Liverpool’s Carabao Cup player ratings vs Striker sent off Southampton as debutants shine but £30m star fails to impress

Liverpool made it through to the Carabao Cup third round with victory over Southampton.

The Reds, yet again, were nowhere near their best, but they got the job done and maintained their 100% winning record.

Goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike got them over the line, and here is how the players rated at Anfield.

Defence

Giorgi Mamardashvili: 7 – The Georgian shot-stopper made his official debut for the club and proved that Liverpool still have a very reliable back-up keeper. He made a very good save to deny Adam Armstrong in the first half, while looking confident and comfortable throughout. Could do nothing about the goal.

Jeremie Frimpong: 5 – Considering his usual attacking threat and the level of opposition, Frimpong had a very lacklustre evening. Was not troubled defensively, but failed to do anything of note in attack. A very quiet game for the £30m man as he failed to impress.

Giovanni Leoni: 7 – A very solid and confident debut from the Italian, one in which fans absolutely loved. Leoni was composed, excellent on the ball and showed shades of a young Virgil van Dijk. Unfortunately, stretchered off with an injury, hopefully nothing serious.

Joe Gomez: 4 – A very poor game from Gomez and certainly looked the worse of the two centre-backs, with Leoni being a lot less shaky. He was sloppy on the ball and was at fault for giving the ball away that led to the Southampton goal. Based on the two centre-backs in this game, he is no longer ‘first reserve’.

Andy Robertson: 5 – Similarly to Frimpong, Robertson did not have a bad game but just failed to do anything of note. He was never really troubled defensively, but also offered very little going forward.

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Midfield

Wataru Endo: 5 – Not the most ‘typical’ Endo performance in the world, but still had an OK game. His poor header, however, was the reason the Saints scored, with this mistake coming under no pressure whatsoever. A very rare mistake from the Japanese international.

Trey Nyoni: 5 – A fairly quiet game for the young man, not something he would have wanted as he tries to impress Arne Slot. Still looked comfortable on the ball and certainly showed signs of potential, especially in the second half when he was moved into a deeper role.

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Curtis Jones: 5 – Played almost an hour and never really got out of first gear. Everything looked comfortable for the scouser, but he failed to do anything of note in the final third.

Attack

Federico Chiesa: 8 – One of Liverpool’s best players on the night. Forced the mistake for the first goal with his relentless press and still had the composure to find Isak in the middle. Also did well to assist the second, and never stopped running all night. Excellent performance from the Italian.

Alexander Isak: 7 – Almost had the dream start but was denied his first goal early on after an excellent save from Alex McCarthy. He did get his moment, though, and found the back of the net from close range a little later on, as well as looking like he is getting sharper by the minute. Just the 45 minutes in this game but plenty more to come.



Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Rio Ngumoha: 6 – Definitely one of the more exciting players to watch, and the fans chanted his name throughout, showing just how well they thought he did. He always looked to take his man on, especially in the second half, and it is very clear that he has a bright future ahead.

Substitutes

Hugo Ekitike: 5 – An excellent cameo off the bench from the Frenchman that saw him rewarded with a goal, but his, quite frankly, ridiculous red card bringing his rating down. Second yellow for taking his shirt off means he will now miss the next round of the competition.

Conor Bradley: 5 – Looked comfortable at right-back when coming on and allowed Frimpong to move further forward. Just like most substitutes, though, he was unable to do anything impactful.

Jayden Danns: 5 – Worked hard to be fair to him, but also not given much time to make a real difference.

Milos Kerkez: N/A – Came on for the last 10 minutes for the injured Leoni. Did not do anything of note.