{"id":8911,"date":"2018-03-07T15:00:51","date_gmt":"2018-03-07T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.friendsofliverpool.com\/?p=8911"},"modified":"2018-03-07T13:20:22","modified_gmt":"2018-03-07T13:20:22","slug":"player-analysis-liverpool-0-0-porto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.friendsofliverpool.com\/2018\/03\/player-analysis-liverpool-0-0-porto\/","title":{"rendered":"Quiet Liverpool Performers on a Drama Free Night at Anfield"},"content":{"rendered":"
Collected a number of high balls and played the ball out well a times – starting to establish himself in the Liverpool goal, another clean sheet.<\/p>\n
Was not as attack-minded as Alexander-Arnold normally is, but defended well on the right side.<\/p>\n
Played one or two good long balls from the back, but looked nervy when he was on the ball – wasn’t troubled too much in an defensive sense.<\/p>\n
Like his defensive partner, he did not instil much confidence – he played one pass straight out of play but won a number of aerial duels.<\/p>\n
Was more willing to go forward than Gomez, and was quick to get back and cover – there was no questioning his commitment even though not everything came off.<\/p>\n
A steady performance, albeit not spectacular, his range of passing was impressive in a more attacking role than normal.<\/p>\n
Was the dominant player in the midfield area – was quick to close down the opponent and the slightly slower pace of the game allowed him to play some really intelligent forward balls.<\/p>\n
As ever, Milner did what was expected of him – his energy shone and his passing was good.<\/p>\n
Given a start and had a decent performance – although he didn’t create too much in an attacking sense, he linked up well with Firmino and gained some much needed match fitness.<\/p>\n
His work-rate was exemplary, he won the ball back all over the pitch and showed glimpses of his quality – was applauded off when he was substituted late on.<\/p>\n
Provided Liverpool with their best goal scoring chance when his shot struck the woodwork in the first-half – was not quite on the same wavelength as his teammates and the ball got stuck under his feet quite often.<\/p>\n
In what is likely to be his last Champions League match, he made one spectacular save to allow his team to leave Anfield with a clean sheet.<\/p>\n
Spent much of the evening hauling down Liverpool players and making crunching tackles – his fight was apparent even if it was for a lost cause.<\/p>\n
Was one of the few retained in the side from the first-leg and produced a fairly stable performance in the centre of Porto’s defence.<\/p>\n
Wasn’t hugely called upon as Liverpool played within themselves but he still led Porto’s back line well.<\/p>\n
Played surprisingly narrow in the back four and that afforded space for Liverpool to attack.<\/p>\n
Was fairly anonymous on the right-side \u2013 he stayed back for much of the game and just covered for his right-back.<\/p>\n
As Porto didn’t know whether to attack or defend, he was kind of caught in the middle a bit – although he was integral in Porto’s sustained possession during the first-half.<\/p>\n
Started reasonably well with some good forward passes but, as with a lot of the players, he simply went through the motions as the match progressed.<\/p>\n
Wasn’t afraid to attack down the left as Porto seemed at their most dangerous when they were counter-attacking.<\/p>\n
Showed some glimpses of quality on the ball but was more or less chasing a lost cause when trying to supply Aboubakar with the ball.<\/p>\n
Had a number of chances, albeit not clear-cut ones, to give Porto the lead on the night, however his poor first touch often let him down.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Liverpool Loris Karius – 6 Collected a number of high balls and played the ball out well a times – starting to establish himself in the Liverpool goal, another clean sheet. Joe Gomez – 6 Was not as attack-minded as Alexander-Arnold normally is, but defended well on the right side. Joel Matip – 6 Played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":6093,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1819],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n