Liverpool Player Ratings vs. Arsenal

Liverpool won an away game at Arsenal for the first time in 11 years as teenage debutant Ignasi Miquel deflected a clearance off teammate Aaron Ramsey and into the Arsenal net in the 78^th minute. Luis Suarez then sealed the victory for Liverpool in the 91st minute.

The game turned in the 70^th minute when another Arsenal teenager Emmanuel Frimpong, also making his first Premier League start for his club, was given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card for an unwise tackle against Lucas Leiva.

That move also coincided with Liverpool’s simultaneous substitutions of Luis Suarez for Andy Carroll and Raul Meireles for Dirk Kuyt, the combined effect of which resulted in additional room in midfield for Liverpool to get creative, which they immediately did.

Suarez and Meireles seemed to have an innate understanding of each other, and the pairing breathed some life into what was an uninspired, stagnant Liverpool offense. On the goal, Suarez flicked the ball on to Meireles just outside the area to the keeper’s left before continuing his run into the box. 

Meireles was guilty of holding onto the return pass a step too long, forcing Suarez into an offside position and, had the flag been properly raised, the goal would not have stood. As it was, Miquel from a slightly trailing position stuck his left leg around Suarez to attempt to kick the ball clear, except he found the chest of Ramsey, as he closed in on Suarez from the top of the box. The deflection carried the ball into the back of the net, and Liverpool had the life it needed.

The pair would team up again in second-half stoppage time as Lucas fed a diagonal pass into the box for Meireles, who then calmly slipped the ball just beyond the desperate reach of Thomas Vermaelen to Suarez, who cheekily slotted it home for the final 2-0 margin.

Prior to the substitutions it was a very disjointed performance, carrying over from the Sunderland game. What is clear is that the team is a long way off from the beautiful pass-and-move football envisioned by Kenny Dalglish, and after two games the lack of familiarity among the players is apparent, particularly in midfield. 

Adam and Jordan Henderson seem to be having a hard time figuring out how to play with the rest of their teammates, and, again today, Liverpool’s attempts to link passes through the middle suffered for lack of cohesion.

Give credit to the young Arsenal squad however, as their defense and midfield did tremendous jobs of thwarting the rare Liverpool attack. Frimpong, in particular, settled down nicely after picking up a silly yellow card in the 8^th minute for squaring up Henderson on a throw-in and preventing the restart of play. It was a naïve booking, one of several inexperienced decisions by the youngster, but in all fairness to him, he showed a good deal of poise on the ball and did force Pepe Reina into a tough save off a nice solo effort in the 30^th minute.

Arsenal were more than a bit unlucky to suffer the own goal, but really showed little potential in attack before that, and once reduced to ten men the outcome always seemed inevitable. 

For Liverpool this is a good victory, but there isn’t much positive to take away from this game beyond an all-round stellar defensive effort and the continued brilliance of Suarez. As usual, Liverpool player ratings follow, feel free to weigh in with your own ratings and observations.

Pepe Reina had a lot less to do today than he did last week, in part due to an impotent Arsenal attack, but also in large part due to the solid back four protecting his goal. The few times he was tested, he proved more than up for the challenge, stopping Frimpong’s low bullet in the 30^th minute and punching clear a cross in first-half stoppage time. Grade 8

Martin Kelly had a quiet day at Right Back, which is actually an improvement over the performance of last week’s starter John Flanagan. He vindicated Dalglish’s decision to start him on Saturday, and perhaps calls into question last week's benching in favor of Flanagan, despite being fit. His quiet day was, to some extent, due to the dreadful performance by out of form and out of favor Arsenal striker Andrei Arshavin. One cannot critique Arshavin’s performance, however, without giving credit to the job done by Kelly, with help from his midfielders, in making life miserable for the Russian. Grade 7

Jamie Carragher had a solid day in the back, didn’t really have much work to do but what little he had, he handled with aplomb. Grade 6

