'Special' teenager shows up the seniors as two midfielders get a 4: Liverpool player ratings vs Real Betis

07/26/2024 09:33 PM

Liverpool got the Arne Slot era underway with a 1-0 win over Real Betis in Pittsburgh on Saturday.

Slot sent out 23 players in all as we got the first glimpse of how the Reds may look under the Dutchman this season. Here’s how we rated them all.

Defence

Caoimhin Kelleher: 6 – Had nothing to do in terms of saves and wasn’t helped by a sticky pitch for his passing. Off at half-time.

Conor Bradley: 7 – One of the few Liverpool players willing to play balls over the top and was equally good at running in behind himself. A lovely pull back for Harvey Elliott deserved a goal

Jarell Quansah: 7 – Clearly the better of the two centre-halves, although was careless with the ball a couple of times. Showed up surprisingly in the final third more than once.

Sepp van den Berg: 6 – Did his job effectively in terms of defending but his passing put Liverpool in trouble too many times early on. Looks hesitant to play forwards, preferring to find Quansah instead. Got better as the game progressed.

Kostas Tsimikas: 6 – Was always an option on the Liverpool left and often drifted infield, too. Strong as ever in the tackle.

Midfield

Wataru Endo: 4 – Struggled with the pace of the passing, giving the ball away time and again. Even picked up a booking for a cynical foul. Off at half-time.

Curtis Jones: 5 – Some tidy touches but was ponderous with the ball and found himself hooked after half an hour with an injury.

Attack

Mohamed Salah: 7 – Liverpool’s outlet every time in behind. Showed some touches of class including a perfectly waited trademark assist for Dominik Szoboszlai.

Dominik Szoboszlai: 6 – Anonymous in a more advanced midfield role alongside the Liverpool forwards, but popped up with an excellent slotted finish to get the first goal of the Arne Slot era.

Harvey Elliott: 4 – Played in a false nine-type role next to Szoboszlai but couldn’t get going. Fluffed his lines when set-up excellently by Bradley and one awful back-pass put Vitezslav Jaros in trouble.

Fabio Carvalho: 5 – Just like during much of his first season at Anfield, Carvalho simply couldn’t get into the game from the left of the attack.

Substitutes

Trey Nyoni: 8 Man of the Match– On after half an hour for the injured Jones and absolutely looked the part. Excellently calm on the ball, the 17-year-old added something different in the Liverpool midfield. Nyoni had fans calling him ‘special‘ after 40 minutes in which he made a name for himself.

Tyler Morton: 6 – Came on for the struggling Endo and kept things ticking along well enough but didn’t catch the eye in the manner of Nyoni.

Vitezslav Jaros: 8 – Swapped in for Kelleher on 45 and immediately had to be alert to bail out Elliott’s terrible back-pass outside his area. Did well again when sold short by Nat Phillips later on before making a smart stop with his feet one-on-one.

Ben Doak: 7 – Was involved in a nice move which almost put Harvey Blair through, then twice turned the full-back inside out with some great skill to get Liverpool into the penalty box.

Luke Chambers: 6 – Interestingly used at centre-back. Showed composure ahead of his loan move to Wigan.

Harvey Blair: 6 – Looked lively through the middle and troubled the Betis defence with his pace in behind.

Nat Phillips: 6 – Steady as ever from Phillips aside from one sloppy back-pass for Jaros.

Kaide Gordon: 6 – Played from the left and flashed a dangerous shot across the face of the goal.

Luca Stephenson: 7 – Utilised at right-back and made a vital, last-second interception to prevent an equaliser.

Owen Beck: 6 – Raced forward well late on to put Liverpool on the attack.

Stefan Bajcetic: 6 – Caught in possession once or twice but showed trademark tenacity to win the ball back several times.

Lewis Koumas: 5 – Frustrated after giving away a couple of silly fouls and couldn’t get into the game.