Liverpool put in a strong display at Anfield against Stoke as the Potters were dispatched in a 4-1 victory. Jon Walters gave Stoke an early lead before Adam Lallana and Roberto Firmino sent Liverpool into the break the happier side.
A Gianelli Imbula own goal and Daniel Sturridge’s first Premier League goal of the season ensured that the Reds spread festive cheer all around Anfield. Stoke did trouble the Reds in the opening 20 minutes, but Jurgen Klopp’s men soon asserted their dominance to come away with the three points.
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Here’s how each player fared in the match.
Liverpool
Simon Mignolet – 6/10
He should have done better than to just meekly palm Walters’s header into the goal. He made a crucially brilliant save off Joe Allen to prevent Liverpool from going 2-0 down.
Nathaniel Clyne – 6/10
He was steady defensively though he could have done a bit more offensively. Basically, it was just another day in the office for Clyne.
Dejan Lovren – 5/10
In the first half, we saw the Lovren Liverpool fans never want to see. He was uncertain, he was getting bullied and he was making terrible decisions. He improved in the second half, but that was felt more due to Stoke being as awful as they were.
Ragnar Klavan – 6/10
He was bullied by Walters early in the first half. But he kept his wits about him after that and played some incisive forward passes. With Lovren all over the place, it was important that Klavan stayed calm. And he did.
James Milner – 8/10
He made more tackles than any other Liverpool player on the pitch. And going forward, he looked more dangerous than he has in recent games. It was a terrific workmanlike performance and he even got himself an assist.
Jordan Henderson – 7/10
He had a good game. Most notably, there was far more adventure in Henderson’s passing. One cross-field pass to Clyne in the second half stood out.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
It was a typically energetic performance from Wijnaldum. He was strong, both on and off the ball. Defensively, he tracked Allen pretty well and got into terrific attacking positions. In the second half, he was about to pull the trigger on a good chance and had it taken away from him by Lallana.
Adam Lallana – 8/10
In the absence of Coutinho, Lallana has well and truly has taken over the mantle of being the chief creative player in this Liverpool team. He’s been terrific in the last few weeks and after a quiet Merseyside derby last week, he was back in his element today. It was a stunning finish to put Liverpool back level, as he found space from a seemingly impossible angle.
Sadio Mane – 6/10
After the high of scoring the last minute winner in the derby, Mane was rather quiet. He should have isolated Pieters more than he did. His touches were rather off the pace as well. He will have better games than this through the season.
Roberto Firmino – 7/10
After a difficult Christmas when he was charged with drink driving, Firmino got himself on the scoresheet for the first time since Philippe Coutinho’s injury. He played really well too. There were some terrific touches in attacking areas, and he pressed like his life depended on it.
Divock Origi – 7/10
Again, Origi had a good game. He wasn’t afraid to get into a physical battle against Shawcross and Martins Indi and he combined really well with Lallana, Firmino and Mane.
Substitutes
Daniel Sturridge – 7/10
That was a delayed Christmas present wonderfully gift-wrapped for Sturridge by Ryan Shawcross. He took it gleefully as he got his first Premier League goal of the season.
Emre Can – 6/10
He came on for the last 20 minutes and helped Liverpool keep the ball and gain control of the game.
Alberto Moreno – 6/10
He got himself into a brilliant position to score and probably would have if Glen Johnson didn’t get in the way.
Stoke City
Lee Grant – 6/10
There was nothing he could have done about any of the goals that Liverpool scored. He needed much more help from his defenders.
Glen Johnson – 5/10
Firmino tormented Johnson and it wasn’t a happy return to Anfield for him. Milner being as good as he was down Liverpool’s left side didn’t help him either.
Ryan Shawcross – 4/10
Shawcross should have closed Firmino down much earlier than the Brazilian pulled the trigger. But his game went from bad to worse when he played that horrible back-pass for Sturridge to score.
Bruno Martins Indi – 5/10
Martins Indi needed much more help from his midfielders. Unfortunately for Stoke, he got bullied by Origi more often than they would have liked.
Erik Pieters – 6/10
It was a terrific assist from Pieters for Walters to score. But as Mane didn’t drift and stayed on the wing, Pieters struggled more as the minutes passed.
Glenn Whelan – 5/10
It was not a great game for Whelan. He didn’t control the midfield, and the fluid attack that Liverpool had made things extremely tough for him.
Gianelli Imbula – 3/10
After half-time, Stoke needed to stay calm and try and hit Liverpool on the break to overturn the one-goal deficit. But Imbula made a mistake giving the ball away to Henderson. He then tried to atone for his error by tracking back and putting Origi’s cross into his own net.
Joe Allen – 6/10
Allen was energetic, creative and used his skill brilliantly at times. But Stoke didn’t have enough of the ball for the Welshman to have a sustained influence.
Mame Biram Diouf – 5/10
He tracked back, worked tirelessly and gave Stoke security on the right side. But he was virtually non-existent as an attacking threat.
Jonathan Walters – 7/10
Walters started brilliantly – and compounded that with a terrific header to give Stoke the lead. As the game went on, Stoke’s midfielders moved farther and farther away from him and he wasn’t as effective.
Peter Crouch – 6/10
Crouch had a very good game on his return to Anfield. He bullied Lovren all game but would have liked a little more quality in front of goal.
Substitutes
Ramadan Sobhi – 5/10
He replaced Whelan early in the second half, but there was no threat from him at all.
Ibrahim Afellay – 5/10
He barely touched the ball after he came on to replace Diouf.
Wilfried Bony – N/A
He came on in the last ten minutes and didn’t get anything to feed on as Stoke looked desperate for the final whistle.
