Liverpool produced a wholly mixed display as they once again shone in attack but defensive flaws returned as they drew 2-2 with West Brom.
The Reds went 2-0 up through Danny Ings and Mohamed Salah, before late goals from Jake Livermore and Salomon Rondon assured it was two points dropped for Jurgen Klopp.
With the manager making five changes from the full-strength side that won 3-0 at home to Bournemouth last weekend, this drop-off in quality will perhaps have been expected.
The likes of Joe Gomez, Alberto Moreno and Ings himself all struggled to perform, however, undermining the efforts of Salah and second-half substitute Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain among others.
Any lessons learned from this game will likely be more for Klopp over the summer rather than in the buildup to Tuesday’s clash with AS Roma, but it was a telling display.
But what did the media, fans and statisticians make of the Reds’ 2-2 draw at the Hawthorns?
Below we compare our ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, Sky Sports, ESPN, The Anfield Wrap, Anfield Index, The Redmen TV and WhoScored, as well the This is Anfield readers:
Having netted his 41st goal in a remarkable campaign, it is no surprise to see Salah (7.1) rated as the standout performer once again, despite a largely quiet afternoon.
Ings’ strike clearly boosted his assessment too (6.9), with Sadio Mane (6.8) perhaps the most well-deserving of his high mark.
Virgil van Dijk (6.7) was head and shoulders above the rest of the defence, and it is telling that both Gomez (5.8) and Moreno (4.9) are among the lowest-rated players.
Moreno was deemed the worst of the starting lineup at the Hawthorns, with the left-back the only player not be given a seven-out-of-10 rating by any publication.
Gomez’s ratings varied wildly, with the 20-year-old handed an eight out of 10 by Sky Sports but only four out of 10 from The Anfield Wrap’s John Gibbons, who described him as “very lazy.”
Interestingly, beyond Salah, James Milner is the highest-rated Liverpool player on a statistical level, which contrasts with his modest average (6.4).
Moreno was also rated the worst by WhoScored, with the Spaniard failing to create a single chance, making just one tackle and completing just 76.7 percent of his attempted passes, with only Salah and Ings finding their target with fewer.
The ratings of the This is Anfield readers lower the averages significantly, with Gomez and Moreno both heavily criticised.
They are both likely to drop out of the side when Roma arrive at Anfield on Tuesday, with Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson now firmly established as Klopp’s first-choice full-backs.
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