Stoke City 0-3 Liverpool: Player Ratings

In recent seasons, Jurgen Klopp has gained a reputation for being a manager that wins the big games, but loses to the smaller teams. But tonight, Klopp proved he could do it on a wet cold Thursday night in Stoke. Liverpool staked a strong claim for top-4 qualification, with a confident 3-0 win over Stoke City at the Bet 365 Stadium.

Goals from Sadio Mane and Mohammed Salah (2) were enough to give the Reds all 3 points. The result leaves Liverpool in 5th place, only two points behind Arsenal, while Mark Hughes’ men have now dropped into 16th place, a worrying 3 points above the relegation zone.

Here’s how the players fared:

Stoke City

Lee Grant: 5.5/10

The 34-year-old started the game in relatively confident fashion but it’s hard to sustain a good performance when your defence seems to let every Liverpool attack through on goal. Grant ended up making 4 saves, and conceded a disappointing 3 goals.

Kurt Zouma: 6/10

The Chelsea loanee tried his best to limit Liverpool’s counter-attacking threat, but he was always overloaded. The Frenchman was still able to win 4 aerials, complete 4 tackles and make 5 interceptions.

Ryan Shawcross: 5.5/10

The Stoke captain tried his best to lead from the back, but he was often found lacking in his positioning.

Bruno Martins Indi: 5/10

Indi was quite easily the weak link of the back three, as Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain regularly ran past the Dutchman, beating him for pace with ease.

Mame Biram Diouf: 5.5/10

Mark Hughes has insisted on playing Diouf at wing-back this season, but the striker was certainly much more comfortable when asked to play at ST. However, the switch came too late for the 29-year-old make any difference.

Darren Fletcher: 6/10

Since arriving at Stoke, Fletcher has adopted more creative responsibility in midfield. Against Liverpool, the 33-year-old completed 21 passes.

Joe Allen: 6.5/10

The Welshman was the one creative spark for the Potters in attack. Allen missed two glorious chances for Stoke, but at least he had the tactical nous to create those opportunities.

Erik Pieters: 5/10

Pieters had his work cut out trying to defend against the 2v1 overloads of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Joe Gomez. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to cope, only making 1 tackle throughout the game.

Xherdan Shaqiri: 6/10

The Swiss winger slowly came into the game but by the time he was firing, the damage had already been done. The 26-year-old completed 2 successful take-ons, completed 25 passes and attempted 2 shots on goal.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting: 5.5/10

Choupo-Moting was a nuisance up front for Lovren and Matip, regularly pressing and challenging them. However, besides that, the Cameroon international didn’t provide much in attack.

Peter Crouch: 6.5/10

In one of only his few starts of the season, Crouch proved he could still be effective at the golden age of 36. The near 7-footer completed 2 successful take-ons, created 1 chance and won an astonishing 18 aerial duels.

Substitutions:

Jese Rodriguez: N/A

The Spaniard did not have enough time to influence the game.

Charlie Adam: N/A

Charlie Adam came on to sure up the midfield in the dying minutes of the game, but the damage had already been done.

Liverpool

Simon Mignolet: 6/10

The Belgian had a relatively quiet game, but he can certainly consider himself lucky that he wasn’t sent off four a foul on Diouf. Despite that, Mignolet only had to make 1 save all game.

Joe Gomez: 7/10

The youngster showed us why he’s so highly rated by Jurgen Klopp and Gareth Southgate. The 20-year-old won all of his tackles, intercepted 3 passes and made 2 clearances.

Joel Matip: 7/10

Liverpool’s best centre-back was certainly stretched at times, but he handled all Stoke could offer. Matip made 7 clearances, intercepted 5 passes and won 8 aerial duels.

Dejan Lovren: 7/10

In contrast to his previous performances, Lovren looked comfortable on the ball and dominant in the air. His positioning was also assured and surprisingly perfect.

Alberto Moreno: 5/10

The Spaniard was given a tough time by Xherdan Shaqiri, as he was dribbled past 3 times. Moreno provided more in attack than he did in defence.

Georginio Wijnaldum: 6/10

Against Stoke, Wijnaldum didn’t set the world on fire, but he was certainly tidy in possession and diligent off the ball. The Dutchman maintained a neat 85% pass accuracy through the game.

Emre Can: 6/10

The German was an industrious presence in the midfield, helping to retain possession for Liverpool. Can made 3 interceptions, completed 47 passes and made 2 tackles, he gave us a truly all-round performance.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6.5/10

The winger has certainly found his form in recent matches and against Stoke, he excelled once again. Chamberlain constantly ran at Pieters and Martins-Indi, causing havoc down the right flank, havoc that opened up space for his teammates.

Sadio Mane: 7/10

Mane got on the scoresheet and looked like a threat all game. His pace stretched Stoke’s back three constantly and kept pushing them into their own penalty box. The Senegalese forward had an excellent game, he completed 5 dribbles, created 4 chances, hit the post, provided 1 assist and scored 1 goal.

Roberto Firmino: 5/10

The Brazilian was not at his best today, he only got involved in the game when his fellow Liverpool attackers were dominating possession.

Dominic Solanke: 7/10

In his first Premier League start, Solanke showed us why he’s such a highly rated talent. Against a physical Stoke defence, Solanke was able to win 4 aerials, complete 1 dribble, create 2 chances and provide an assist. Based on this outing, there’s no doubt that we’ll be seeing the 20-year-old starting more games in the near future.

Substitutions:

James Milner: 6/10

The Englishman brought a calming presence to Liverpool’s build-up play in the last quarter of the game.

Jordan Henderson: N/A

The captain didn’t do much, other than pass the ball around the back in the few minutes he was on the pitch

Mohamed Salah: 8/10

Bewitching, electric and decisive, Mohammed Salah looked like scoring with every shot he had. In fact, he had 2 shots and scored 2 goals. In just a 24-minute cameo, Salah affected the game more than anyone else on the pitch. The Egyptian has now scored 12 Premier League goals in 14 appearances.

Edited by Aakanksh Sanketh