Liverpool – Arsenal player ratings: This was a real story of defense against attack as the Gunners sat back and Liverpool’s attacking stars had plenty of the ball.
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Alexandre Lacazette’s opener saw Liverpool behind briefly, but quickfire goals from Sadio Mane and Andy Robertson put them ahead and Diogo Jota scored a late clincher in the 3-1 win.
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Here’s a look at Liverpool – Arsenal player ratings, as we give the players a mark out of 10.
Liverpool player ratings
Alisson: 7 – Made a good save to deny Lacazette in the second half and had little else to do. Kicking a little shaky on occasions.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 8 – Superb cross for Mane early on and had a vicious shot deflected onto the bar.
Joe Gomez: 6 – Didn’t have much to do but a few gaps appeared between him and Van Dijk in the second half.
Virgil van Dijk: 7 – Shot well-saved by Leno and a cool customer, as always, throughout.
Andrew Robertson: 8 – A menace down the left and gave Bellerin a torrid time.
Fabinho: 7 – Sat in and soaked up the play in midfield, and won the ball back time and time again.
Georginio Wijnaldum: 6 – Solid, steady and reliable. Does he ever have a bad game!?
Naby Keita: 6 – Wasn’t able to make his runs forward from midfield. Tidy enough.
Mohamed Salah: 7 – Lovely run and shot to set up the first goal and bullied Tierney. Greedy in the second half and took a chance of Jota.
Roberto Firmino: 7 – Good movement and occupied Luiz and Holding to allow Mane and Salah to cut inside.
Sadio Mane: 8 – Could have been sent off early on for an elbow on Tierney and hit a shot straight at Leno. Took his goal well. A constant threat.
Substitutions
James Milner (80′ on for Keita): 6 – Helped Liverpool see out the game by clogging up midfield.
Diogo Jota (80′ on for Mane): 7 – A debut PL goal for Liverpool and had some good runs, a cross and two other shots were both off target. Very lively on his Anfield debut.
Takumi Minamino (90′ on for Firmino): N/A
Arsenal player ratings
Bernd Leno: 6 – A decent stop from Mane but his distribution was sloppy.
Rob Holding: 6 – Did okay defensively but never looks that comfortable in possession.
David Luiz: 6 – Sloppy on the ball at times, and struggled to cope with Liverpool’s pressing. Hung in there.
Kieran Tierney: 5 – Caught out on Liverpool’s first goal but caught by Mane’s elbow early on. Didn’t receive much help.
Hector Bellerin: 5 – Caught napping on both of Liverpool’s firs half goals. Didn’t add anything from an attacking perspective.
Mohamed Elneny: 6 – Worked hard, as always, and tried to string a few passes together.
Granit Xhaka: 5 – Overrun in midfield and couldn’t get on the ball. Subbed off.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles: 5 – Should have done better to control a ball over the top and pinned back.
Willian: 4 – Switched off to allow Robertson to finish for Liverpool’s second. Offered little in attack.
Alexandre Lacazette: 6 – Scored his goal as he was in the right place at the right time. Worked hard but missed a great chance for a second.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang: 5 – Hardly involved and when he was he failed to run at Liverpool or provide quality.
Substitutes
Dani Ceballos (60′ on for Granit Xhaka): 6 – Made a real difference when he came on as he got on the ball.
Nicolas Pepe (68′ on for Willian): 5 – Barely involved.
Eddie Nketiah (74′ on for Lacazette): N/A
