A FEW OBSERVATIONS FROM THE GAME TODAY: LIVERPOOL 2-2 BRIGHTON

Liverpool hosted Brighton and Hove Albion this afternoon and were held to a frustrating 2-2 draw. The Reds raced into a two goal lead before Brighton brilliantly fought back go draw level. Brighton had several chances to actually go on and win the game but failed to take it. An entertaining game ended 2-2 at full time. Read on for player ratings from the game tonight.

Alisson – 9

Made some huge saves throughout the game. First from Solly March, and then from Bissouma’s drive which he tipped onto the post. He kept us in it and we went ahead. But the players ahead of him didn’t heed the warning and got pegged back. Nothing he could have done about either goal with the first one sailing over him with the sun in his eyes. Made some more saves second half to prevent us going 3-2 down.

Alexander-Arnold – 6.5

Started well, was combining well with Salah and Keita. Created a few openings too. There was a general malaise when we went 2-0 up and Trent could be seen jogging back on a couple of occasions as Brighton broke forward. Second half he tried but couldn’t really create anything clear cut. Blazed a free kick way over.

Konaté – 6.5

Started sloppily when he played March onside and failed to cut out the through pass. Alisson bailed him out on that occasion. Too many times he stepped out to try and win the ball but didn’t quite get enough purchase on his header and they just attacked the space he left behind. Van Dijk had to come across to thwart the danger but there’s only so many times we could have gotten away with it. He played some line breaking passes into midfield though to his credit.

Van Dijk – 7.5

Pulled across defence so many times today. He bailed us out a few times, the most eye catching was when March was through on goal again. Virgil did ever so well to get his body in between ball and man to allow Alisson pounce on the loose ball. It was his exquisite diagonal to Salah that led to the first goal. Too many untracked runners for even him to stop. Will be having some cross words with Robbo for playing Trossard on for the second goal.

Robertson – 6

His deliveries again were poor, whether in open play or on set pieces. He’s been playing attackers onside all season and today it cost us. Played Trossard onside and then was easily beaten by the Belgian for 2-2. Tariq Lamptey came on and roasted him for the last 20. There was a flash point second half when he failed to spot a forward pass and the Kop got on his back and he gave a bit back. Not in great form this season to be honest.

Henderson – 7.5

Terrific finish to put us 1-0 up. Was our best player first 30 when we were on top. As the game grew, so did Brighton, and Henderson now had more runners to deal with. One criticism could be he never takes one for the team by committing a professional foul. Always just allows his man to go past him on the counter if he can’t win the ball legally. He played as well as he could, we possibly missed Fabinho today, and that’s not to fault the skipper.

Keita – 6

Started brightly. Played a few passes that helped us break forward. Pressed well. Unfortunately went down injured and was subbed. Can’t catch a break.

Jones – 5

Poor, anonymous, uninvolved. Caught in possession early on and they had a good chance. Played a bobbly and under hit back pass to Alisson that the keeper had to kick out for a throw. When he did get on the ball, he was too safe in his passing. Just side to side and back passes. No invention, no guile. He failed to track his man so many times, it was hard to believe. His man just run off him and broke into our box as Brighton countered and Jones was never where he needed to be defensively.

Salah – 6.5

Provided the assist for Henderson with a simple layoff. At 2-0 up, he tried to be too elaborate with his passing, going for the outside of the boot curler when it wasn’t on. Didn’t really get a sniff of goal bar the one that got chalked off for offside. Unlucky there. His run of scoring in consecutive games comes to a frustrating end.

Firmino – 5

Below par today, he was very ponderous in possession. Caught on the ball too many times by Bissouma when he should have popped the pass off quicker. When he did get the pass away, it was never with the required accuracy. It’s baffling how he lasted 77 minutes as it was blatantly obvious he was not quite at his sharpest. Missed an absolute sitter too.

Mané – 7.5

Bullet header to put us 2-0 up. Unlucky to see another ruled out for handball when he closed down Sanchez’s clearance. Second half he was one of our best defenders. Made a crucial clearing header backpost with Brighton men over on that side. Switched to the right as we changed to a 4-4-2 late on. Tried beating his man to create an opening and he was successful at times, unsuccessful at others. Unlucky not to get an assist after his through ball to Salah saw the Egyptian’s goal ruled out for a marginal offside call.

Substitutes

Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6

Tremendous cross to put it on a plate for Mané, almost immediately after coming on. Didn’t really do much else after that. Switched to the left wing when we went 4-4-2 but got little change out of his man. Saw a shot blocked.

Jota – N/A

Came on far too late. Brighton were on top from the first whistle of the second half and their goal was coming. Just how an in form Jota only got 13 minutes when Bobby was struggling is something the manager would have to take responsibility for. We were frantic by the time he came on. We didn’t create anything of note as Brighton put men behind the ball.

Minamino – N/A

Thrown on with four minutes left and he played in midfield. Was hesitant on one Konaté pass and ended up fouling his man to the frustration of the fans. Played too deep to actually do anything of note.

Jurgen Klopp

Made 2 changes to the side that strolled to a huge win at Old Trafford, with Jones coming in for the injured Milner and Mané coming in for Jota. Today he was late with his substitutions. Graham Potter made sub after sub to bring on fresh players to help ram home the momentum they had built second half. Klopp was reactive where Potter was proactive.

Their second goal could be seen coming a mile away. Brighton were taking chances at 2-1 by committing a lot of bodies forward. Jota’s pace on the counter could have been useful. By the time Jota actually came on, Brighton had equalised and sensibly stopped taking those risks. Klopp then gave Minamino 4 minutes at the end. We love the gaffer and we praise him to the rafters but today he can take some of the responsibility for not reacting quick enough to Brighton’s dominance first half. Two dropped points.