Liverpool player ratings vs Brighton: Robbo 3, Thiago dross

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James Milner, Liverpool (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images) /

Defensive midfield: Gini Wijnaldum – 3.5

Let’s start off positively for Gini. He’s had a couple of very good games recently. Great.

Well that shower of utter rubbish out there tonight – too many touches, passing behind players like they weren’t making positive runs. Deservedly substituted, and again, one of his worst.

Wijnaldum needs to step up his game as he enters the pointy end of the season. That move to Barcelona isn’t going to earn itself, lad.

Central midfield: Thiago – 4

We bought in Thiago to help against a low block. Two low blocks in Brighton’s case.

But how, and I mean how, has he been in any way impactful on the matches we have played against it?

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Tonight he was dross, along with the rest of the midfield. Klopp is going to have to get back to the drawing board with the Spaniard, who has so much quality but has delivered so little.

Central midfield: James Milner – 5

Probably the best of the midfield, and that’s saying something because he was awful too.

In the last few games Milner has excelled in the diamond, but tonight he looked lack of any ability to play football in the way we know he can.

Ah, five. Why not? He’s one of few.

Attacking Midfield: Xherdan Shaqiri – 2.5

For me, Liverpool’s worst player on the pitch. He should have been hauled off at half-time when we had the chance.

He didn’t seem to control a ball at all – he’s a professional footballer, remember?

I understand that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but now I realise why I was skeptical about Shaqiri staking a regular claim in the first team.