Liverpool were far from their best on Saturday, but clinical finishing and a few solid individual displays ensured a 2-1 victory over Leicester City. The Reds’ trip to the King Power followed the trend of their previous two Premier League clashes, having fought for the three points against both Crystal Palace and Brighton. Not since the opening weekend’s 4-0 thrashing of West Ham—who have subsequently proved to be in limbo under Manuel Pellegrini—have Jurgen Klopp‘s side looked wholly convincing. But with goals from Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, Liverpool were able to maintain their perfect record and a place at the top of the table, despite Alisson‘s error handing Rachid Ghezzal a consolation goal. Besides his costly mistake, Alisson was one of Klopp’s standout performers in the East Midlands, with Joe Gomez providing the No. 1 with a formidable shield on his fourth outing at centre-back. Mane and Firmino themselves were impressive in stages, while Andy Robertson provided a welcome thrust down the left flank, combining with James Milner. But how did journalists, statisticians and supporters assess the Reds’ 2-1 win? Below we compare our ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, Sky Sports, ESPN, The Anfield Wrap, WhoScored and the This is Anfield readers: It comes with no surprise that Gomez (8.4) leads the way in terms of average ratings—the 21-year-old was imperious at the back, belying his lack of experience in his new role. Tellingly, no other player was rated at higher than an eight out of 10, with only Mane (7.5) and Robertson (7.2) receiving a rating of seven or higher. Milner (6.9) is the next closest, with Firmino (6.7) not far behind, but it is clear that this was widely considered a below-average performance from the Reds. Alisson (5.4) is perhaps unfairly rated as the worst player from Saturday, although his error did lead to a goal for the Foxes. In terms of statistics, Gomez does not lead the way, with Mane, Firmino and Milner instead the standouts for WhoScored. Mane, who netted the opener to ensure he ended Saturday as the Premier League‘s leading goalscorer, is highlighted for an unusual feat, having won more aerial challenges (four) than all but one player on the pitch: Virgil van Dijk (five). In the creative stakes, no player created more chances for the Reds than Milner (three), though both James Maddison and Marc Albrighton were equally influential for Leicester. And Firmino led the charge from the front for Liverpool, making five successful tackles—the joint-most of any player alongside Harry Maguire. Saturday’s result was one of fine margins, and fortunately Klopp’s side were able to capitalise as they closed out any major opportunities for the hosts and emerge with another three points.<doc-sep>The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Who do Liverpool need to sign to re-claim the title? Keep up with all the Reds news with our free daily newsletter Invalid Email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Jamie Carragher could not believe what Alisson did after the Brazilian gift-wrapped Leicester’s goal against Liverpool. The Reds took a 2-0 lead before the break through goals by Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. And £67million summer signing Alisson was on course to continue his excellent record of not conceding a single goal this season. That was until his outrageous showboating completely backfired on 64 minutes. Virgil van Djik’s backless was straightforward enough for Liverpools new first-choice goalkeeper deal with. But instead he took a poor touch wide and attempted to perform a Cruyff turn. (Image: EMPICS Sport) (Image: EMPICS Sport) He was dispossessed by Kelechi Iheanacho, however, who found Rachid Ghezzal to offer Leicester a glimmer of hope at the King Power Stadium. Liverpool legend and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher could not believe what he had witnessed - particularly after Alisson's showboating against Brighton last week. “All he had to do was clear it,” he said. (Image: REUTERS) (Image: Action Images via Reuters) "Last week at Anfield there were a few cheers when he came out and chipped the ball over the attacking player. "That wasn't good last week and it is even worse today. "He should have been told after last week. He got away with it then but you don't want your goalkeeper doing that." And Liverpool fans on social media agreed, slamming the keeper over his gaffe.<doc-sep>James Maddison's display against Liverpool was so assured it looked like the Leicester midfielder had been playing in the Premier League for years, according to Jamie Redknapp. Despite the 2-1 loss at the King Power on Saturday, the 21-year-old midfielder - who only joined the club from Norwich for an initial £22m in June - still produced a standout performance in the 'hole' against the league leaders. Reds win again despite Alisson gaffe Puel: Second half merited more "He ran the game today in a midfield full of international players and I was surprised he [Claude Puel] took him off with 10 minutes to go as I would have kept him on," said the Sky Sports pundit. 