Swansea 0-1 Liverpool: Player Ratings

Henry Jackson

@HenryJackson87

March 16, 2015

Liverpool left the Liberty Stadium with all three points for the first time on Monday night, seeing off Swansea City 1-0 courtesy of Jordan Henderson‘s somewhat fortuitous second-half goal.

Swansea 0-1 Liverpool
Premier League – Liberty Stadium – Monday, 16th March 2015

Goals: Henderson (68)

SIMON MIGNOLET (out of 10)- 8

The Belgian was extremely impressive all evening, making two vital saves in the first-half which kept his side level at half-time.

The 27-year-old was faultless throughout, and although he wasn’t tested at all after the interval, he was still one of Liverpool’s star men.

EMRE CAN- 6

Can didn’t have his best night in a Reds shirt but having him back in defence was welcome. He did look slightly erratic defensively but is still very much needed in the back three.

MARTIN SKRTEL- 7.5

Martin Škrtel's first half by numbers:

97% pass accuracy
9 clearances
100% tackles won pic.twitter.com/9r4MHMmTP7

— Squawka (@Squawka) March 16, 2015

Skrtel’s form has been extremely impressive in 2015, and he was once again a reliable figure from start to finish.

The 30-year-old used the ball well, made countless clearances and simply never put a foot wrong. He is a big reason for Liverpool’s six away clean-sheets in a row.

MAMADOU SAKHO- 7.5

Despite being mocked by the Swansea fans for his supposed clumsiness in possession, the Frenchman was once again at his dominant best.

Admittedly he started shakily, but once he got into the game his passing was superb and he made several superbly timed tackles. A big player for the Reds now and good to have him back after five games out through injury.

JOE ALLEN- 8.5

Allen was undoubtedly Liverpool’s Man of the Match on the night, as his brilliant run of form continued against Garry Monk’s side.

The 25-year-old made some vital tackles, most notably on Bafetimbi Gomis in the first-half, broke up Swansea attacks, ran with the ball and passed thoughtfully throughout. A superb performance.

JORDAN HENDERSON- 7

The vice-captain was not always at his best- his passing was very sloppy in the first-half- but he proved to be the match-winner in the end.

Although his goal was very fortuitous, the desire shown to get to the ball epitomised the way in which the 24-year-old drove his side forward in the second-half.

ADAM LALLANA- 5

The former Southampton man struggled to make any impact on the game, and proved to be very frustrating to watch at times.

The England international was ineffective at both wing-back and as an inside forward, and despite a slight improvement after the break, it was still a poor night for him.

ALBERTO MORENO- 6

The young Spaniard was a fairly anonymous presence in the opening 45 minutes, but he pushed further up the pitch in the second-half and was an attacking outlet. Substituted for Steven Gerrard in the 64th minute.

PHILIPPE COUTINHO- 5.5

Coutinho has been majestic for much of this year, but he was well short of his best form against the Swans.

The classy Brazilian tried the impossible too often, and his passing was sloppy on the whole. He improved when the game opened up, producing a lovely pass for Daniel Sturridge late on, but was well below-par.

RAHEEM STERLING- 6.5

The 20-year-old does still look raw at times, especially when it comes to his decision-making, but his pace was a constant outlet and he worked very hard.

He still looks a little short of his fantastic best, such are our expectations of Sterling these days, but he had a fairly decent evening.

DANIEL STURRIDGE- 5

The Englishman continues to look very rusty since returning from his long injury lay-off, and he didn’t link-up with the likes Coutinho, Lallana and Sterling at all well.

His touch improved as more space appeared following Henderson’s goal, hitting the post in the dying seconds, but we need to see Sturridge go up a couple of gears between now and end of the season.

Substitutes

STEVEN GERRARD (on for Moreno ’64)- 7

The skipper impressed when introduced, bringing a calm to proceedings and using the ball intelligently.

GLEN JOHNSON (on for Lallana ’87)- n/a

No time to make an impact.

BRENDAN RODGERS- 7.5

Swansea sussed Rodgers’ thriving 3-4-3 formation in the first-half, and the Northern Irishman deserves great credit for bringing Gerrard on and changing to a diamond midfield after the break. It made all the difference.

Referee- ROGER EAST- 7

East didn’t have any major decisions to make, and although the stop-start nature of things made it easy to criticise the official, most of his decisions were correct.