Liverpool

Liverpool player ratings vs Bournemouth: Mohamed Salah blanks and Virgil van Dijk suffers as Reds suffer damaging defeat in top-four race

Neil Jones
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Virgil van Dijk Liverpool 2022-23
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Jurgen KIopp's side missed the chance to boost their Champions League qualification hopes after a miserable performance at the Vitality Stadium

Liverpool blew the chance to move into the Premier League top four as they were beaten 1-0 by relegation-threatened Bournemouth on Saturday.

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Philip Billing's first-half goal gave the Cherries, who started the weekend bottom of the table, a priceless victory, the midfielder slotting home Dango Outtara's low cross after 29 minutes.

Mohamed Salah missed a glorious chance to equalise after the break for Liverpool, firing a penalty off target after Adam Smith had been penalised for handball, as the Reds slumped to their eighth league defeat of an infuriating campaign.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from the Vitality Stadium...

Editors' Picks

  1. Goalkeeper & Defence
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    Goalkeeper & Defence

    Alisson Becker (6/10):

    Helpless for the goal. Not much to do besides.

    Trent Alexander-Arnold (5/10):

    Needed to react quicker as Bournemouth took the lead. Taken off not long after the hour mark.

    Ibrahima Konate (5/10):

    Culpable for the opener as he played Ouattara onside and then failed to stop the cutback. Booked.

    Virgil van Dijk (5/10):

    Sluggish as Bournemouth opened the scoring. Missed two good headed chances in the first half. Far from assured throughout.

    Andy Robertson (6/10):

    Prominent early on but had his work cut out with Ouattara's pace.

  2. Midfield
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    Midfield

    Fabinho (5/10):

    Regressed after a couple of better performances. Too slow and too sloppy, too often.

    Stefan Bajcetic (5/10):

    Struggled physically at times and his distribution was not good enough.

    Harvey Elliott (5/10):

    Struggled to build on last week's impressive performance against United, and was taken off at half-time.

  4. Attack
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    Attack

    Mohamed Salah (4/10):

    On the periphery of things until Liverpool were awarded a 68th-minute penalty. Then blazed it off target. Definitely not his day.

    Cody Gakpo (6/10):

    Looked good when turning and driving with the ball, without finding a killer pass. Blasted a late chance off target.

    Darwin Nunez (5/10):

    Faded after a promising start. Made some poor decisions with and without the ball and was replaced early in the second half.

  5. Subs & Manager
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    Subs & Manager

    Diogo Jota (7/10):

    On at half-time and immediately tested Neto. Won the penalty and played with purpose.

    Roberto Firmino (5/10):

    No impact off the bench this week.

    Jordan Henderson (6/10):

    Brought a little more control than Fabinho.

    James Milner (7/10):

    Helped create the penalty and defended well.

    Fabio Carvalho (N/A):

    Surprise late arrival.

    Jurgen Klopp (5/10):

    Took a risk pairing two teenagers in midfield and it didn't work.