Many anticipated a long-awaited comfortable win from the Reds against Southampton after a string of narrow one-goal contests to start the season.
Instead, Liverpool once again had to battle, grinding out a 2-1 victory over the Saints.
With Arne Slot choosing to rest usual starters like Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, younger players such as Trey Nyoni and bench favorite Federico Chiesa were handed valuable minutes.
The decision may have made the match tighter than it should have been, but Slot will hardly be pleased that it required another late winner to see off a far inferior opponent at Anfield.
Liverpool still found a way to get it done, but how did the Reds rate individually?
Giorgi Mamardashvili- 7.5/10: Likely deserved a clean sheet. Found himself decently busy and made three fine saves; not much he could have done on the Southampton equalizer.
Jeremie Frimpong- 7/10: Not quite back to his lightning-quick best, but he’s still consistently driving the ball forward as expected.
Giovanni Leoni- 7.5/10: A Liverpool debut to remember for the Italian, who looked completely at ease in his first outing for the Reds. Unfortunately, his night was cut short after suffering what appeared to be a nasty head injury.
Joe Gomez- 6/10: Lucky that an early giveaway didn’t gift Southampton the opener, but less fortunate when another mistake led to the corner that produced their equalizer. Looked uncomfortable throughout the evening, though he did somewhat redeem himself with a crucial 92nd-minute challenge to dispossess Shea Charles in the box.
Andy Robertson- 7/10: Not much of an influence on this one, but still gave a professional performance and slotted in at CB with aplomb when asked.
Trey Nyoni- 7/10: Not necessarily flashy on the ball, but played solidly and executed well-timed tackles, especially after Liverpool went down to 10 men.
Curtis Jones- 6.5/10: A bit of a quiet evening in general for the Liverpool midfield; the Scouser didn’t put his fingerprints much on this game.
Wataru Endo- 7.5/10: More attack-minded than usual, and it paid off. The Japanese international consistently won fouls, pressed forward with intent, and looked comfortable on the ball. He was the standout midfielder on the evening, though a poor clearance did gift the opposition their equalizer.
Rio Ngumoha- 7/10: Not his most impactful night, but began to grow into the game more in the second half. Hard to forget he's still only 17.
Federico Chiesa- 8.5/10: A MOTM performance from the fan favorite. Consistently found good positions, showed relentless energy and hunger around the box, and did brilliantly to set up both goals. Nearly capped it off with his own goal on a fine team move in the second half, only to be denied by the offside flag. Still gutted for him that he won't play Champions League football this season.
Alexander Isak- 8/10: The Swede finally gets his first goal as a Red. Took the easy chance Chiesa created professionally, and very well could have had a brace with another excellent chance in the first minute but faced a great save from Alex McCarthy. Also looked crafty with the ball on his feet.
SUBS:
Hugo Ekitike- 7.5/10: Didn't miss a beat after coming off the bench and continued his brilliant start to life at Liverpool by scoring the winner, but picked up one of the most boneheaded red cards in recent memory which dampens his rating—two yellows, one for dissent and another for taking his shirt off in celebration. He’ll now miss the weekend trip to Palace. Hopefully, a valuable lesson for the young Frenchman.
Conor Bradley- 7/10: Like Ekitike, came into the match with loads of energy. Attempted to execute several pieces of clever link-up play that have become his calling card while in the final third.
Jayden Danns- 6.5/10: Not much to report on for the local lad after coming on in the second half.
Milos Kerkez- 7/10: Played with his head up after coming on and helped preserve the one goal lead on defense when Ekitike was given the red.