Hoffenheim v Liverpool: Player ratings – Aug 15 2017

Liverpool worked their way to a vital 2-1 win against Hoffenheim in Germany. We have our player ratings here:

After the disappointing draw with Watford on Saturday in the Premier League attention turned to tonight; Liverpool’s return to the Champions League. Qualifying for the group stages is so important. Both for finances and morale. What a waste it would be to lose all last season’s effort by failing at the play off stage.

Hoffenheim are a tough opponent with a great track record. They have an imperious home record. It was not the draw we wanted, but it is the one we got. If we have any hopes of making a dent in this competition this year then beating Hoffenheim is the least of our worries. It is, however, the first worry.

Jurgen Klopp named an unchanged side despite calls to give Robertson and/or Gomez a chance. They rode the early exchanges before taking the lead through Trent Alexander-Arnold’s free kick. A deflected James Milner shot gave us a two goal advantage but Hoffenheim grabbed a late goal through, you guessed it, sloppy defending.

Here are our player rankings for Hoffenheim v Liverpool:

Simon Mignolet – 7

A wonderful first half for the Belgian stopper. It started with a good penalty save and he was then alert on three more occasions as our defense gave up golden chances. Those saves and stops gave Liverpool the half time lead. He had a quieter second half with Liverpool taking control of the game but had one more great save in the 81st minute to preserve the two goal advantage. Not really at fault for the Hoffenheim goal.