Football News

    The Reds’ most potent gamechanger strikes again: Full player ratings as Liverpool squeeze by Norwich

    By Muhammad Butt

    Published: 19:41, 15 February 2020

    After a tense night of football, Liverpool squeaked by Norwich 0-1 at Carrow Road.

    The win puts Liverpool within 15 points of their first Premier League title for 30 years but Norwich gave them a good game.

    Here’s how the players rated at Carrow Road:

    Norwich

    Tim Krul – 8 – Made some solid saves, including a heart-stopping second-save from Naby Keita on the rebound from a Salah effort. Could do nothing about Mané’s goal.

    Max Aarons – 3 – Ran well but wasn’t at his best offensively and was caught completely out of position on Mané’s goal. Reacted slowly, too.

    Cristoph Zimmerman – 4 – A colossal display spoiled by a shockingly soft bit of defending on a simple Henderson long-ball. Claimed Mané shoved him in the back but in truth he wildly misjudged the ball and gave Mané the chance to bury Norwich which he of course took. All his hard work undone by one moment of weakness.

    Grant Hanley – 7 – Should have done better with a fantastic chance after a second-half corner, but in general he defended very well.

    Sam Byram – 5 – Overstretched for a stray ball and injured his hamstring. Subbed off early.

    Alex Tettey – 8 – Defended well, making a game-high 5 interceptions. Smacked the ball off the post with a speculative shot in the second-half.

    Kenny McLean – 7 – A combative display highlighted with a gorgeous arrowed pass in the first-half that should have seen Norwich open the scoring. Won possession a game-high 13 times.

    Ondrej Duda – 5 – Tried to link Norwich’s attacks but was mostly suffocated by the Liverpool midfield.

    Lukas Rupp – 3 – Completely whiffed the best chance of the first-half, hesitating when he had the Liverpool goal at his mercy before underhitting his pass to Teemu Pukki and allowing Alisson to intervene. You don’t get chances like that at Anfield, especially not this season, and Rupp blew it.

    Todd Cantwell – 7 – Norwich’s brightest attacking talent. Never afraid to take Liverpool on and bristling with energy. Made more tackles than any of his team-mates (4) and created more chances (2) as well. Will almost certainly be snapped up once Norwich go down.

    Teemu Pukki – 5 – Quiet despite some positive movement (that led to a late shot which he buried down Alisson’s throat). Largely blameless in Norwich’s big miss but he could have run wider.

    Substitutes:

    Jamal Lewis (for Byram 27′) – 8 – Came off the bench and instantly became Norwich’s key defender. Made a massive 7 clearances, 3 tackles, 1 interception and 1 block. Really impressive.

    Emi Buendia (for Rupp ’83) – n/a – Came on too late to have a serious impact.

    Josip Drmic (for Tettey 84′) – n/a – Entered the game late.

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    Liverpool

    Alisson – 8 – A normal performance punctuated with a nerveless intervention to dead a Norwich attack despite facing two attackers. Dove between Rupp and Pukki to palm the ball away when a goal looked certain. A colossal bit of goalkeeping that gave him the most clean sheets in the Premier League this season even though he missed months with an injury. A magnificent goalkeeping machine.

    Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5 – Largely out of sorts today. Never lacked for ambition (had 112 touches, more than anyone else on the pitch) but couldn’t find the range on his passes and crosses.

    Joe Gomez – 7 – Solid. Handled Norwich’s attacks with absurd ease.

    Virgil van Dijk – 7 – A solid display at the back, rebuffing Norwich’s mobile attack.

    Andrew Robertson – 8 – Torched Max Aarons and created more chances (4) than any of his team-mates.

    Jordan Henderson – 8 – The captain was having an ordinary night (albeit when pushed forward he did help up the tempo of the game) until a sensational long ball broke the Norwich defence in two and allowed Sadio Mané to score.

    Gini Wijnaldum – 5 – A decent performance, but nothing more than that. Subbed off after an hour.

    Naby Keita – 6 – Made more tackles than anyone on the pitch (5) but a staggering miss on the hour mark is all people will remember. Thumped a rebounded Salah shot into the ground, allowing Krul to make a save.

    Mohamed Salah – 6 – Let fly with 4 shots but just couldn’t get one by the Norwich defenders despite his excellent movement.

    Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 5 – Never really got into the game as a winger. Taken off on the hour mark.

    Roberto Firmino – 7 – Ineffective with his shooting, didn’t press that supremely, but gets a 7 because his rolling turn pass in the first-half was a gorgeous moment of magic in a game sorely lacking for that exact quality. An artist who is always worth watching.

    Substitutes:

    Fabinho (for Wijnaldum 60′) – 6 – Added little himself but allowed Henderson to push forward and influence the game more.

    Sadio Mané (for Oxlade-Chamberlain 60′) – 8 – Upped the tempo of the match significantly when he came on. Added more bite to proceedings and scored the winning goal with a sublime turn and strike. A fantastic return from injury for Liverpool’s most potent gamechanger.

    James Milner (for Keita 84′) – n/a – Came on late.

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