EPL
Player ratings as Wout Faes nightmare gifts Reds win
A forgetful defensive display from Leicester saw Liverpool snatch a 2-1 win and three points without actually scoring themselves on Friday evening.
The Reds got off to the worst possible start when Leicester burst ahead inside five minutes, but somehow headed into half-time 2-1 up thanks to Wout Faes, who had a game to forget to say the least.
Liverpool improved in the second half and looked more settled, but with both sides looking incredibly wasteful, the two own-goals would ultimately prove the difference and put Liverpool within a point of fifth-placed Manchester United in the Premier League table.
In a game they would’ve backed themselves to control and win, Liverpool found themselves behind after just four minutes when Leicester launched a ball long, won the three phases after and allowed Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall to burst through the hosts’ defence with staggering ease to fire past Alisson.
Proceedings remained high-paced after that, even with Leicester losing Patson Daka to injury. Liverpool tried to find a rhythm in possession but didn’t look after the ball well enouch and found themselves caught out several times by the Foxes, who were set up brilliantly to counter attack.
It could’ve been two after 20 minutes when Jamie Vardy slipped a low cross to the back post, but Trent Alexander-Arnold read his intentions well. Liverpool then went down the other end and found the back of the net six minutes later thanks to a gaffe from Danny Ward, but the offside flag spared his blushes.
There were no offside flags for Faes to hide behind after 38 minutes, though, when he misread his surroundings and attacked a poor, low cross that would’ve gone sailed into safety had he listened to his goalkeeper behind him. Instead, he threw himself into the ball and it shanked backwards, over himself and Ward to bring the Reds level.
Not satisfied with one own-goal, Faes seemingly took it upon himself to grab a second on the cusp of half-time. A disastrous piece of Leicester defending saw Darwin Nunez burst through and dink Ward, but his effort rebounded off the post. Faes couldn’t sort his feet out, though, and smashed the ball into the roof of the net to give Liverpool a lead at half-time.
As expected, heading into half-time losing as a result of two own-goals at Anfield took the wind out of Leicester’s sails.
Liverpool picked up after the break and put in a more dominant display in possession, with changes on the hour mark helping them. They couldn’t find a third, though, despite carving out several chances to do so.
Mohamed Salah forced a save out of Ward with little over 15 minutes to go, but the Egyptian would’ve been disappointed he couldn’t find a better angle and make the net bulge.
With Brendan Rodgers’ side just a goal behind and the game still hanging rather finely in the balance, the Foxes weren’t down and out by any means. And when Nunez snatched at a glorious chance with 77 minutes on the clock, the game was well and truly on.
Harvey Barnes burst through on the break moments after and rattled the post, only to be flagged offside after the fact. That was the chance for Leicester, who left Anfield empty-handed on a night where they could’ve departed with three points.
GK: Alisson – 6/10 – Very little to do after conceding early on.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6/10 – An impressive defensive display and kept Harvey Barnes very quiet, but not his cleanest going forward. How the tables turn.
CB: Joel Matip – 5/10 – Not the most imposing performance, but a clean one that improved with time.
CB: Virgil van Dijk – 4/10 – Played a hospital ball into Robertson after 15 or so minutes that could’ve seen Liverpool go two down. Perked up as play went on, though.
LB: Andy Robertson – 3/10 – All at sea defensively and crossed the ball like his boots were on the wrong feet.
CM: Harvey Elliott – 4/10 – Has to show more positional discipline and understanding if he wants to be a midfielder for a club as big as Liverpool. Looked lost.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 5/10 – Too much ground to cover on his own. Easily bypassed when Leciester broke.
CM: Thiago Alcantara – 5/10 – Always tidy in possession, but when challenged physically, Thiago is worryingly unreliable.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 6/10 – Not quite his night in front of goal.
ST: Darwin Nunez – 6/10 – Frightening pace to chase down loose balls when he gets as much as a sniff of one. His chipped effort absolutely deserved a goal for himself, but the chaos it caused is a fitting summary of everything Nunez is about right now. Rash, but all-action.
LW: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 3/10 – Had no influence on the game with Liverpool’s best stuff coming from the opposite flank.
Kostas Tsimikas (62′ for Robertson) – 6/10 – Enjoyed burning energy by bursting into space with the ball.
