Whilst they ended the match stronger than they started, conceding first again proved to be a hurdle too high to overcome once again for Arne Slot’s Reds.
Call it poor, call it mediocrity. Whatever it is, it’s miles off our minimum standard, and our results will always be a reflection of that.
It was an unusual game for 70 minutes, with a game plan that was confusing and didn’t work. The lack of press and the long periods of sitting off are tactics you can become accustomed to seeing against the European heavy hitters, not a team that was in the Championship last year.
It’s not even like anybody had a truly awful night; we’re just lost as a team and completely ineffective at times. The player ratings reflect the bog-standard showing we saw on Wednesday night.
Here’s how they got on individually in a game where the same names shine and continue to shine alone.
Alison Becker - 6 - Always great to see him back fit, but this is our only position we don’t have to worry about in our current form. He’s not the Ali of 3-4 years ago, but we have a competent number 2. Flapped a little at a shot from range in the first half, but not a lot to report here.
Andy Robertson - 6 - Rumour has it, Robbo got the call up today as Kerkez was dealing with a spot of cramp. Slot might be telling the truth or trying to protect his young wing back, but either way, Robbo was solid. His experience might be key to getting us back in shape.
Virgil van Dijk - 5 - Gave the ball away cheaply for their goal, but was frightfully unlucky to have the ball deflect off his rear end. Not the Rolls-Royce of old but still our best defensive option by a long stretch, yet today, not the best.
Ibrahima Konate - 6 - Any game where Ibou doesn’t make a mistake that leads directly to a goal is a win for me. Handled their big lad up top, Brobbey, relatively well considering his recent form. There was a moment in the second half where he almost let a ball bounce away from him, which would have put us in grave danger, but no glaring errors means he stays average.
Joe Gomez - 5 - Not a wingback, but being asked to perform wingback duties. This system is built for the Frimpong's and Kerkez', not a no-nonsense Joe Gomez. That being said, he wasn’t bad defensively and followed the theme of the team, totally average.
Ryan Gravenberch - 6 - You can see that he’d love to be gliding around the park as gracefully as he did last season, but we aren’t in the same form or anywhere close to getting back there soon. Showed flashes of his midfield control and even threw in a couple of his signature turns, but was ineffective overall.
Alexis MacAllister - 4 - Could be one of our most out-of-form players as it stands. When we need players to have 1 or 2 touches on the ball, he takes 5. His job is to speed up the midfield and get the ball moving at pace. He’s forever second-guessing himself, and that indecision slowed down almost every attack we had.
Cody Gakpo - 4 - Just show him inside and take the ball off him. From memory, I think that every time he got the ball, he did exactly what you thought he was going to do. No surprise he got hooked at half time as he was showing us nothing but getting dispossessed and turning the ball over.
Florian Wirtz - 8.5 - One of the few players who actually performed above a totally average standard. Always showing for the ball, always looking to create and is unlucky to have his first goal in the Premier League given as an own goal. The work he did to create that chance got us the point today. Expect that standard for the foreseeable.
Dominic Szoboszlai - 8 - Trusted so much by Slot that he played right wing for 45 minutes. He’s effective everywhere you put him, and other teams still haven’t found the answer to keeping him quiet. He was his usual classy self on Wednesday night and never stopped trying to drag the rest of them up to his standard.
Alexsander Isak - 5 - Strikers are judged on goals, and he needs to start scoring them soon or at the very least, creating chances for himself. We’re a patient bunch, but when results are at a premium these days, Isak needs to start influencing games before he loses his spot for longer periods to Ekitike.
Subs:
Mo Salah - 6.5 - Called in to turn the game around at half time and immediately started to try and put their back line under pressure. He came on with all of the right intentions, but is still struggling with his output. Although it must be frustrating to try and press, at times, completely alone.
Curtis Jones - 6 - Pulled on to give us a bigger attacking threat at the expense of Gomez, but came on at a time where we were actively pushing and attacking, which suits him to a tee. Patient as ever, but an 11-man low block is never a simple task to break down, as we’ve seen multiple times this season.
Hugo Ekitike - 6 - Full of energy and knew he had limited time to make a difference. He brings something else to the Liverpool attack, as you never know where he’s going to pop up. A couple of sharp touches, but not even time to provide the necessary impact.
Federico Chiesa - 7 - Saved Slot from suffering another home defeat. A sharp Sunderland breakaway in stoppage time left Alisson stranded and Chiesa practically on the goal line as the last line of defence. Right place, right time, and he saved us a point.
Milos Kerkez - 5 - Hard to give him a rating as he didn’t even get 10 minutes. He provided a decent overlap option, as he tends to do, but nothing to write home about.