Swansea City
Lukasz Fabianski – 8
Performed well in the Swansea goal and was reliable throughout – confidently claimed crosses and made a sensational tip over the bar to deny Salah.
Kyle Naughton – 7
Was kept busy on the right side – defended resolutely with numerous blocks and interceptions but also offered an attacking threat.
Mike van der Hoorn – 7
Played on the right of the back three and impressed – he was the more tested of the two Dutch defenders on the pitch but stuck to his task and ensured Swansea hung on.
Federico Fernandez – 7
Was involved in Swansea’s goal – his physicality played a big part in frustrating Liverpool’s attackers in front of goal.
Alfie Mawson – 8
Scored Swansea’s goal when he reacted quickest from a knock-down after a corner and slotted the ball past Karius – his work ethic and quality shone; he certainly has a lot of potential.
Martin Olsson – 7
Provided a few testing crosses from the left and was able to show his pace as he covered the entire flank.
Sung-Yeung Ki – 6
A few nice touches on the rare occasions Swansea threatened but, like all of his team-mates, this was an effort all about guts and commitment and he did not shirk his workload.
Leroy Fer – 7
In the centre of the Swansea defence, his tackles and interceptions were vital – played a couple of defence-splitting passes towards Ayew.
Sam Clucas – 7
Provided the Swansea attack with a number of good passes and always looked a threat on the ball.
Nathan Dyer – 6
Found it difficult to link effectively with Ayew, and a couple of first-half flicks gifted Liverpool the ball in dangerous areas, but his pace was a useful weapon.
Jordan Ayew – 7
Had a first-half strike ruled out and was the one Swansea player who looked like he could make something happen in the Liverpool area – just didn’t see enough of the ball.
Liverpool
Loris Karius – 6
Had fairly little to do – wasn’t at fault for the goal but was beaten again at his near post by an Ayew shot that was ruled out.
Joe Gomez – 5
Dealt with Olsson well but did get caught out of position on a few occasions – his mistake led to the corner from which Swansea scored with; there is definitely potential but at the moment too many of the same kind of errors.
Joel Matip – 5
Was erratic at times in and around the Liverpool penalty area – hasty clearances, poor touches, and a foul that led to him receiving a yellow card; not his best evening.
Virgil van Dijk – 6
Came close to doubling his goal tally with another header from an Oxlade-Chamberlain cross – defensively he wasn’t really asked to do much.
Andy Robertson – 6
Played well in the first-half but come the second, Dyer had started to get the better of him – his attacking runs and crosses were therefore limited after half-time.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 4
Apart from a few – and I mean one or two – searching forward balls towards Firmino, he did fairly little.
Emre Can – 5
His performance epitomised Liverpool’s evening – nothing quite went his way. Initially, he played well and started the job of breaking down a stubborn Swansea defence but soon enough he became more and more frustrated which did no one any good.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6
Pressed Swansea when they were in possession but when he had the ball it was all too predictable and pedestrian.
Mohamed Salah – 5
Had a few goalscoring opportunities but wasted them – nothing quite came off for him and it was possibly one of his quietest matches this season.
Sadio Mane – 4
Sloppy passing and careless finishing meant he had another below-par match – these types of performances are becoming slightly too frequent.
Roberto Firmino – 5
Wasn’t given much service and was crowded out by the Swansea defence – his header almost snatched a late equaliser but it rebounded back of the post.
