Brighton 2-3 Liverpool: Player Ratings – Liverpool FC

A much-changed Liverpool continued their Carabao Cup defense at Brighton on Wednesday – and the Reds are through to the last eight after a Cody Gakpo-inspired 3-2 win.

Brighton 2-3 Liverpool

Carabao Cup (fourth round | Amex Stadium
October 30, 2024

Goals: Adingra 81′, Lamptey 90′; Gakpo 46′ 62′, Diaz 84′

Viteszlav Jaros – 8 (out of 10)

A full senior debut for our number 3 goalkeeper who made a massive one on one block after 15 minutes and spread out well to save. This came after he did some good footwork to avoid pressure and challenges in a hectic opening period.

But forget all that – Jaros has a photo for the ages after making a superb fingertip save at the post just after half-time, having moved in the opposite direction a step earlier.

More good work on high balls in the second half and another decent block towards the end, but the rebound couldn't be prevented, and a later deflected rebound couldn't be prevented either.

Conor Bradley – 7

A welcome return to our Northern Irish full-back's availability and straight into the lineup, where he showed plenty of thrust and adventure on the flank, often making infield runs that were unseen from deep.

Struggled a little defensively against Adingra but Brighton have some of the best and fastest wingers so no major damage was done and he carried on throughout.

Jarell Quansah – 6

Game time for the young defender has been rare this season and that may have been reflected in a few early touches, but he was generally positive, up front and quickly overcoming a few tackles when the Reds were pushed so high up the pitch , as he did deepest, but still a good 15 meters into the Brighton penalty area.

In the second half they won some headers at key moments and managed a very good (and agile) block near the post to clear a Mitoma cross late on.

However, with ten minutes left, he also overran the ball to give Brighton a chance that ultimately led to the goal.

He recovered well from the setback, chased Mitoma back and made a great late tackle… and then directed the ball into his own net to make it 3-2 – and was immediately substituted on. Harsh.

Joe Gomez – 8

Strong first half as he made a few key tackles against Brighton's counter-attack, then another normal but important toe-kick to his goalkeeper early in the second half as Brighton tried to move towards goal.

Efficient and tidy, a really good performance where and when Liverpool needed a senior boss.

Andrew Robertson – 6

Time will tell whether this game was the start of a changing of the guard, as some have suggested, as Robbo's declining form should have been the case, but he was captain that night and offered some stability in the face of so much change elsewhere.

Alerted everyone to Brighton's great chance through the middle early on, while Tariq Lamptey pushed him too often for comfort. Had a great chance to score but was able to parry a low shot near the post after a good run.

Towards the end of the game he also made an important and excellent defensive performance at the far post. Defensively he got better, but one wonders if the pace he struggled with was a sign that he would soon be out of the team.

Wataru Endo – 6

A pretty fiery performance when it came to winning the ball back in the middle, but his passing was – unsurprisingly given the lack of rhythm – often safe or backwards, which annoyed Slot on the sidelines on more than one occasion. Beat a routine pass into the box that would have released Cody Gakpo one-on-one.

Gravenberch turned just before the hour mark, but then sent his pass straight to Van Hecke with no one in red around.

Tyler Morton – 6

Centrally along with Endo, and he certainly got involved a lot, but often just a meter off the pace, be it deciding the pass or executing his run in the first half.

However, he got off to a great start in the second round – he threw the pass over the defense, which ultimately served as an assist.

Luis Diaz – 7

The right Diaz is not as unpredictable and relentless as the left version and he had a difficult start with a few mistouches and Kadioglu proved to be a difficult player to avoid while dribbling.

But in the second half we saw the value of Diaz without the ball: Liverpool were under pressure but doubled up with Bradley to stop the constant runs from Adingra and co. He also sparked a three-on-one counterattack after winning the ball, which the Reds somehow squandered, before finishing it off with a low shot off the post.

Cody Gakpo – 9 – Man of the match

Not as a centre-forward as perhaps expected, but back in his now-usual role as a left wing, and he put in a performance strong enough to suggest he could now be the starting option on that wing, even given his goals not taken into account.

Diligent tracking, good hold-up play and always a willing runner as an out ball. The first time it was an absolute rocket, not so much deflected as it was shot with a classic cut into the top corner, and then the second goal was scored with a brilliant low finish from the corner.

Could have had an assist, but Szoboszlai missed the chance – although it wasn't the cleanest pass either.

Coming on at 70 while Diaz stayed on suggests he will also be in the starting lineup on Saturday.

Dominik Szoboszlai – 6

The starting eleven gave reason to believe that Szoboszlai could sit on the wing in the first group of three; Instead, he and Curtis Jones were a two-pronged false nine, pushing forward without a recognized striker on the pitch.

Perhaps Dominik was nominally the chosen “striker” as such, but he certainly didn’t hold his own or play any sort of target role.

Can you scrape off a header? If so, he did so by shooting the ball just wide on an awkward rebound, but beyond that he didn't really cause enough trouble in the final third. I missed an absolute one-on-one sitter, the first contact wasn't clean enough, even if the aforementioned pass wasn't quite nice.

Curtis Jones – 7

Another new role for Curtis, one much closer to the starting positions of his academy days than his senior life, but he adapted diligently to Szoboszlai, pushed high, won the ball back as early as possible and still fell in Midfield back if necessary.

Later, after being substituted, he found himself in deeper midfield again and it immediately seemed impossible to get the ball back.

Substitute

Alexis Mac Allister (for Endo, 63′) – 7 – Decent touches, deep roll. Couldn't chase back fast enough to reach the goal.

Trey Nyoni (for Morton, 63′) – 7 – Apart from an overly adventurous shot on the midfield rotation that gave away possession, he was a good addition to the pitch, moving the ball well and firing a shot wide of the goal.

Darwin Nunez (for Szoboszlai, 70′) – 6 – Not too much went his way, but the usual thing.

Mohamed Salah (for Gakpo, 70′) – 6 – I barely got a kick in the wing.

Ibrahima Konate (on for Quansah, 90′) – n/a – Just to clean up in added time. Was booked immediately (wrong).

Substitutes not used: Kelleher, Van Dijk, Tsimikas, Young

Arne Slot – 8

Well, we won.

Eight changes to the team made it clear where Slot's priorities (rightly) lie, and it's not about giving Brighton an easy run against a tired side at the weekend.

He lined up the eleven so that at least one player would always be in an unusual spot, so it was obvious that this was a game in which he primarily wanted to manage minutes.

The false nine (or just Szoboszlai at the top, however you look at it) didn't really work, but it still created clear patterns, efforts and chances to make it clear that this was a Liverpool team and slot acted.

We need other squad members who are fit and who we can rely on throughout the year so we don't have to complain about team changes, and his replacements strengthen the standard on the pitch as the game progresses.

Questions may be raised about his treatment of Quansah, but the minutes were well managed to ensure that few players from the 'first eleven' played 90 minutes.

In the end it was closer than necessary, but the Reds remain in the competition… and we face the same opponents again in a few days. Lessons learned?