Player Ratings: Liverpool vs West Ham – August 12th 2018

Defender. Liverpool. TRENT ALEXANDER-ARNOLD. 7.5. It was not Trent’s best game in a Liverpool shirt. The right back looked a little rusty in the opening game, as his delivery was off on multiple crosses. He was in a few situations with open runners on the opposite wing in which he extremely over hit the crosses to them. However, he did have a spectacular free kick that made Fabianski jump across the line and made a equally spectacular save. It is nice to see that he has to confidence with this team to step up and want to be in that position to take those set pieces. The young Englishman got up and down the right side for the majority of 90 minutes, and showed a real threat going forward. Expecting big things from Trent this year, and he is definitely on his way.

8.5. It is games like this where we really see the value of Virgil van Dijk. The Dutch center back played a great game, where he looked like our strongest defender out of the back. He was tasked with marking Marko Arnautovic, which is not an easy task, and he absolutely pocketed him. He handled every chance with ease and a calmness that made even Liverpool fans not worry about West Ham’s few chances. The former Southampton man distributed the ball quickly out of the back as well, allowing the team to counter quickly going into the middle third.. Defender. Liverpool. VIRGIL VAN DIJK

8. Joe Gomez was the defender chosen to pair with Virgil van Dijk for the opener against West Ham. Many fans have questioned if Gomez can be the long term option for this partnership, and today he looked like he could be. The English center back seemed to be nearly as calm as van Dijk in the middle of the pack and handled West Ham’s attacking threats. He also looked strong out of the air winning most of the headers that came his way. Without Lovren for who knows how long, it will be interesting to see how Gomez will fair long term.. Defender. Liverpool. JOE GOMEZ

8.5. Andy Robertson looks as if he has not lost a step coming off of last season. The Scot was caught flying up and down the wing on multiple occasions and did a great job combining with Mane and the other forwards in front of him. He grabbed the assist on Salah’s opening goal with an inch perfect pass across the line to Mo. The former Hull full back also managed to get back on defense and make life hard for West Ham. He is sure making a case to be the best left back in the Premier League this season.. Defender. Liverpool. ANDY ROBERTSON