Liverpool 3-0 Southampton: Player Ratings
Mauricio Pellegrino returned to his former club Liverpool in a bid to steady the Southampton ship as the Saints seem to be heading towards a relegation battle. However, it was not to be as Liverpool put in a dominant performance and ran away clear winners against a toothless Saints’ side that failed to put on a fight.
It was Mohamed Salah who scored the opening goal in the 31st minute before latching on to a perfectly weighted pass from Philippe Coutinho to score his side’s 2nd goal in the 41st minute.
Coutinho applied the finishing touches to a Roberto Firmino shot that was inadvertently parried into his path by Forster in the 68th minute to put the result of the game beyond doubt.
Here are the player ratings from the game:
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet – 6/10
The Belgian shot-stopper had very little to do throughout the game as Liverpool were at their dominant best and the visitors on the evening failed to conjure up a single shot during the 90 minutes. Of course, there was a moment in the game when Mignolet had every Liverpool fan on the edge of their seats when he failed to clear early and almost had the ball taken off him in his 6-yard box.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7/10
The young English full-back put in another impressive performance as the right-back of the side and seems to be establishing himself as a fan favourite. While he did initially struggle against Boufal, especially with him often committing early, he made amends for his mistakes and was a stellar presence in defence while also providing the required width in attack.
Dejan Lovren – 7/10
Lovren returned to the starting line-up and was deployed as the right-centre-back of the side and showcased the good side of his game. He was generally superior in the air, did not let the likes of Charlie Austin and Shane Long get in behind the defence and kept the lines of communications with his goalkeeper and midfield intact to ensure a clean sheet for the Reds.
Ragnar Klavan – 7/10
The Estonian, who partnered Lovren on the evening put in a good performance and benefitted immensely from Southampton’s lack of enterprise down the left-flank. He covered up well for Moreno as the left-back bombed forward and did not afford any time and space to the Saints’ attackers to make inroads.
Alberto Moreno – 8/10
It was only a few months ago that Alberto Moreno was seen as a player on his way out of Anfield. On Saturday, the young Spanish full-back demonstrated why exactly he has been brought back into the side with a stellar all-round performance in defence as well as attack. He was a constant threat to the visitors down the left flank and did well to not afford the opposition any space to run into.
Jordan Henderson – 6/10
If there is one word that defines Henderson, it has to be safe. The Liverpool captain kept things safe while ensuring that he controlled the rhythm of the game from a deeper position while ensuring that he broke up the opposition’s rhythm frequently with a mix of tackles and interceptions.
However, we believe that with Southampton on the back foot, he could have been a little more enterprising going forward.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 7/10
Is there any other player who loves playing at Anfield as much as Wijnaldum? The Dutch-man was a bundle of energy throughout the 90 minutes as he constantly broke forward and made himself available around the 18-yard box.
He linked up well with his other teammates, constantly stifled the Southampton midfield for time and space and was one of the brightest Liverpool players on the pitch.
Philippe Coutinho – 8/10
The Brazilian magician is back to his best and was at his threatening best against the visitors. It was Coutinho, who created Liverpool’s 2nd goal of the evening with a perfectly weighted pass in the Southampton box and then capped up a brilliant evening by netting Liverpool’s 3rd with his final touch in the game.
He was dangerous whenever he got hold of the ball and his movement into empty spaces and past the opposition players constantly wreaked havoc in the Southampton camp.
Mohamed Salah – 9/10
When Liverpool paid big money to bring the Egyptian to the Merseyside, this is perhaps the kind of performance they would have expected from him. Salah was at his devastating best as he tore apart Mauricio Pellegrino’s defence with his movement on and off the ball.
While he did miss an easy chance in the first half, he made amends with a sublime effort from outside the box to beat the big burly Fraser Forster and then added a 2nd when he beat Southampton’s offside trap with a perfectly timed run.
Sadio Mane – 8/10
The Senegalese international faced his former club and while he began on a slow note, once he found his footing, he looked comfortable as he constantly troubled the opposition with his pace, deft movement, on and off the ball, as well as skill on the ball. He linked up excellently with the likes of Salah, Firmino and Wijnaldum and was a handful to deal with for the visitors.
Roberto Firmino – 8/10
His industry never ceases to amaze us as the Brazilian is perhaps one of the hardest working attackers the game has seen.
Firmino was exceptional yet again as he pressed from the top and linked up excellently with his midfield as well as his attacking colleagues. He was instrumental in Liverpool’s 3rd goal as Forster failed to deal appropriately with his shot from inside the box and Coutinho was available to parry home the rebound.
Substitutes:
Emre Can – 6/10
The German came on for Philippe Coutinho in the 69th minute and kept things steady through the next 20 minutes from a deep-lying position.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – NA
Oxlade-Chamberlain came on for Sadio Mane with just over 15 minutes left in the game.
James Milner – NA
The Liverpool vice-captain came on for Mohamed Salah with the game all but wrapped up in the 80th minute, and had little to do.