Manchester United vs Liverpool: Player Ratings

Liverpool suffered their second defeat in a previously promising season. They were dominated at Old Trafford by Manchester United and ultimately fell 3-1 despite Christian Benteke scoring an unbelievable overhead kick. Who was our worst performer in this dismal performance?

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Simon Mignolet: 5

A shaky start didn’t exactly inspire confidence from his defence. His passing was wayward and his touch was dodgy. Despite United’s dominance of the game, he actually didn’t have that much to do. Not much he could have done for any of the goals.

Nathaniel Clyne: 6

Again our best defender, but that’s not saying much. Was caught out of position more than we’ve seen before in a red shirt, and along with the rest of the team, his passing was pretty poor. Did get down the wing a few times though and put in one or two deliveries for Benteke.

Martin Skrtel: 4

The Slovak was shaky throughout. He just doesn’t inspire confidence from those around him. Lots of needless fouls here as usual, and poor distribution, and his defending for their third goal? Abysmal.

Dejan Lovren: 5

Lovren wasn’t good. But he wasn’t terrible either, he actually made some tackles and was fairly good in the air. None of the goals were directly his fault. That said, he gave away needless fouls and seemed a bit all over the place, passing was off.

Joe Gomez: 5

The youngster reminded us all again that he is young and inexperienced. Lunging in on Ander Herrera in the box was a rash decision that was never going to end well. After two poor performances, maybe it’s time to stop playing him at left-back, with the performances our centre-backs have been putting in, perhaps he should be challenging them.

Lucas Leiva: 4

How many times did he give the ball away? Really, really, awful passing. It’s not the first time we’ve seen him put in a performance like this either -remember the Emirates last season?-. Even his tackling was sloppy. Liverpool are in desperate need of a ball playing defensive midfielder.

James Milner: 4

Manchester City’s refusal to play him in the middle of the park is starting to look smart. So far, Milner hasn’t shown anything to suggest he is a commanding centre-mid. He was wasteful in possession, did nothing going forward, and failed to exert any control whatsoever on the game. He also shouldn’t be anywhere near the armband, he doesn’t actually show any leadership on the pitch.

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Emre Can: 5

Can was poor, very poor. He gave the ball away more times than I care to remember, he held onto it for way too long, and his decision-making in general was atrocious. He at least gets a 5 for trying to do something going forward, the occasional surging run forward was just about the best we could do.

Roberto Firmino: 5

Didn’t play in his preferred number 10 role which was odd considering Philippe Coutinho won’t willingly be out for very many games this season. Even more odd considering there were two strikers on the pitch. His touch was off all game and really should have scored after Daley Blind cleared off the line. Definitely still adjusting to the league.

Danny Ings: 5

He was pretty average, didn’t wow, but didn’t do too much wrong. He did put in a shift in a position he looked very uncomfortable in, but didn’t have much time to actually be a striker. If Brendan Rodgers is intent on playing a 4-3-3, you have to ask why we loaned out our only winger?

Christian Benteke: 6

Picture this; you’re isolated all game, starved of any meaningful service at all. You then go and score one of the best goals anyone’s seen in a very long time to pull your team back in it. Then two minutes later, your defence let’s a 19-year-old dribble past them all and scores a goal. It was hard not to feel for Benteke today.

SUBS:

Jordon Ibe (Firmino 85′): 6

Along with Benteke, possibly the closest thing to a silver lining we could get from this game. Came on and gave us a bit of intent, then stung David De Gea’s palms with a fierce left footed strike. This is the Ibe we all want to see.

Divock Origi (Ings 74′): 5

Not the best circumstances to make your debut, but all in all wasn’t bad. He, along with Ibe, injected a bit of urgency in our play. Honestly, with the way it’s going, I would like to see them both start the next game.

Alberto Moreno (Lucas 84′): 5

Got his now customary cameo appearance. Wasn’t as impressive as previous ones. Horribly miskicked a cross.