Liverpool earned a hard-fought 2-1 win against Leicester at Anfield. Thiago played his part, but the unfortunate Wout Faes was at the heart of the action.
Liverpool continued their festive period with another win, securing a 2-1 victory against Leicester at Anfield.
Liverpool didn’t get off the best of starts, however, as Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall ran right through the middle of the Reds’ defence to bobble his shot past Alisson to give Leicester an unlikely lead.
And Liverpool continued to look vulnerable at the back at times, with mistimed passes and defensive mishaps common in the opening 20 minutes.
However, they equalised, and then took the lead, thanks to two pieces of absolutely comical defending from Leicester defender Wout Faes, who scored not one, but two, own goals, each more unbelievable than the next.
The first was a looping effort after he attempted to cut out Trent Alexander-Arnold’s teasing cross, which sliced off the outside of his left foot and went skywards, before settling into the roof of Danny Ward’s net.
The second saw him chase Darwin Núñez’s chip, which came back off the post and ricocheted off Faes and into the goal.
Here we take a look at the winners and losers of the Leicester game
WINNERS
Wout Faes
The beleaguered Leicester man enters the winners side for Liverpool due to his two own goals that helped turned the tide against his own team. Both own goals were ludicrous in nature, and it’s doubtful that Liverpool would have won without his vital contributions to the Reds’ cause.
Darwin Núñez
The Uruguayan was at his chaotically brilliant best. He didn’t score, but it was his chipped effort in the first half that bounced back off the post and hit Faes for his second own goal of the game.
Núñez also played a wonderful through ball into the feet of Mohamed Salah in the second half, which the Egyptian surprisingly spurned, not even getting his shot on target.
Thiago Alcântara
The silky Spaniard wasn’t at his sumptuous best against Leicester, but he was still one of the best players on the park, controlling the game and producing some of his slick passing.
Thiago also produced a vital last-ditch tackle when Leicester were looking ominous in the first half, and it could have put Liverpool 2-0 down at the time.
LOSERS
Andy Robertson
The Scottish left-back had been in a good run of form lately, but he produced a horrendous display against Leicester at Anfield. Several of his usual textbook crosses failed to beat the first man, and he attempted several cross field balls that went to the opposition.
To compound his misery, Robertson then came off in the second half with an injury. Not his finest game for Liverpool.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
Another game in which the midfielder was given a chance by Klopp from the start, and another in which he failed to make any sort of impact. Deployed on the left of Jürgen Klopp’s 4-3-3, Oxlade-Chamberlain did very little of note, and one would have hardly known he was on the pitch until he was taken off for Naby Keïta.
Probably playing for a move rather than a Liverpool future now, he didn’t do all that much to help his cause here.
