Liverpool VS Southampton | Premier League | Player Ratings
Liverpool entered today's game with a five-point cushion on their closest rivals, Manchester City. The game started well before Southampton gained some footing. This quickly turned back to Liverpool as they set their stamp on the game.
Southampton were the makers of their undoing for the first goal of the match, with a poor clearance falling to Dominik Szoboszlai, who slotted home a beautiful left-footed curling shot off the post and in to put the title leaders ahead.
Not long after however, Southampton were level, with a serious dubious penalty decision that should have been overturned by VAR since the foul took place outside the box, and was clear to see on the VAR camera review. However, Michael Oliver saw otherwise. Kelleher done fantastic with the initial save, but could not stop the follow up and Southampton drew level.
The second half rolls around and Liverpool finds themselves back in the driver's seat, however, they get caught on the break with some suspect defending from Konate and Bradley leading to a Fernandes goal to send the Saints ahead. Gut-check time for the Reds
It took ten minutes to respond with a mistake at the back by Southampton leading to a Salah goal, followed by a nervy twenty minutes before a handball in the Saints box led to Salah bagging his second from the penalty spot. And almost grabbed himself a hat trick before full-time with a close-range shot off the post.
An ugly win is still a win, but much improvement is needed before facing Real Madrid and Manchester City in the next seven days. Let's see how the players stacked up!
Player Ratings
Caoimhin Kelleher - 7/10
Kelleher was hard done by with the final score. A fantastic penalty save, but could not reach the rebound. And flat-footed for the second goal which never should have been. Made some crucial saves down the stretch with an xG faced of 1.86. Unlucky with the score line but without him, the game would not have ended the way it did.
Conor Bradley - 6/10
You can tell he has not played in a while. Silly mistakes at the back and a silly booking early on in the game set the tone for Bradley for most of this game. A mistake at the back for Southampton's second where he should have stayed centrally but followed the ball and not the player. Showing his lack of game time with those decisions. Thankfully it did not cost us this time out. Massive improvement is needed for the midweek game against Real Madrid, and Manchester City if Trent is facing a lengthy sideline absence.
Ibrahima Konate - 6/10
For some reason, it seems like Ibou just forgot how to play football today. He went away on an international break and lost his mojo. But, we have seen through this season how his levels are so high, that we would rather have a down performance in a game like this, where it doesn't cost us, than if it occurred midweek or next weekend in the two massive upcoming fixtures. Regroup, reset, go again midweek, and bounce back.
Virgil van Dijk - 7/10
A somewhat quiet game from Virgil, by his standards. But given the fact that Southampton are woeful on the attack in normal build-up, it's not surprising. Done what was needed, defended high up the pitch to stop several counter-attacks before they had even started. And was his usual dominant self with his aerial duels also. Solid, from Virg, but solid for him is most players' great games.
Andrew Robertson - 4/10
Caught out of possession too many times, getting caught by runs in behind, and of course, giving away the foul which led to the penalty that saw Southampton draw level in the first half. Creating chances, but, the worry many have had for a while now is that his legs seem to be gone. Father time is undefeated and in a week where he will face the wingers of Real Madrid and Manchester City, let's hope Kostas is ready and fit for when Real Madrid visits on Wednesday night.
Ryan Gravenberch - 8/10
Unbelievable performance from Gravenberch yet again. With the assist for Salah's first goal and lockdown defense in midfield. Everything flowed through him. The 22-year-old misplaced just six passes all game, with three chances created, and winning 71% of all duels. Gravenberch is solidifying more and more that he is one of the best, if not the best, midfielders in the world right now with each passing performance.
Curtis Jones - 6/10
For a player who is set to play in the double pivot, Curtis had himself a game to forget, only winning a fifth of his duels, and was pretty much a non-factor in the rest of the game. This has always been his issue. Playing well for one or two games and showing the brilliance he has, and then following a brilliant international stint you would have hoped that the form would have continued. However, he laid an egg today, losing most of his duels and getting booked in the process also. He needs to become consistent or will never break into this first team regularly under the new regime.
Dominik Szoboszlai - 7/10
We wanted Szoboszlai to start scoring and performing like he did while on international break, and we got that today. A fantastic left-footed finish and goal to open the scoring. His distribution was top-notch, he won two-thirds of all his duels, completed all his dribbles, and created three chances for the entire game. This is the Dom we want to see. The same one that shows up and performs for Hungary, we want in a Liverpool shirt. He needs to keep it up because a young Harvey Elliott is chomping at the bit to take his place in this starting lineup.
Mohamed Salah - 9/10 MOTM
Two goals, a constant threat, and a clinical penalty to win the game. A complete performance from the Egyptian King to seal the three points for Liverpool. Salah now has twelve goals and ten assists in all competitions in eighteen appearances. He is currently on pace to break even more records this season in both the Premier League and UEFA Champions League. A Man of the Match performance by Mo yet again, and Real Madrid await midweek for his next outing.
Darwin Nunez - 6/10
A somewhat quiet game for Darwin, which seemed to come from the gameplan. Arne Slot seemed to favor both wings rather than attacking centrally, which saw the likes of Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, and both fullbacks being heavily involved in the game. Darwin worked hard off the ball and did his defensive duties, in one instance was playing right-back, but he did more work off the ball than on as the point of attack was either wing. A threat in the set pieces but nothing was done there. It seemed to be more tactics than effort which determined his lack of involvement today.
Cody Gakpo - 7/10
Quite the opposite to Darwin, Cody had a lot to do this game, with the attacks flowing down the wings with how compact Southampton were in the middle preventing much paying off. Gakpo completed all of his dribbles and three-quarters of his duels, Misplacing only two passes the entire game, creating a lot of chances for Mohamed Salah at the back post, one of which almost came off but was denied after a great stop by McCarthy following a close range effort from Mohamed Salah.
Substitutes
Alexis Mac Allister - 6/10
Luis Diaz - 6/10
Liverpool will need to shake off the rust of the international break before facing Real Madrid and Manchester City in the next seven days. With the return of the likes of Harvey Elliott and the imminent return of Chiesa, Alisson, and Trent, reinforcements could not have come at a better time.
Win pretty, win ugly, to be a champion you need to be able to do both, and Liverpool has won ugly more than once this season. The character of a champion is shown in those moments. We move on and prepare for Real Madrid with an eight-point lead over Manchester City.
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