Daniel Agger was not as effective getting forward against Arsenal, in large part because Liverpool’s midfield play was worse than it was last week at Sunderland, if that were even possible. He helped keep Van Persie from cutting inside onto his favored left foot whenever the Arsenal forward drifted wide, but was perhaps was more effective as a part of the entire back unit, which was stellar. Grade 6

José Enrique has settled in quite nicely at Anfield, and today’s performance against Arsenal is a resounding affirmation of Dalglish’s decision to sign him from Newcastle. Arsenal will be disappointed with Theo Walcott’s game today, and fault Walcott all you like, but a lot of credit needs to go to Enrique for largely making him invisible on the pitch. 

In addition to his defensive brilliance, Enrique has also begun to show a bit of the attacking prowess for which he was known at Newcastle. In the 20^th minute he linked up with Carroll on a cross into the box which the latter then headed at goal, forcing a brilliant diving save from Arsenal custodian, Wojciech Szczesny. Grade 9

Jordan Henderson once again had a forgettable game and simply isn’t ready to be a Liverpool starter. I still believe he has a great deal to contribute to this club before all is said and done, but on present form he does not deserve to be starting, certainly not ahead of Kuyt or Meireles and arguably not ahead of Aquilani. At best, he will make a nice second-half defensive substitution, as that seems to be the role he’s best suited for. He’s not a playmaker and for the second week in a row seemed to struggle for fitness down the stretch. Grade 4

Lucas Leiva was his usual gritty self today, putting in timely tackles and going all in on 50-50 balls. One such play resulted in the Frimpong red card and proved in hindsight the turning point of the game.  Everyone will focus on the red card, but we should not lose sight of the fact that had it not been for full commitment in going for the ball, there would be no red card. He did get exposed for pace by Samir Nasri in the 35^th minute and picked up the softest of yellow cards in the 45^th minute, but all-in-all another solid performance. He did have a very big hand in creating the opportunity for the second goal, however, with his diagonal pass to Meireles, allowing him to get behind the defense and set the table for Suarez Grade 7

Charlie Adam had another disappointing day today in midfield. He wasted two set piece opportunities within the first 25 minutes, deflating expectations with disappointing crosses.  He also tried speculatively to chip Szczesny twice without effect and gave away a cheap corner in the 42^nd minute. Grade 5

Stewart Downing seems to be settling nicely into the Left Winger role after an up-and-down performance last Saturday. While there were no memorable plays, he looked threatening at times and did a solid job of keeping possession, while tracking back to help out in defense as well. Grade 6

Andy Carroll (70’) once more struggled to make an impact for his new club. Outside of his 20^th minute header off the Enrique cross, he was effectively neutralized by Vermaelen, with the latter winning seemingly every ball sent Carroll’s way in the first half. He did come out with a bit more purpose after the interval but had little to show for the effort. Rather than relegating him to the role of knocking down crosses for trailing teammates, perhaps Dalglish should have him attack the crosses and try to get them on target instead. Grade 5

Dirk Kuyt (70’) had a less than inspired performance on Saturday, despite getting the nod ahead of a resting Luis Suarez. His play (like that of Carroll and Downing) suffered a bit from the malaise in midfield, but he was also guilty of giving away the ball too many times. His defensive effort never waned, however, and salvages for him a decent grade in the end. Grade 6

Subs

Suarez (Carroll) had an immediate impact on the game once he came on. His intelligent runs into space opened up the Arsenal back four just a bit more, relieving a bit of pressure on the midfield and creating room for linking passes between himself, Adam and Meireles. His pairing with Meireles in particular was special, resulting in the two goals. Simply put, he was the difference in today’s game.  Grade 8

Meireles (Kuyt) showed perhaps a little bit of rust on his timing with Suarez on the Arsenal own goal, lingering a bit too long before releasing Suarez into the box. Fortunately, offside was not called and the goal stood. More than redeemed himself on the later square ball sitter to Suarez to seal the game. Grade 6.5