Liverpool player ratings: Brighton v Liverpool – Dec 2 2017
By David Gate
Liverpool kept their unbeaten running going with an excellent 5-1 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League. Here are our Liverpool player ratings.
We are in December which means the games keep coming and the squad keeps rotating. Jurgen Klopp made six changes from the side that beat Stoke on Wednesday. A mini injury crisis meant that only four defenders were available and Ragnar Klavan was only good for the bench.
Joe Gomez missed out with a cold and Joel Matip is going to miss a month with an abductor muscle strain. That meant starts for young full back duo Andrew Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold. At center back it was Emre Can who was asked to fill in.
Captain Jordan Henderson and Philippe Coutinho came in for Sadio Mane and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. Klopp is treating Mane with kid gloves after a season of niggles. The big surprise was how they lined up in a 3-4-3 formation with Can and WIjnaldum in the back three.
The formation ended up being a stroke of genius from the manager who is making progress with this squad. Last year we were too predictable and did not rotate enough. This year we have a number of tactical options and healthy rotation of the squad.