Football

Liverpool vs Royal Union Saint-Gilloise player ratings: Gravenberch opens his Liverpool account

October 5, 2023 9:58 pm
Liverpool vs Royal Union Saint-Gilloise player ratings: Gravenberch opens his Liverpool account
Photo by Icon sport

  • Liverpool defeat Royal Union Saint-Gilloise 2-0 at Anfield in a dull affair to go two points clear at the top of Group E.
  • The first goal was scored by new boy, Ryan Gravenberch, on the stroke of half time before Diogo Jota added a second in stoppage time.
  • Trent Alexander-Arnold returned from injury to captain the side and lasted an hour before being taken off by Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool player ratings: A comfortable night for the Reds

Alisson 7/10 – Just oozes class and must provide great reassurance to his defenders in front of him. Was forced into a neat save late on to protect his clean sheet.

Trent Alexander-Arnold 7/10 – A good return from injury – it was his long-range effort that brought about Liveprool’s opener.

Jarell Quansah 7/10 – Made some important challenges as the away side grew in confidence in the second half.

Ibrahima Konate 7/10 – Quick across the ground and imperious in the air.

Konstantinos Tsimikas 6/10 – Lacked the quality of Robertson but got up and down the left flank well.

Wataru Endo 5/10 – Slow, sluggish and pretty uninspiring on the ball. Will have to settle for a bench role unless he improves.

Harvey Elliott 6/10 – Buzzed around the pitch but struggled to properly get into the game.

Ryan Gravenberch 8/10 – Scored the opener thanks to a goalkeeping error and drove his team forward.

Diogo Jota 8/10 – The best of Liverpool’s front three and deserved his goal at the end.

Darwin Nunez 5/10 – Somehow missed a sitter from six yards out in the first half and was taken off at half time.

Mo Salah 6/10 – Played like a man who was saving himself for the weekend.

Substitutes

Alexis Mac Allister 6/10 – Didn’t do too much to help Liverpool offensively but his passing was accurate.

Curtis Jones 6/10 – Had a few half chances and looked bright.

Luis Diaz 6/10 – Looked dangerous but was lacking a final product.

Joe Gomez 5/10 – A very sloppy cameo.

Dominik Szoboszlai N/A

Royal Union Saint-Gilloise player ratings:

Anthony Moris 4/10 – Dropped a clanger for Liverpool’s opener which ultimately lost his side the game.

Alessio Castro-Montes 6/10 – Did okay on the right-hand side against Diaz.

Kevin Mac Allister 7/10 – Kept Liverpool’s forwards quiet and impressed directly against his brother.

Christian Burgess 7/10 – Another one who was a rock at the back for the Belgian side.

Koki Machida 6/10  – Made a few sloppy errors in possession but rectified them with some important blocks.

Casper Terho 6/10 – Struggled against Salah at times in the first half but improved in the second.

Charles Vanhoutte 5/10 – Was ran all over by Gravenberch and then also by Jones in the second half.

Cameron Puertas 6/10 – Showed some classy touches but was poor off the ball.

Lazare Amani 7/10 – Slipped in some nicely timed through balls but was let down by those in front of him.

Mohamed Amoura 7/10 – Looked like Royal Union Saint-Gilloise’s most threatening player and got behind the Liverpool defence a few times.

Gustaf Nilsson 5/10 – A pretty nothing performance from the striker.

Substitutes

Kevin Rodriguez 5/10 – Didn’t do an awful lot to alter the course of the match.

Loic Lapoussin 6/10 – Came on and did okay.

Mathias Rasmussen 6/10 – Showed some nice touches.

Noah Sadiki 7/10 – Gave his team more impetus and a second wind.

Ross Sykes N/A

Liverpool vs Royal Union Saint-Gilloise match summary and highlights

Liverpool have made it two wins out of two games in the Europa League this season courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Royal Union Saint-Gilloise at Anfield on Thursday night. The win cements their position as the group leaders in Group E and can secure qualification with two more wins in the upcoming back-to-back with Toulouse.

Despite the tie being sandwiched between two big away Premier League matches, Jurgen Klopp went quite strong with his starting eleven with Mo Salah, Alisson and Trent Alexander-Arnold all playing from the first whistle. Despite that, Liverpool toiled for much of the first half but should have still taken the lead when Darwin Nunez somehow missed an open goal from six yards out.

Just as it looked like the first half was fizzling out, Ryan Gravenberch gave the Reds the lead via a gift from goalkeeper, Anthony Moris. Trent Alexander-Arnold hit a speculative effort from 25 yards out on target which Moris spilled much to the glee of the onrushing Gravenberch who couldn’t have asked for an easier to chance to score his first Liverpool goal.

Liverpool came out quicker for the first 15 minutes after half time but Moris redeemed himself with a string of impressive saves. For the final half an hour, Royal Union Saint-Gilloise had a couple of half chances but never really looked threatening before Diogo Jota made sure of the victory in stoppage time with a cool finish over Moris.

Player of the match: Ryan Gravenberch

It was a night to remember for Ryan Gravenberch, who not only scored his first Liverpool goal but also looked like the best player on the pitch for much of the evening. His driving runs through midfield and his ability to go from box-to-box quickly are going to be a huge asset to Liverpool and he looks every inch a Jurgen Klopp-type player.

Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!