Naby Keita (62′ for Oxlade-Chamberlain) – 7/10 – Provided much more composure and quality to Liverpool’s midfield.
Joe Gomez (86′ for Alexander-Arnold) – N/A
Stefan Bajcetic (86′ for Elliott) – N/A
Jurgen Klopp – 5/10 – Should have learnt a lot about his side tonight. The lack of a clinical edge needs to be addressed, as does the midfield balance which would’ve cost them against a more ruthless opponent.
GK: Danny Ward – 4/10 – Saved by the offside flag early on. Has to cut the silly errors out of his game.
RB: Timothy Castagne – 6/10 – Would’ve liked to have seen him burst forward more with Liverpool’s left flank looking shaky.
CB: Daniel Amartey – 5/10 – Not exactly magnificent, but at least he didn’t score two own-goals.
CB: Wout Faes – 1/10 – Should’ve left the cross; rookie error. Then had much more space than he realised to clear Nunez’s effort off the post; instead smashed it in for the Uruguayan. An absolutely calamitous display.
LB: Luke Thomas – 4/10 – Struggled to contain Salah as the evening drew on.
CM: Boubakary Soumare – 6/10 – Key to Leicester winning the midfield battle early on and later did a superb job of fouling Liverpool players without getting booked.
CM: Wilfried Ndidi – 6/10 – Looked back to his old self at times with the way he turned over possession in the middle of the park.
RW: Ayoze Perez – 4/10 – Incredibly quiet and too slow to move the ball when it did come his way.
AM: Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall – 7/10 – Bulldozed through Liverpool’s backline and sold Alisson by hitting his goal into the floor. Thrived in the advanced role.
LW: Harvey Barnes – 5/10 – Needed to show a little more composure in the final third.
ST: Patson Daka – N/A – His night was over after 12 minutes when he was forced off with what looked to be a hamstring injury. A shame.
Jamie Vardy (15′ for Daka) – 6/10 – Thrust into the action and looked sharp. Timed runs well and sniffed out errors among defenders.
Youri Tielemans (59′ for Ndidi) – 6/10 – A change with attacking intent to try and tilt the game back in Leicester’s favour.
Kelechi Iheanacho (71′ for Perez) – 6/10 – Created more chances than the man he replaced.
Brendan Rodgers – 6/10 – A really positive performance from his side at a tough ground to visit. Let down by individual defensive disasters and a lack of ruthlessness. Can’t blame those things on him.
Tottenham Hotspur managing director of football Fabio Paratici has discussed the decision to part ways with head coach Antonio Conte.
Spurs reached a mutual agreement for Conte to depart the club on Sunday night following a disappointing run of results.
Conte oversaw exits in the FA Cup, Carabao Cup and UEFA Champions League this season despite high hopes of ending the club’s 15-year trophy drought.
In his personal life, Conte lost three close friends – Spurs fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone, former Italy colleague Gianluca Vialli and Serie A legend Sinisa Mihajlovic – while he had to undergo emergency surgery on his gallbladder at the start of February.
Speaking to Tottenham club channels, Paratici leaned on these reasons as to why Conte’s reign ended so sourly.
“About Antonio, we know how difficult this season was for him personally. Gian Piero died, Vialli and Mihajlovic [died], the surgery, the club supported him a lot about this and everyone was close with each other. But we arrived to this mutual agreement, and I think the decision we made was the right decision to everyone,” Paratici said.
Paratici went on to talk about interim manager Cristian Stellini – Conte’s former assistant who took charge of Tottenham in his absence this year – as well as speculation over a permanent successor.
“So Cristian managed the team even when Antonio was sick this season and was good. He has a lot of experience as a second and even first coach in the past. We have Ryan Mason who can help him a lot because he’s been part of this club for a long time, he knows everything about this club and this kind of group of players. So I think we are really, really confident that these two persons can do a very good job,” Paratici continued.
“The players doesn’t have to change a bit, the style of training. So change everything when you have just 10 games to go I think would be really difficult to the players.
“I would like to see, not just this season but even last season, when we came here we speak about ‘rebuild’ a bit. We started to play Conference League, starting not so good. Then at the end of the season we achieved a big result to get Champions League.
“Then this season, we played Champions League, we passed the group, it was a good achievement for us. And then we get out against Milan.
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“I think about growing up, the team and the club. The pathway for the club was good about results in that way. And then of course we are disappointed because we can be better in the FA [Cup] against Sheffield [United]. Every time you lose one game, you regret it.
