League Cup Finalists dominate Premier League Team of the Week
Sometimes it has how players and teams react from setbacks that can define their careers. For the Liverpool players that were cruelly denied League Cup glory on Sunday, they had the chance to exact some revenge against Manchester City at Anfield on Wednesday, and while their 3-0 win may not have any great effect on the rest of their own season, it may have wider implications for their future under Jurgen Klopp.
Two of Liverpool’s best performances under Klopp have now come against Manchester City, although some will argue they lost the fixture that really mattered on Sunday. In their two league fixtures, however, Liverpool have scored seven goals to City’s one.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side failed to use their League Cup success as a springboard to get their season back on track, while heartbreak had the opposite effect on the Liverpool players. You only need to see Jordan Henderson’s reaction to Jon Flanagan’s crunching tackle on former teammate Raheem Sterling to see what the mood in the Liverpool camp.
In fact, Flanagan, who is out of contract at the end of the season, is one of five Liverpool players that made the Premier League Team of the Week. As well as accepting any opportunity to show Sterling what is thought of the winger on Merseyside, he completed a game-high 12 tackles and interceptions combined.
Just behind him was Emre Can (11 tackles and interceptions combined), who shone in midfield, garnering a WhoScored rating of 8.41 that was enough to form a midfield four that included James Milner and Adam Lallana in the Team of the Week.
It was Lallana, who arguably had his best performance in a Liverpool shirt, that claimed the WhoScored man of the match award (9.85), and in doing so, the highest rating of any player to have featured in the Premier League in midweek. The England international was dominant on the left-flank, who along with Nathaniel Clyne, gave Jesus Navas and Pablo Zabaleta a torrid time. Unsurprisingly, the City duo finished with the two lowest ratings of the evening.
Completing the Team of the Week was Roberto Firmino, who chipped in with his seventh goal and seventh assist of the league campaign. In fact, the Brazil international, who took his time to settle following his big money move from Hoffenheim in the summer, has now played a direct hand in eight goals in his last five league matches (five goals + three assists).
