Player Ratings: Leeds United 0-3 Liverpool

Leeds United struggled to contain Liverpool at Elland Road, losing 3-0 and going down to ten men in a frantic encounter. Here are your player ratings:

Illan Meslier (6.5/10): Difficult to give ratings to a keeper when conceding 3 or more goals, but he again showed his quickness off-the-line and his shot-stopping ability, and you can’t even lay much blame if any for the goals - it’s just one of those things.

Luke Ayling (4.5/10): Not a classic from Luke, but Sadio Mane isn’t exactly an easy player to mark while also trying to contribute to the Leeds attack too.

Diego Llorente (7/10): I’ve rounded up from an initial 6.5 rating considering his performance in comparison to his teammates - he’s clearly the best centre-back at the club just now, and hopefully he’s not injured for the next game, though admittedly it’s not looking good. So calm on the ball, picked out some great passes and defended pretty well.

Liam Cooper (5.5/10): Improved performance as the game went on, some particularly good tackles - but still not great. Overall the defence just struggled to cope, and dived in a few times which just opened us up even more.

Junior Firpo (4.5/10): Still not convinced by Firpo yet, got bullied by Salah consistently. Showed some decent ability in the build-up but yet to show final product going forward. Again, struggling against Salah is forgivable.

Kalvin Phillips (8/10): In my view, Phillips was pretty brilliant considering the circumstances - although it feels like a ‘player ratings sin’ to rate a player so highly in a defeat. But he was very good, held on to the ball really well, kept us ticking even when we had ten men chasing the game. Adapted between a roaming destroyer and a deep-lying lynchpin.

Stuart Dallas (5/10): Quiet one for Dallas, always puts a shift in though, was just a tough game in there against the likes of Elliot, Thiago and Fabinho, plus Mane in the latter stages.

Rodrigo (5/10): Somewhat quiet in the midfield too, should’ve scored early-on though. I’m still unsure about his role in the team this season - one to keep an eye on.

Raphinha (6/10): Always pushing, always trying things, but nothing really came off. His biggest piece of work was his set-up for Rodrigo in the 5th minute.

Jack Harrison (5.5/10): Much the same as Raph, just not involved as much. Really in need of more involvement going into the coming matches.

Patrick Bamford (6.5/10): For a player who was hardly involved, Bamford’s performance was still decent. His movement was excellent throughout, but nobody could find him with proper cutting edge. In need of better service.

Substitutes:

Tyler Roberts (6/10): Improvement on Rodrigo in the second-half, just seems like a better fit than him in the midfield for now. Used his body pretty well and showed much better defensive/pressing ability.

Pascal Struijk (N/A): It’s hard to put a number on his game considering he came on, played well, and was sent-off for an accidental foul on Harvey Elliot which ended with the youngster being stretchered off the pitch. The tackle even looked brilliant on first viewing, but something in the midst of his tackle caused a serious injury - so Struijk goes without rating.

Daniel James (N/A): Struggled to put a number on James as well, didn’t really show much despite having some decent time on the ball. But at the same time, he came on at 2-0 down with ten men.