Henry Jackson takes a look at how five of Liverpool’s summer transfer targets performed in the last-16 of the World Cup in Brazil.
ALEXIS SANCHEZ
The Chilean attacker, rumoured to be part of the deal that will see Luis Suarez join Barcelona, saw his impressive tournament come to an end after an agonising penalty shootout to host’s Brazil.
The 25-year-old cancelled out David Luiz’s opener with a very fine finish, but saw his spot-kick saved by Julio Cesar.
Sanchez had a pass completion rate of 81 per cent and had two attempts on goal, scoring one. His 8.3 rating was the highest in the game, outlining the threat he posed with his pace and trickery throughout.
XHERDAN SHAQIRI
Shaqiri, a Liverpool target for a few months now, saw his tournament end in heartbreaking fashion, as his Switzerland side were beaten by Angel di Maria’s late goal in extra-time to send Argentina through instead.
The 22-year-old Bayern Munich winger always looked his side’s most likely chance of breaking the deadlock, completing three successful dribbles and having four efforts on goal.
The diminutive wide man has shown enough at this tournament to suggest he would add great quality to the Reds’ side were he to sign this summer. He has goals, speed and unpredictability in abundance.
RICARDO RODRIGUEZ
Rodriguez has undoubtedly been one of the standout full-backs at this World Cup, but like his teammate Shaqiri, he saw his dream end against Argentina on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old kept the dangerous Di Maria quiet throughout, and although it was the defensive side of his game that was most noticeable, he also displayed an element of class and intelligence in attacking areas.
Rodriguez won every single one of his aerial duels, made six tackles and had a passing accuracy of 74 per cent. His 8.4 rating was also the highest in the Switzerland team.
MARCOS ROJO
Rojo is another left-back Liverpool have been strongly linked with, and his Argentina side progressed to the quarter-finals in place of Shaqiri and Rodriguez’s Switzerland.
The 24-year-old was one of Albiceleste‘s better players on the day, showing a dogged defensive style but also plenty of attacking thrust.
He won four tackles in the game, completed 82 per cent of his passes and saw one attempt on goal fly over the crossbar in the second-half.
His 100 touches was the fourth highest in the match, but he did only win a third of his aerial duels.
DIVOCK ORIGI
19-year-old Origi is expected to join Liverpool this summer, but return to Lille on a season-long loan, and he showed what a prospect he is in a superb game between Belgium and USA.
The Belgian showed pace, power and an awareness that is often lacking in strikers of his age, and although he is still very raw in some aspects of his game, his potential is huge.
He had five attempts on goals, including one in the opening minute that was saved by an inspired Tim Howard, successfully completed four dribbles and had a highly impressive pass completion rate of 93 per cent.
39 touches of the ball shows he doesn’t get too involved in the build-up play much, however, while he only managed to win 17 per cent of his aerial duels.
Despite this, he impressed greatly in place of Romelu Lukaku.
(All statistics via WhoScored.com)
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