Napoli 2-0 Liverpool: 5 Hits and Flops

Dries Mertens celebrates his decisive spot-kick to break the deadlock against Liverpool
Dries Mertens celebrates his decisive spot-kick to break the deadlock against Liverpool

#3 Flop: Lorenzo Insigne

Insigne failed to take advantage against Alexander-Arnold, who was there for the taking at times
Insigne failed to take advantage against Alexander-Arnold, who was there for the taking at times

Contrastingly, this was an evening to forget for Lorenzo Insigne. Although his side won late on, he started slowly and was largely on the periphery throughout.

Matched up against Trent Alexander-Arnold, it's obvious the 20-year-old fullback hasn't truly shone defensively against dangerous attackers - despite his unrivaled creative abilities. With that in mind, Insigne should have done more with the half-chances he fashioned before being replaced midway through the second-half, unsurprisingly, for central midfielder Piotr Zielinski.

It speaks volumes that when under pressure, the 28-year-old regularly passed conservatively and took few risks. Rather than knuckling down and utilizing possession more productively, he regularly cut a frustrated figure and complained to officials, particularly when he struck a shot goalwards which hit Alexander-Arnold early after the break. All-round, this was a frustrating showing from someone with much more ability than he showed on this occasion.

Despite completing two key passes, he lost possession eleven times and was caught offside twice. For context, the Italy international only completed 19 passes (86.4%) and had 35 touches.

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Edited by Kaushik Das
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