Arsenal 0-2 Liverpool: Player Ratings

Written by bobbehfirmino (Twitter)

Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool make it four wins from five games and progress into the Fourth Round of the Emirates FA Cup, beating an Arsenal side who have one win in seven.

Alisson Becker -7.Unlike recent games, Alisson Becker had his work cut out for him today. Against Burnley and Newcastle especially, Alisson didn’t need to really do anything. However, he was called upon several times, mainly from Kai Havertz this time out at the Emirates. He did nothing wrong in that department, and was, yet again, crucial to our build-up and resistance of press today. Alisson made six saves, seven long balls and nine recoveries.

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 8. Captaining the side today in Virgil van Dijk’s absence, Trent played another classic in a Liverpool shirt today. The form doesn’t stop for Alexander-Arnold at the moment, he has put in consistent world class performances for around three straight months. If Kylian Mbappe is to join Liverpool in the summer, you’d have to believe Trent will play a huge part in his acquisition. Trent put the ball in for our opener, right in the danger zone, off Jakub Kiwior’s head and into Ramsdale’s net. He moved into midfield when Jones and Elliott were taken off for Bobby Clark and Conor Bradley and continued his spectacular performance.

Ibrahima Konate - 9 (MOTM). It is the second time in just four games that Ibrahima Konate has earned my Man of the Match, the other also coming against Arsenal in the 1-1 draw at Anfield in the Premier League. Konate was imperative in our efforts to keep a clean sheet, especially towards the end when Gabriel Martinelli came on. He won all of his duels, two blocks, two clearances and two interceptions. A near perfect Konate performance.

Jarell Quansah -8. Quansah is proving game-in, game-out that he is more than ready and capable for this level of football, having put on solid Premier League, domestic cup and Europa League performances in just his first professional season. And this time out, he has silenced Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Kai Havertz, Reiss Nelson, Eddie Nketiah, Emile Smith Rowe and Leandro Trossard. You get the point. He also outperformed the so-called ‘best centre back partnership in the league’ William Saliba and Gabriel. It is so exciting seeing Quansah go from strength to strength and no one knows how far he’ll go.

Joe Gomez - 7. It was unclear whether it would be Joe Gomez starting again, or whether a chance would be given to Luke Chambers or Owen Beck, who has just been recalled from Dundee, however he was banned for today after picking up a suspension in the Scottish domestic cup. But Gomez put in another shift today, and kept Saka quiet for the second time in fifteen days, although that’s not hard in his current form.

Alexis Mac Allister - 6. Mac Allister played a decent game in his first start since injury. The midfield clearly struggled in the first half to deal with Arsenal’s pressure, but as we grew in confidence, as did the midfield, but Mac Allister was still taken off on the hour mark. He had played just fifteen minutes (vs Newcastle) before his start at the Emirates, so a slow start could be excused this time out.

Cody Gakpo - 6. Starting in the midfield again, Gakpo was largely ineffective for most of the game. I originally gave Gakpo a 5, but I gave him a +1 because of his spin-turn and pass to Trent in the first half, who struck the bar with his effort. Some thought Gakpo would play on the wings with Elliott in the midfield, but that turned out to not be the case and Gakpo was substituted for Jota on the hour mark.

Curtis Jones -7.Jones was the outlier in that midfield, receiving one rating above the rest for his decent midfield display, but also due to his skill on Ben White in the first half, which somehow didn’t result in a booking. After snatching the ball out of White’s grasp, Curtis Jones tried a scoop turn to take the ball past the English defender and was taken out, almost like a WWE move. As usual, Jones completed almost all of his passes, with a completion rate of 94%. He also created a chance and had a shot off target.

Harvey Elliott - 6. Elliott started decently in the first half, unlike most of the rest of the team, creating a chance, having a shot and completing all but one of his passes. He also took a set piece off of Trent in the first half after a couple of overhit balls, and sent it straight into the danger zone. However, as the rest of the team came out decently in the second half, Elliott was mostly anonymous on the wing and was substituted.

Darwin Nunez - 7. After a mixed performance against Newcastle on New Year’s day, it was unclear whether he would start at the Emirates, but he was named up top to begin with and found himself off the left quite a lot in the second half. He went close to scoring on more than one occasion but missed the target in all of them. He also created three chances.

Luis Diaz - 9. It was very pleasing to see Luis Diaz get back to his very best against Newcastle and, as most people were getting carried away, I made the point of taking it one game at a time, and he has shown the same level performance this time out. He has only missed out on a successive Man of the Match thanks to Konate’s brilliance, but nothing should be taken away from his amazing performance. Other than the perfectly taken finish in the last minute of the game, finding Aaron Ramsdale’s top left corner without even having to look, the Colombian completed all three of his attempted dribbles and seven duels.

Ryan Gravenberch -7. Gravenberch’s brief run of poor ratings come to an end with his great impact off the bench. He wasn’t crucial towards the win or anything, but his two completed long balls, one successful dribble and one tackle won was a nice sight to see. Let’s hope he can play well against Fulham on Wednesday and make it two good performances in a row.

Diogo Jota - 8. Diogo Jota makes it three games from three back from injury with a goal involvement with the assist to Diaz’s goal in the last minute. It has been a breath of fresh air since his return and has added a new dynamic to the attack which has slightly struggled lately. Jota created two chances in the half an hour he was on the pitch, and it is safe to say he looks sharp enough to start on Wednesday.

Conor Bradley - 8. One of the two youngsters to come on with fifteen minutes to go, Conor Bradley made a huge impact in seeing out the win, winning a tackle, making a clearance and making a recovery. He also won two ground duels and a foul. Bradley was warming up to come on in the first half when Quansah went down with an injury but didn’t get his opportunity until the last moments of the game and made a massive impact.

Bobby Clark -7.Clark also put in a satisfactory performance off the bench, completing 100% of his passes, 100% of his long balls, making a clearance, two recoveries and picking up a yellow card, stopping Rice’s attack and taking one for the team. If they get another opportunity on Wednesday I am confident they will take it.

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