Liverpool were far from their best as they opened the Premier League campaign with a 2-2 draw at Fulham, with Mo Salah one of few to come away with credit.
It is rare, if ever, that Jurgen Klopp questions the attitude of his side.
But after needing goals from Salah and Darwin Nunez to cancel out two efforts from Aleksandar Mitrovic, taking a point from a newly promoted side, the manager did just that.
“On so many positions we didn’t come close to our potential,” he assessed after the game.
So who struggled and who earned a positive review in west London?
Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, the Evening Standard, the i, the Mail, FotMob and the This Is Anfield readers.
It is telling that, of those who started the game, the only player to average over a six-out-of-10 rating was Salah (7.3), who was central to turning the tide in the second half.
The 30-year-old laid on the first equaliser for Nunez and then netted another to make it 2-2, with the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle noting how he “became a threat once found” by his team-mates.
For what it’s worth, while Nunez does not qualify for our ratings having come off the bench, the Uruguayan would have received an average of 7.8 for his game-changing cameo.
Luis Diaz (6.0) was the next-best of the starting lineup, the Evening Standard‘s Malik Ouzia praising him as Liverpool’s “best attacking outlet” in the first half.
Sadly, the lowest rated was Roberto Firmino (4.4), who consistently struggled and, according to FotMob, only touched the ball 33 times in his 51 minutes on the pitch, not registering a shot on goal or chance created.
“[Firmino] tried to become involved by pressing but barely made an impact before being replaced,” was Doyle’s assessment of the No. 9.
It would be no surprise to see Firmino come out of the side for Liverpool’s next game at home to Crystal Palace on August 15, with Nunez primed to take his place in nine days’ time.
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