Liverpool’s players couldn’t give Jurgen Klopp his first win tonight, despite playing against a 10-man Russian outfit for almost an hour.
Here’s how we rated the players, in what was a frustrating night which lacked quality in the final third…
GK) Simon Mignolet – 6/10
Largely quiet night. Can’t be blamed for the goal, and made one world-class save from Georgiov.
DR) Nathaniel Clyne – 6/10
Not strong enough for the Rubin goal, although in fairness, it was probably Skrtel’s man. Practically played as a right winger apart from that, but his crosses were easily defended, bar one beauty for Benteke.
DL) Alberto Moreno – 6.5/10
Plenty of the ball down the left for the Spaniard, who was good apart from his end product.
DC) Mamadou Sakho – 7/10
Dominant and well appreciated by the crowd, but you’d expect him to be against ten men. It seems farcical to remember he wasn’t in the side at the start of the season.
DC) Martin Skrtel – 5/10
Gave away a succession of stupid fouls and was at fault for the goal, when he should have picked up the goal-scorer.
MC) Joe Allen – 5.5/10 ( Lucas – 45′)
Lucas will be back in the side following this nothing Allen performance. He isn’t good enough, not even as a Europa League rotation player.
MC) Emre Can – 7/10
Made a bold claim for a starting central midfield spot tonight, and certainly put himself ahead of Allen and Milner anyway. Tapped in from close from range for our equaliser.
AMR) James Milner – 5.5/10
Hard worker, yes, but Milner has yet to show he has the quality to break down a stubborn defence. Tonight, he was poor. We badly miss Jordan Henderson.
AMC) Coutinho – 5.5/10 (Benteke – 63′)
We really need to see more from Coutinho, whose end product at the moment is unimaginative and poorly executed. Would have been good to see him on the pitch with Firmino and Benteke. Again, had many unsuccessful shots on goal.
AML) Adam Lallana – 7/10
Our best creative threat. Lallana toiled, and made plenty of clever runs into the box. Fed Benteke late on who hit the post when we were searching for a winner.
FC) Divock Origi – 5/10
Definitely not ready to start consistently. The Belgian doesn’t look like he knows how to score a goal.
SUBS:
Lucas – 6 – Much better than Allen. Passed crisply. He’ll be back in the side for the Southampton clash.
Roberto Firmino – 6 – Some signs of class, but mostly frustrating. The talent’s there, the confidence isn’t.
Christian Benteke – 5.5 – Hit the post late on with a curling shot, but was strangely poor in the air. Missed a golden chance from a Clyne cross.
