Liverpool’s poor run of results in the Premier League continued on Sunday as Tottenham handed the Reds a 4-1 thrashing at Wembley
The match kicked off on the worst possible note for the visitors as Dejan Lovren misjudged the trajectory of Kieran Trippier’s aerial ball before Harry Kane pounced to break the deadlock. Spurs’ lead was then doubled seven minutes later as Kane turned provider for Son Heung-Min after another error by Lovren.
Mohamed Salah gave Liverpool fans the faintest of hopes midway through the first half as he converted from Jordan Henderson’s brilliant, searching pass with a scuffed shot. But, all hopes of a comeback were put to rest in injury time as Dele Alli volleyed the ball past Simon Mignolet to restore his side’s two-goal cushion.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) October 22, 2017
The Reds’ misery was completed ten minutes into the second half as Harry Kane grabbed his second as he netted from Jan Vertonghen’s rebounded shot to also become the leader in the race to win the Golden Boot.
Liverpool, meanwhile, have now won just one game in their last six attempts in the Premier League, and have dropped down to ninth in the league table. The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Jurgen Klopp’s men after a disaster show on Sunday.
Simon Mignolet: 3/10
At a time when Liverpool fans have been clamouring for his inclusion in the UEFA Champions League games as well in place of the much-maligned Loris Karius, Mignolet did not do himself any favours by his performance on Sunday.
13 – Simon Mignolet has made 13 errors leading to goals in the PL since making his Liverpool debut; three more than anyone else. Oops. pic.twitter.com/y7YbNza160
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 22, 2017
At fault for Tottenham’s first goal and the last. The Belgian first rushed out needlessly to give the clever Kane a lot of time and space to score, and then failed to collect Christian Eriksen’s free-kick in the second half before helplessly seeing the goal past him. Such inconsistency won’t help him in the long run.
Joe Gomez: 6/10
Taking Trent Alexander-Arnold’s place on the right side of the defence, Gomez was a steady customer for the first half an hour before he was moved into centre-back. Largely solid after the change in position too, the young Englishman made a couple of blocks as well, and looks likely to maintain his place there in the coming games.
Joel Matip: 4/10
Not as bad as his partner at the heart of defence, but Matip didn’t cover himself in glory on the day either. Poor positioning and failure to cover up for Lovren meant Kane had it easy for the opening goal, and a weak headed clearance gave Alli clear space to volley the ball home for Spurs’ third.
The Cameroonian has been consistently poor for a while now, and he needs to up his game. Otherwise, the Liverpool struggle will turn into a fully blown rut, with no backup options beyond him.
Dejan Lovren: 2/10
Just when it looked like Lovren might be turning a corner this season, comes this performance that seems like a death knell at Anfield for him at the moment. Absolutely horrendous, with nothing of note in his short stint on the pitch.
No Liverpool player has made more defensive errors (4) in the Premier League since the start of last season than Dejan Lovren.
Struggled. ? pic.twitter.com/iJ3x0KnmMs
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 22, 2017
Culpable for both of the goals that Tottenham scored during his time on the pitch, Lovren misjudged the trajectory of the ball on both occasions and was rightly punished by Kane. Taken off at the half-hour mark, his Liverpool career could be coming to an end.
Alberto Moreno: 6/10
On a day when defence was the Achilles heel for the Reds, Moreno did little to let his manager down as he continued his remarkable improvement this season. Barely made any defensive errors on the night as he showed a lot of positional awareness and was a threat at times up front. His crossing though, needs work.
Emre Can: 4/10
Just one of the many players whose inconsistencies have been hurting Liverpool, Can followed up a strong performance against Maribor with a poor outing on Sunday. To be fair to him, he was expected to struggle upon being moved into the right-back role, but an error in the first-half proved costly as Spurs scored their third.
Jordan Henderson: 5.5/10
While the central defenders were at fault for a horrible cumulative performance, their captain was erronous in providing cover to the defenders too. While his assist to Salah was nothing short of brilliant, everything apart from that was poor as he failed to lead his side out of the embarrassment.
James Milner: 5/10
Superb on Tuesday, but ineffective on Sunday. Milner failed to create much of an impact with the ball, although he did work tirelessly off it. Son Heung-Min had the measure of the veteran Englishman for the most part, and a late charge wasn’t enough to help his case.
Mohamed Salah: 7/10
Mohamed Salah is the first Liverpool player to be directly involved in 10 goals across all competitions this season.
8 ⚽️
2 ?️Lifeline. pic.twitter.com/56ZTlkh1YD
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) October 22, 2017
One of the rare positives for the Reds on the day, Salah continued his fine run of form by scoring the only goal of the match for his side. His pace and directness made the Egyptian a menace for the Tottenham defence, and he looked like Liverpool’s biggest threat on a dismal day.
Roberto Firmino: 5/10
The Maribor flourish does not seem to have done anything for Firmino’s form. The Brazilian was anonymous for large parts, isolated from the rest of the side and deprived of service. He did work hard as he often dropped deep to help his teammates out, but Liverpool need more from him.
Philippe Coutinho: 6.5/10
Another one of the players who can hold their heads up high after Sunday. Coutinho constantly looked to keep things ticking and make things happen, but the Spurs defence was on high alert to neutralise his threat. Was unlucky to not have a goal to his name as Hugo Lloris produced a world class save to deny him.
SUBSTITUTES
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6/10
Came on for Lovren and played for more than an hour, Oxlade-Chamberlain gave some food for thought to his manager with his performance. Despite the game being a lost cause, the Englishman was full of positivity as he made some penetrating runs and created a couple of chances. The elusive start might be handed to him soon.
Daniel Sturridge: N/A
Came on for the last fifteen minutes, but he couldn’t make much of an impact with the game already lost.
Marko Grujic: N/A
His second outing this season, but one in which he wasn’t able to show his full potential as he barely got to see the ball.
