Wout Faes:
Sometimes it isn’t your night, and sometimes it really isn’t.
Wout Faes must have run over a black cat at some point during the festive period. How else can you explain his misfortune here, as the Leicester centre-back single-handedly dragged Liverpool back into a game that looked like it was slipping away from them during a wretched first 45 minutes.
The Belgian became only the fourth player to score two own goals in a Premier League game, and only the second ever to do so in a match against Liverpool. The last time was in August 1959, when Cardiff’s Danny Malloy did so.
Liverpool lost that game 3-2, but they held on to win this one, the Kop ruthlessly taunting Faes with cries of ‘shoot!’ every time he received possession in the second half. He didn’t oblige, of course, although he nearly handed the Reds another goal, shanking a clearance under pressure from Nunez, with Ward bailing him out by saving from Salah.
A night to forget, for the 24-year-old.
Jordan Henderson:
He’s played more than 450 games for Liverpool, has Jordan Henderson, but he can’t have played too many worse than this one.
Pressed into action as the deepest midfielder, with Fabinho awaiting the birth of his first child, Henderson struggled from the word go here. Leggy and lethargic, careless in possession and unable to plug the huge gaps in the centre of the field, the England international could barely hide his frustrations as he stumbled through the 90 minutes.
He was missing in action as Leicester took the lead, Dewsbury-Hall able to stride through unchallenged, and he struggled to get close as Rodgers’ side were able to pop the ball about and play around the Reds’ midfield.
He kept going, as he always does, but this was not a night to soothe concerns over the midfield options at Klopp’s disposal. Liverpool need one now, and they need another one in the summer.
Brendan Rodgers:
Anfield gave Leicester’s manager more than a few fond memories during his time as Reds boss, but he’s had nothing but misery since he left the place in 2015.
This was Rodgers’ fifth visit with the Foxes, and he’s lost them all, his side finding various ways to avoid picking up a positive result. Remember last season’s penalty shootout loss in the Carabao Cup, or James Milner’s stoppage-time winner in 2019?
Here, his players scored three times and Liverpool’s scored none, yet it was Jurgen Klopp who was smiling at the end.
Rodgers always gets a nice reception from the home fans, but he won’t want to return any time soon.
