Liverpool player ratings, winners and losers vs LASK as Bradley Barcola scored twice, Florian Wirtz impressed, and others including Ronald Araujo and Trey Nyoni did well
Bradley Barcola celebrates scoring for Liverpool against LASK in the Champions League.
Bradley Barcola celebrates scoring for Liverpool against LASK in the Champions League.(Image: Jasmin Walter - UEFA via Getty Images)
Liverpool comfortably won a high-scoring game with LASK in the Champions League on what should prove to be a confidence-boosting night after a mixed spell.
Ronald Araujo opened the scoring and then Bradley Barcola curled in his first Liverpool goal, with Rio Ngumoha looking lively down the right. LASK offered little, but Andoni Iraola's men, who went in 3-0 up at half-time with Barcola grabbing a second from a Florian Wirtz assist, pressed on.
Shortly after half-time, Jeremie Frimpong popped up with a headed goal to make it 4-0. Barcola completed his hat-trick and Lewis Koumas bagged in between LASK scoring three of its own.
Winners
Barcola scoring his first goals will do his confidence no harm, for sure. Whether it means much against a side so poor and willing to let Liverpool play as it did remains to be seen, but scoring a hat-trick is usually only a good thing.
Ngumoha and Lewis Koumas impressed as well, while Wirtz was full of tricks, flicks and an assist. Trey Nyoni, who slotted into midfield seamlessly, is another who is worthy of a mention, on what was a straightforward night.
Losers
It would be fair to say that the list of teams that Liverpool was drawn against outside of pot one sides Atletico Madrid and Inter Milan very much look like a Europa League group: Villarreal, Fenerbahce, Club Brugge, Porto and Lens.
LASK is probably the weakest of the lot and didn't offer much here. Domestically, it has picked up one draw and three losses in its last four matches, so what hope did it realistically have here? It got three goals, but was comfortably dispatched.
Player ratings
Alisson Becker (6). Essentially a bystander for most of the game, such was the level of Liverpool dominance. A couple of passes aside, he didn't do much (because he didn't need to). One decent save in the second half, and could do little with the goals he conceded, even though there were three of them.
Jeremie Frimpong (7). It would be fair to say that he has struggled so far this term, but this is the kind of game that suits him. It wasn't a huge test of him defensively (he perhaps could have done better with LASK's second) but was a sporadic threat going forward, and popped up with a goal and a couple of assists.
Ronald Araujo (7). Not always perfect on the ball, but headed home the opener having missed a similar chance a few minutes earlier. A comfortable outing for the Uruguayan.
Jeremy Jacquet (6). Switching to the left side, he was just as comfortable in possession. Had a couple of chances from corners but was unable to score. Beaten a couple of times by LASK attackers, only to recover. Taken off to manage his minutes.
Kostas Tsimikas (7). On his last start, he was hooked at half-time; here, he was named as captain. Didn't have to do much defensively to start with and then maybe could have done more in the second half, but put in some good crosses from corner kicks in a decent performance.
Content Image
Content Image
Ryan Gravenberch (6). Started well and was heavily involved but his influence waned as the first half went on. A couple of interceptions stopped counter-attacks.
Trey Nyoni (7). Trusted to start in a European away game, he was as composed as ever. Set the tone well at the start and was central to starting a lot of forward moves. Classy.
Rio Ngumoha* (8). *Back in the team on the right flank, he was electric at times (albeit sometimes running into traffic). He isn't as good on the right but did no sulking and tore his marker to shreds a few times.
Florian Wirtz* (8). *Played some great balls into nice positions only for his teammates to fail to make the most of them. Got one assist and it could have been more in a timely reminder of what he is capable of when given the time and space. Unfortunately, he won't have the same luxury against Brentford and beyond.
Bradley Barcola (9). Some lovely touches early on and then finished well for his first Liverpool goal. Scored a second before half-time and looked like he was growing in confidence before completing his hat-trick. Good signs, but similar to Wirtz: this was easy for him, and the bigger challenges very much lie ahead.
Lewis Koumas (8). In the side for the second match in a row, he held the ball up well and brought others into play. There is more to his game than pressing, as he showed here.
Marginally offside when he netted a great goal half an hour in and then the same again when Liverpool was 4-0 up. On another day, this could have been the complete performance, and he did eventually score a goal that counted.
Substitutes
Virgil van Dijk (6). Came on and conceded three goals in half an hour, which wasn't ideal.
Joe Gomez (6). Like Van Dijk, all the goals came when he was on the field. He was nowhere to be seen for the third.
Victor Munoz (6). Tried his best to get into the game on the left flank, but was crowded out more often than not.