones — 5
Barely noticed he was playing. Strange to bring on an attacking midfielder when up 2 goals with 20 minutes left.
Divock Origi — 1
As a fierce critic of Origi looking for more ammunition against him, I watched like a hawk when he came on. He was absolutely useless. Didn’t chase down anyone with any vigour, just jogged after the ball and lost it at the corner flag. Even stranger for Klopp to bring on a striker when defending a 2-goal lead at the end of a game.
