Liverpool won against Napoli, thanks to a great team effort, but Roberto Firmino was awful the entire game.
Liverpool beat Napoli 2-0 at Anfield to defeat the Italians in the Champions League. But despite snapping the team’s 21-game winning streak, it won’t be enough to win the group.
The Reds needed a 4-0 victory in front of the home crowd at Anfield yesterday evening to knock their opponents off the top of Group A. But they will now have to settle for second-place qualifying. Although, Jurgen Klopp won’t mind considering the way Liverpool’s domestic season has gone.
Over the course of the performance, Liverpool enjoyed a majority of the possession (52%), more shots on target (6 to 2), more significant opportunities created, and more accurate passes made (406 v 366).
Up until the 85th minute of the game, when Mohammed Salah finally broke the scoreless tie to make it 1-0, the two teams appeared to be evenly matched, and the game was mainly unremarkable.
Virgil van Dijk’s last-second shot on goal was stopped by Darwin Nunez in the eighth minute of stoppage time to give the Merseysiders their 2-0 triumph. This was swiftly followed by another opportunity that Darwin Nunez finished off.
Firmino game stats against Napoli
Although Klopp’s team won, one player had a bad game. He will want to forget. Roberto Firmino struggled to have an impact on his position throughout the match.
The Liverpool star’s terrible, lightweight performance was somewhat out of character for his season thus far.
The Brazilian has scored eight goals this season while also providing four assists for his teammates. However, against the Naples team, that form seemed to disappear.
He astonishingly lost 8/9 of his duels (89%) and failed to record a single shot on or off target. The fact that he lost the ball after every 3.6 touches and failed all his dribbling efforts only worsened matters. Four fouls showed that the forward had difficulty maintaining his composure the whole game. (stats via sofascore.com)
Darwin Nunez didn’t enter the game until he took Curtis Jones’ place on the left side of the front three in the 73rd minute. But if Klopp opts to use his 4-3-3 formation once more when Liverpool plays Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League at the weekend, it might be wise to rest Roberto Firmino and play the Uruguayan striker in the centre of the front line instead.
The 2-0 victory over Napoli did not alter Liverpool’s standing going into the Champions League draw. But Klopp hopes the performance may motivate his team to display similarly resolutely when they visit north London on Sunday.