2:27 Leicester 1-2 Liverpool "I thought he was fantastic, 21 years old, fourth game in the Premier League and he looks like he has been here for years. "I was so impressed and was looking forward to watching him today. He is so comfortable on the ball, plays little one-twos, always looking to pass forward. "And also the first to press, wins a lot of balls back high up the pitch and I just thought his imagination and passing in the midfield area, which was so congested, was just brilliant, it really was. I thought he was fantastic, 21 years old, fourth game in the Premier League and he looks like he has been here for years "He was so clever and unlucky not to get his goal, but it was a fantastic tackle by Joe Gomez, the little reverse ball." Maddison was included in the England U21 squad in midweek, but Redknapp thinks he is just the type of player the seniors are currently lacking. "One of the problems we [England] had in the World Cup was we didn't have enough players who could control the ball and pass it," said the former England international and Liverpool midfielder. "And at times we struggled in that area where you think about Luka Modric, who can receive the ball off the line and take it in a No 10 role, which is so hard to do. Image: James Maddison (right) ran the show for Leicester against Liverpool, according to Jamie Redknapp "We do not have many players who can do that in this country and hopefully there are now many more kids like this coming through. "Players that are young and comfortable on the ball like Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho, young English talents who can play and just pass the ball and run with it, just clever passes. "That is what we need and I was so impressed with him today."<doc-sep>
Liverpool bagged themselves another three points with victory at Leicester City this weekend. After starting the season with wins over West Ham, Crystal Palace and Brighton, the Reds showed exactly why they're considered title contenders with their performance at the King Power Stadium. It wasn't a vintage Liverpool showing by any means but Jurgen Klopp's men showed the kind of grit associated with teams who win the Premier League. Mohamed Salah had a massive opportunity to open the scoring early on yet - completely out of character - he missed the target. His blushes were soon spared by Sadio Mane, though, who continued his brilliant start to the season by prodding home past Kasper Schmeichel. Leicester City 1-2 Liverpool Roberto Firmino then opened his account for the campaign by doubling Liverpool's lead in first-half stoppage time, heading home from a corner. The only blot on Liverpool's copybook was the loss of their clean sheet record with Rachid Ghezzal scoring after a terrible error from Alisson Becker. The Leicester goal aside, there was plenty of positives Klopp could take from the game ahead of clashes with Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain. Claude Puel's theory on Milner One cause for optimism was the performance of James Milner, who bagged himself an assist when Firmino headed home his corner. It was a perfect delivery from the Englishman and - in the opinion of Claude Puel - his behaviour before taking the set piece was pivotal in the Foxes' defeat. After the match, Puel claimed that Milner's time wasting before the corner led to his defends losing concentration, Firmino scoring and Leicester losing. “Conceding that goal just before half-time was frustrating,” he bemoaned. “They wasted time to take the corner and we lost our concentration and focus. It was a shame and tough for us after that. “He (Milner) had the experience to take a lot of time to walk over there, and we lost our concentration. “We have a lot of young players and we must lean as we lost this game on small details.” Very interesting from the Leicester manager, to say the very least. It wasn't something that fans picked up on during the match but Milner certainly took his time before the corner. Only Milner himself knows whether it was a deliberate ploy or not, yet Puel certainly believes he used his experience to catch the Leicester players off guard. Regardless of Milner's thought process, though, he found the head of Firmino and it secured a big enough lead to make Alisson's moment of madness irrelevant. It also does the world of good for Milner's statistics with the player enjoying a brilliant start to the season in a very competitive Liverpool midfield. And it could be the little details like that time wasting which not only keep his place in the team but secures wins for Liverpool. Do you think Liverpool will win the league this season? Have your say in the comments section below. News Now - Sport News