Liverpool player ratings vs Arsenal: Who impressed?
Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw by Arsenal at the Emirates in what was arguably the most competitive game of the Premier League this season. Both the teams went hammer and tongs at each other and played some free-flowing end-to-end football, keeping the fans at the edge of their seats throughout the ninety minutes.
Liverpool could have taken the lead in the first half when Roberto Firmino hit the post and the rebound was turned in by Sadio Mane who was mistakenly deemed to be in an offside position by the linesman.
The Reds, however, did take the lead in the second half, James Milner punishing Bernd Leno’s error and finding the corner of an open goal.
It looked as if Arsenal’s twelve -game unbeaten run was about to end until Alexandre Lacazette kept his composure to find a way past Alisson in the 82md-minute and ensured that both the teams came away with a point apiece.
Liverpool Player Ratings
1. Alisson (6/10)
Made a straightforward save to deny Torreira in the second half. He was lucky that his error of judgement wasn’t punished by Arsenal in the first half but was caught in no man’s land for the late equaliser.
2. Trent Alexander-Arnold (6.5/10)
Set up Firmino with a lovely incisive pass and showed a lot of energy in the attacking third; struggled to deal with the attackers at the back and Alex Iwobi gave him a tough time in the latter stages.
3. Joe Gomez (6.5/10)
He looked comfortable in possession and made some good passes; important block to deny Aubameyang in the first half and a tidy performance overall.
4. Virgil van Dijk (7.5/10)
Used every inch of his massive frame to keep the attackers at bay. Comfortable in possession, good with his passing and could have scored on a couple of occasions in the first half but was denied by the woodwork.
5. Andrew Robertson (6.5/10)
He was caught out at the back occasionally but made amends for it with some good overlapping runs to support the attack.
6. Fabinho (5.5/10)
A mixed performance by the Brazilian. Looked good with his distribution at times but misplaced a few passes and looked totally off the pace. Booked for a late challenge and could have been sent off.
7. Georginio Wijnaldum (6/10)
The Dutchman tried hard but wasn’t particularly influential as Xhaka and Torreira dominated proceedings in the midfield.
8. James Milner (7/10)
Another gritty and resilient performance by the veteran. Did not have the same impact as he always does but he put in the hard yards and scored that all-important goal in the second half.
9. Mohamed Salah (6.5/10)
Not his best performance in recent weeks. Showed plenty of endeavours and got himself into promising positions but lacked that final spark and finishing.
10. Sadio Mane (6.5/10)
Just like Salah, he too had some promising chances and should have hit the target late in the game from Shaqiri’s cut-back into the box’; tracked back and helped out the defence.
11. Roberto Firmino (6.5/10)
Dropped deeper at times to support the build-up play and made some subtle runs behind the backline. Unlucky to have hit the post in the first half; decent performance but could have done better.
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Substitutes
Joel Matip (N/A)
Brought on to chew up some valuable time
Xherdan Shaqiri (N/A)
Lively presence in the final third and set up Mane beautifully with an accurate cut-back into the box from the right.