“Of course we are focused and looking forward about being better arriving at the end of the season and the next season better again.
“The Premier League always is tough, so we have a lot of teams and clubs [who are] really, really prepared…but we fight, we like that. So we will fight to achieve our target, we are prepared to fight until the end of the season. We have to be focused on the last part of the season.
“We don’t speak about other coaches or follow the speculation in the media because this is just speculation. We are focused and now concentrating on helping Cristian and the staff, the players.
“I think today we have to be focused on our squad and our manager because it’s an important moment.”
Paratici is one of 12 former Juventus officials who were due in court this week regarding the club’s financial mismanagement, though a date for the hearing has now been pushed back until May.
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!
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Bruno Fernandes has revealed he does not agree with teammate Cristiano Ronaldo regarding the impact of new Portugal head coach Roberto Martinez.
The former Everton and Belgium boss was named as the surprise successor to Fernando Santos following the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
While Martinez has been known to coach attacking and entertaining football, his teams are often characterised by their haphazard and sloppy defending – almost the inverse to how Portugal played under Santos.
Ronaldo, who scored four goals in two games for Portugal this month, was quick to tell reporters of the positive impact Martinez has had on the team.
“It’s a new chapter for everyone, for the players, the staff and the country. We feel good energy. It’s a breath of fresh air,” the Al Nassr forward said.
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But when speaking to Portuguese channel RTP3, Fernandes simmered Ronaldo’s excited judgement.
When asked if he agreed with Ronaldo’s comments, Fernandes replied: “No, it’s just a new coach with new ideas. There is no breath of fresh air at all. It’s just a transition period.
“The atmosphere in the national team has always been good. There’s never been anything that wasn’t fresh of the air, so I think it’s just new dynamics, new coach, and you have to assimilate his ideas.”
Portugal have made a perfect start under Martinez’s management, securing a 4-0 win at home to Liechtenstein before beating Luxembourg 6-0 on the road.
Fernandes and Ronaldo’s recent careers have been intertwined due to their prominence with the Portugal national team and their 15-month spell together at Manchester United.
Upon Fernandes’ arrival in England, the Old Trafford faithful devised a chant which referenced his arrival ‘from Sporting like Cristiano’.
The duo didn’t quite hit their best heights in tandem while at United, and Ronaldo’s bitter exit in November 2022 was followed by the two appearing to be on frosty terms ahead of the World Cup.
But Ronaldo dismissed this suggestion at the time, telling the press: “My relationship with him is excellent.”
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On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
A number of Premier League sides are monitoring Lorient midfielder Enzo Le Fee after he confirmed his desire to leave the club this summer, 90min understands.
The 23-year-old has dazzled this season for Lorient, impressing both defensively and in attack and chipping in with four goals and five assists in 28 games.
90min reported in November that Leicester had begun tracking Le Fee as they prepared for the departure of Youri Tielemans, and sources have confirmed to 90min that the Foxes are by no means alone with their interest.
Both Fulham and Wolves have voiced an interest in Le Fee while one source also named Liverpool, Newcastle and Tottenham as admirers of the France Under-21 international.
The interest in Le Fee has follows the midfielder’s public admission that he does not plan to extend his contract, which expires in the summer of 2024, and his desire to secure a move away from Lorient this summer.
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“It’s time for me to leave,” Le Fee told Le Telegramme on Monday.
“I have a special bond with the club and that’s why I wanted to extend my contract at the start of the season. I waited for a contract offer from Lorient until December. It never came. Now, I don’t expect anything from the club and I won’t extend my contract.
“I hope to leave this summer so that my transfer will bring money to Lorient.”
Before that interview, Le Fee told L’Equipe of his desire to finish the season strongly to boost his chances of a summer transfer.
“I’ve never wanted to leave Lorient through the back door,” he stressed. “We’re having a very good season and I know these last few months are very important if I want to join a big club.
“I am someone who likes challenges, risks too. I want to show that I am capable of playing at the highest level.”
LISTEN NOW
On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Julian Nagelsmann’s future and links to the vacant Tottenham head coach role, Barcelona’s ambition to bring Lionel Messi ‘home’, Brighton teenager Evan Ferguson, Florian Wirtz, Kalvin Phillips and more!
If you can’t see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!
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