PLAYER RATINGS: LIVERPOOL 3-3 BRIGHTON

Liverpool came back from two goals down to lead 3-2, only to throw it away at the end as Brighton fought back to earn a point. A Trossard hat trick lit up the famous stadium, with the Reds’ still struggling. Here are player ratings from the encounter.

Alisson – 6.5

Kept the scoreline respectable first half with some good saves. Thought he had done enough to earn the win when he kept out Welbeck’s point blank header late on. He was left exposed again by a non-existent defence though. Unlucky not to keep out the third as his parry came back off the underside of the bar and in.

Alexander-Arnold – 3

Absolutely dreadful but somehow lasted 90 minutes. Trossard sold him for a dummy before rifling home the first, before he got his pocket picked by Caicedo for the second goal.

Third goal he’s again beaten by a simple run down the wing. Mitoma caused him so many problems when he came on. He’s hopelessly out of form. Needs protecting. Almost made up for the shitshow with a superb free kick which was tipped wide at the death.

Matip – 5.5

Beaten by Welbeck for a header first half but was grateful Alisson did enough to keep it from crossing the line. Was composed on the ball with his distribution until injury time when he sent a long ball straight out for a goal kick under no pressure whatsoever.

Van Dijk – 5

Some last ditch defending at times. Got in the way to halt some dangerous attacks. Missed a simple enough clearance late on, with the ball going through his legs and falling to the clinical Trossard at the backpost for the equaliser.

Tsimikas – 4

Poor. Got into some good positions but couldn’t find the quality. Frustrating.

Fabinho – 4

Shocking. Flies under the radar at times with performances like this but he needs calling out. We might as well have played with a hologram as the defensive shield.

Henderson – 5.5

Terrible for their first goal. Trent’s header found him just outside the box and he failed to clear or control, losing out cheaply in a dangerous area. To his credit, he improved after that and was the only one in midfield pressing with any zest.

Lovely ball over the top for Salah led to Firmino’s first. Almost got Bobby his hat trick with a wonderful cross to the backpost.

Thiago – 5

Non-existent first half. Gave the ball away cheaply at times and was well below his best. Better second half. Got on the ball and offered a bit more going forward. Released Diaz in the leadup to the equaliser.

Salah – 4

Not good enough in the decisive areas today. Poor touch, poor end product, poor decision making. He charged out to press late on and got so easily played around, leaving Trent outnumbered for the attack which led to the equaliser.

Elliott found him with a brilliant ball in the box but he fell over himself trying to control. Another who shouldn’t have lasted 90. One lung busting run on the counter pushed the side up several yards to ease the pressure late on.

Firmino – 7.5

Johnny on the spot to tuck home the first goal after Salah’s mishit shot. Showed unreal composure to beat his man and finish past Sanchez for his second. Unlucky not to notch his hat trick after his header at the backpost was well saved.

Carvalho – 4.5

Pressed Sanchez and almost bundled the ball home after the keeper dallied on the ball. Has to play on the half turn, he was too square on, meaning every time he got it he had to pass it back as he was quickly closed down. Next to no impact on the game.

Substitutes

Diaz – 7

Made a real difference when he came on. Suddenly we were pressing hard from the front and forcing the Brighton backline into errors. Set up Bobby for the equaliser by taking on his man and showing composure around the box. Our best player this season.

Milner – 5

Came on at left back and put in some thunderous challengers as per. Gave the ball away with a suicidal pass across the face of his own goal, luckily it came to nothing. Not close enough to Trossard at the backpost for the third.

Elliott – 5.5

Was bright. Picked up the ball in the half spaces and drove at them a few times. He needs to stop ceding responsibility to Salah every time though. He can take the shot on more often . Saw an acrobatic overhead kick cleared almost off the line by Dunk.

Jota – 5

Could have, and perhaps should have, squared a ball across the face of goal for Salah but tried to cut in on his right foot instead. Wasn’t really involved after that.

Darwin – N/A

Came on in the 89th minute. Don’t know why he’s getting next to no game time when we are obviously struggling.

Jürgen Klopp

Even at 3-2 up, the Kop was silent. That was a snapshot of the game; that even after fighting back from 2-0 down, the Kop was worried we couldn’t hold on. That’s exactly how it transpired. There are so many problems with the team’s performances at the minute.

They played ever so well between 45 – 70 but stopped playing as soon as they took the lead. Rather than press on for the win they tried to wind down the clock, dilly dallying in possession and handing back the initiative to Brighton. Work for the manager to do.