Liverpool 0-0 Arsenal: Player Ratings – What the media and statistics say

January 14, 2022
Henry Jackson

There was barely a good performance from a Liverpool player in the dire 0-0 draw against 10-man Arsenal, but Joel Matip earned some praise.

The Reds hosted the Gunners in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final tie, with a spicy atmosphere in the air after recent Covid-related events.

Granit Xhaka’s first-half red card looked set to send Liverpool on their way to victory, but it didn’t pan out that way.

Jurgen Klopp‘s men got worse as the minutes ticked by, ponderous on the ball and failing to break down the visitors’ stubborn defence.

Liverpool now have work to do to get to the League Cup final against Chelsea, ahead of next Thursday’s second leg at the Emirates.

Here we compare our player ratings with those from the Liverpool Echo, the Independent, FotMob and the TIA readers.

Frankly, this was a night to focus on the bad performances, given the lack of quality on show.

The worst player according to the average ratings was James Milner (4.8), who is, unfortunately, looking every bit a 36-year-old currently.

TIA’s Joanna Durkan felt the midfielder’s “lack of quick ball movement killed any hopes of shifting a stubborn Arsenal,” also saying his substitution “was a long time coming.”

Next in the reckoning were Trent Alexander-Arnold (4.9) and Takumi Minamino (4.9), both of whom failed to have an impact.

Ian Doyle of the Echo rued Alexander-Arnold’s “inconsistent” corners, as well as saying Minamino was “often hounded out” by Arsenal‘s many defenders.

The Independent‘s Thomas Schlachter touched upon the latter’s “glorious opportunity” in the dying minutes – one he fired into the Kop.

Jordan Henderson (5.0) was fourth in the worst player stakes, as his poor run of form continues.

Durkan felt the captain was “culpable of turning into trouble” and “did not provide the attacking impetus,” which is hard to disagree with.

Liverpool’s best player on the night was Matip (7.0), who managed to at least bring some positives to proceedings.

Doyle praised the centre-back for being “solid in the tackle,” while FotMob noted that he completed 88 percent of his passes and won all three duels he was involved in.