Brentford 3-1 Liverpool player ratings: Masterful Mbuemo, wonderful Wissa and calamitous Konate

Brentford 2-1 Liverpool (Konate og 19′, Wissa 42′ | Oxlade-Chamberlain 50′)

Liverpool’s defensive problems continued as Brentford comprehensively beat them 3-1 at the Brentford Community Stadium.

Ibrahima Konate’s own goal opened the scoring, before Yoane Wissa put the Bees 2-0 up at half-time having had two goals disallowed.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain headed home Trent Alexander-Arnold’s cross well as Liverpool threatened a comeback, but Mbuemo bullied Konate to score Brentford’s third late on and secure a deserved win.

Thomas Frank’s Bees are now six games unbeaten and seventh in the Premier League, above Chelsea and directly behind Liverpool.

Virgil van Dijk was hauled off at half-time after a woeful showing, which will not help confidence for Jurgen Klopp’s defence. The Reds are now seven league games without a clean sheet.

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Brentford

• David Raya – Two brilliant early stops from van Dijk and Tsimikas and played with confidence througout. 7
• Mathias Jorgensen – Booked after just two minutes for a clumsy challenge but recovered well. 7
• Ethan Pinnock – Shot at Alisson from point-blank range but made up for it with a last-ditch clearance early in the second half. A composed performance. 7
• Ben Mee – A game unluckily defined by one touch he made and one he didn’t. Konate’s man for his own goal but then offside for Wissa’s first disallowed attempt. 7
• Mads Roerslev – A dependable showing from the wing-back. Solid but not spectacular. 6
• Rico Henry – Worked well down the left to exploit the space behind Alexander-Arnold. 7
• Mathias Jensen – Exquisite cross for Wissa’s goal. Made van Dijk and Thiago look silly early on and had a shot deflected wide. 7
• Christian Norgaard – An impressive showing from the ever-present Dane. Excellent at both ends. 8
• Vitaly Janelt – Did everything asked of him but the quietest performance of Brentford’s midfield trio. 6
• Bryan Mbuemo – Bullied Konate for an excellent goal and was a constant threat on the break. His sensational corners contributed to much of the first-half chaos, including an assist. 9
• Yoane Wissa – Had the ball in the back of the net twice before his header finally crossed the line. Quiet in the second half but wreaked havoc in the first. 8

Substitutes:

• Josh da Silva – 6
• Keane Lewis-Potter – 6
• Mads Sorensen – N/A

BRENTFORD LEAD!

A dangerous corner is turned into his own net by Konate! pic.twitter.com/GLNqbWJsTN

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) January 2, 2023

Liverpool

• Alisson – Kept the scoreline down for Liverpool with great saves from Mbuemo and Pinnock. Particularly good in one-on-ones. 7
• Trent Alexander-Arnold – Outjumped for Wissa’s goal but provided a sensational left-footed cross for Liverpool’s. 6
• Ibrahima Konate – Not the French centre-back’s day. Knocked off his feet too easily for Mbuemo’s goal and unfortunate to score the own goal. 3
• Virgil van Dijk – One of the trio hauled off at half-time having been run ragged. Mbuemo and Jensen left him for dust early on. 4
• Kostas Tsimikas – Missed a sitter in acres of space after 25 minutes and left van Dijk exposed on numerous occasions. 4
• Fabinho – Struggled to get into the game and failed to adequately protect his shaky centre-backs. 5
• Thiago Alcantara – Two good efforts in the second half and some tidy passing as always, but caught out defensively at points. 6
• Harvey Elliott – Booked after just nine minutes for a clumsy challenge on Henry and offered little else in his 45 mins. 4
• Mo Salah – A brilliant pass to put Nunez through after seven minutes was a positive start, but absent thereafter. 5
• Darwin Nunez – Another chaotic performance from the Uruguayan. Spurned an early chance having rounded the keeper well and had a cute finish disallowed, but also missed some good chances. 7
• Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – Should have grabbed an assist for Tsimikas after some excellent work and took his header well. Liverpool’s strongest performer. 8

Substitutes:

• Andy Robertson – 7
• Joel Matip – 6
• Naby Keita – 6
• Curtis Jones – N/A

from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/fcJ2qvr