Player Ratings: LFC 2 – ‘aaam 0 (Jan 29/20)

Well that wasn’t our best performance of the season, but it was a solid effort all-around and one that I felt we were very comfortable in the entire game. The attack of the ‘aaams wasn’t much of an attack as their best striker turned out to be none other then Trent, who used the force to pull the most brilliant pass to VVD who subsequently cleared the ball from the box. Moyes decided to park a big double ‘aaam sandwich in their final third and deployed an ugly anti-football tactic, which lead to a slow methodical first 30 minutes. Its a tactic many teams have tried to employ last year against City and it never worked then and its certainly no longer a tactic that works against us.

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Alisson (8.5) – Wasn’t called upon to do much as he only faced four shots on target but three of his saves were outstanding highlighted by an acrobatic save off a header from Rice. Just edges it and gets my McMOTM.

TAA (7) – Solid game from TAA, but not one of his finest as his delivery wasn’t as good as usual. Seems to get caught out of position a little too often for my liking. Inches away from scoring. 😉

Gomez (7.5) – Joe’s recovery pace has really solidified our defence, as it allows TAA to venture a little further up the field as he know Joe will be able to track back and help him if he’s in a jam. In my opinion we are now once again seeing the pre-injury Joe as his form over the last 10 games has been excellent.

VVD (7.5) – Ho hum game from VVD, he literally looks bored at times as he just makes defending look so easy. Nice marauding run into the final third in the first half and used the magnet in his head to clear out the corner which lead to our 2nd goal.

Robbo (7.5) – Looked very bright in the opening stages of the game, was very unlucky not to get an assist on a brilliant cross that Origi was a little late to react to. Great surging run almost lead to him scoring when Salah put him through on the keeper, but his final touch let him down. Much better performance.

Gini (7) – Solid performance from the dirty one, lucky to have Alisson bail him out though

Hendo (7.5) – Solid performance once again from the captain, and a brilliant ball to set Salah free which lead to OX’s goal

OX (7) – Thought he had a very quiet first half and was afraid that he would put in another lacklustre performance, but he started getting more involved after the break. Took his goal beautifully and showed good strength to hold off the defender

Salah (7.5) – One of Mo’s better games of late. Looked for his teammate with more frequency and was almost rewarded for passing the ball inside the 18 yard but his tame header just went wide. Took his penalty really well, and also picked up an assist for playing OX through

Origi (7) – I thought he started really brightly and was looking to make something happen from the get go. Slow to react to the cross that Robbo put into the 6, but showed good control and strength to win the penalty.

Firmino (8) – Smooth and Silky is sometimes the best way to describe Bobby’s skills. Some fantastic touches today and his subtle control kept the moving going that lead to the penalty on Origi. Unlucky not to score as Fabianski got a finger tip on his shot in the second half.

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Subs:

Fabinho (6) – Improvement over the last game but the fabulous one still seems a little rusty, his misplaced pass just after coming on allowed Rice to get a clean shot on net.

Keita (N/A) – Didn’t hurt himself which is a plus and some nice touches in the limited time he got

Jones (N/A) – Ran around a little.

Klopp Watch (8) – Lineup is somewhat picking itself recently with all our injuries. He did his job and got us another 3 points, not much more you can as of the best manager in the world

Summary: Best team in the world bar none, and the boys just keeping going out there and doing the job. A highly skilled team of professional that have learned how to win together, they truly are a pleasure to watch. Magic number now down to 24, that 8 wins to the title and we are still in January, its truly mind boggling. This team is making history and still on course for multiple records, including the number of times they can make Pep have a meltdown. On to Southhampton on Saturday at Anfield, until then YNWA.

And don’t forget we keeps it real around here. 🙂