Sheffield United 0, Liverpool 2: Man Of The Match

Winning is fun? I’d forgotten what it felt like to actually enjoy watching an entire game. It was a solid outing all around, especially considering it was yet another defensive spine, with another new starting center back pairing with the nervy-at-times Adrian behind them.

Trent Alexander-Arnold seems like he has found his form again. He was pinging balls all over the field, dropping ambitious crosses and crossfield balls on a plate. He is looking much better defensively as well, winning a couple of tackles. He also made some aggressive runs into the box. He made a great effort play to keep the ball juuuuuust in bounds as he crossed it into the box, leading to the opening goal. Curtis Jones was there to collect a rebound around the penalty spot and coolly slam the ball to the far post. CuJo was magnificent again over all. Besides the goal, he was getting on the end of a lot of plays in the box, putting 3 of 4 shots on target. He was also very efficient with his passing, and made several great driving runs with the ball.

Georginio Wijnaldum also provided some great drive from midfield, getting the ball forward into advanced positions more than a couple of times. He was also his usual press-resistant self, taking the ball off of defenders in tight positions and turning a player before moving the ball.

Roberto Firmino also had a very solid game. His finishing still leaves a lot to be desired, and he really should have scored just a few minutes into the game when he was clear through on goal. While his finishing has been suspect, his creative play has been superb. He linked up play and sent Mohamed Salah through on goal with a lovely cushioned volley. Firmino also forced an own goal after some stellar footwork on the ball in the box.

With our favored polling tool out of service, we’re instead giving you a choice between a few of the players we thought looked best today for the Reds, so make your choice below and vote for who you think should be the man of the match—or take to the comments to let us know that we got it wrong by leaving the real man of the match off the list entirely.

As always, anyone visiting on Apple News or Google AMP who wish to vote and can’t see the poll can make it visible by navigating to the front page of The Liverpool Offside and re-entering the story.