Bournemouth 1-0 Liverpool: Player ratings as Reds slump to shock defeat
Just one week after putting seven goals past Manchester United, Liverpool were stunned as they fell 1-0 to Bournemouth away from home.
The fluidity from that famous performance at Anfield was nowhere to be seen here as Philip Billing’s first-half strike brought Jurgen Klopp’s side crashing back down to earth.
It was a hugely open start to the match with Van Dijk having a header cleared off the line, Dango Ouattara rounding Alisson but firing wide and Cody Gakpo having a goal ruled out for offside before the game even reached the 15-minute mark.
After that, the home side settled into the game well, getting in behind their opponents a number of times, and took an arguably deserved lead just before the half-an-hour mark when Billing turned in a cross from Ouattara.
Liverpool didn’t respond well to going behind, being sloppy with the ball and struggling to create any chances of note as the first half of the clash neared its end, looking more likely to concede again than score.
They almost did go two behind just before the break with Dominic Solanke firing over and a penalty claim being waved away, but just about managed to make it down the tunnel only trailing 1-0 despite looking off their game all over the pitch.
In response to his team’s poor performance, Klopp brought Diego Jota on for Harvey Elliott, and the forward almost made an immediate impact, having an effort well saved by Neto at the start of the second half.
Liverpool hardly kicked on after that though, failing to seriously test the Brazilian goalkeeper again before the hour mark. Klopp made more changes as a result, bringing on veterans Jordan Henderson, James Milner and Roberto Firmino for Fabinho, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Darwin Nunez.
Those changes made an immediate impact when Jota got on the end of a Milner cross and had his effort blocked by the arm of Adam Smith, leading to VAR awarding a penalty. Mohamed Salah couldn’t level from the spot though, firing wide – the first time he has failed to hit the target with a spot kick in the Premier League.
The away side wouldn’t get another major chance to level things after that, failing to cause many problems for a resolute Bournemouth backline in what was an uninspired attacking display from start to finish.
Bournemouth claimed a huge three points that opened up the relegation battle even further, and Liverpool missed a chance to go fourth.
Bournemouth player ratings (4-4-1-1)
GK: Neto – 8/10 – Made one error but some really good saves that more than made up for it.
RB: Adam Smith – 6/10 – Was generally solid at the back and unlucky to give away a penalty.
CB: Jack Stephens – 6/10 – Was poor on the ball at times but did well defensively.
CB: Marco Senesi – 8/10 – Rock-solid at the back and so nearly got a brilliant assist after some lovely touches in the opposition box.
LB: Lloyd Kelly – 8/10 – Wasn’t caused any problems whatsoever by Salah, dealing with him easily.
RM: Dango Ouattara – 8/10 – Should’ve given his side an early lead but made amends when he set up Billing excellently and continued to threaten the Liverpool backline after that.
CM: Joe Rothwell – 6/10 – Worked hard in the midfield battle but didn’t too much of note on the ball.
CM: Jefferson Lerma – 7/10 – Won the ball back a lot and made an excellent clearance off the line.
LM: Jaidon Anthony – 7/10 – Caused Alexander-Arnold some problems but did his best work on the defensive end.
CAM: Philip Billing – 7/10 – Had an excellent first half, scoring and causing huge problems for Liverpool with his running, but faded in the second as Liverpool started to dominate possession.
ST: Dominic Solanke – 6/10 – His finishing left something to be desired, but he worked hard and linked up play well.
Substitutes
Ryan Christie (70′ for Billing) – 6/10
Lewis Cook (81′ for Lerma) – N/A
Ryan Fredericks (81′ for Smith) – N/A
Matias Vina (88′ for Anthony) – N/A
Antoine Semenyo (88′ for Solanke) – N/A
Manager
Gary O’Neil – 8/10 – Set up his side perfectly to ensure they were rock-solid at the back but could cause problems on the counter.
Liverpool player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Alisson- 5/10 – Couldn’t have done much about the Bournemouth goal and didn’t have anything else to deal with.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 4/10 – As is so often the case, was decent on the ball but poor defensively, particularly when he lost his man for the opener.
CB: Ibrahima Konate – 6/10 – Was the better of the two Liverpool centre-backs, generally looking solid and steady.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 4/10 – Missed a few big chances from set-pieces and looked lethargic at the back, being too easily beaten for Billing’s goal. The Dutchman continues to fail to disprove claims that he’s not the same after his ACL injury.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 5/10 – Made some good passes and some sloppy errors.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 4/10 – Didn’t supply his attack or protect his defence before being taken off at half-time.
DM: Fabinho – 4/10 – Failed to control the midfield, giving the ball away a number of times and rarely winning it back.
CM: Stefan Bajcetic – 5/10 – Didn’t make his mark on the game at either end of the pitch for the right or wrong reasons.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 3/10 – Did nothing good from open play and missed a penalty with a pretty shocking effort.
ST: Cody Gakpo – 5/10 – Made some good runs from deep after being moved into midfield at the break but desperately lacked an product.
LW: Darwin Nunez – 5/10 – Struggled to get involved, although that was largely down to the poor service being provided to him by team-mates.
Substitutes
Diogo Jota (45′ for Elliott) – 5/10 – Had a good effort saved straight after coming on but was quiet after that.
Roberto Firmino (66′ for Nunez) – 6/10
Jordan Henderson (66′ for Fabinho) – 6/10
James Milner (66′ for Alexander-Arnold) – 6/10
Fabio Carvalho (88′ for Bajcetic) – N/A
Manager
Jurgen Klopp – 4/10 – Had a long time to figure out how to break Bournemouth down but didn’t come close to doing so, although he wasn’t helped by his players.
Player of the Match – Dango Ouattara (Bournemouth)
Source: 90mins
