Florian Wirtz scored his first goal of the season as Liverpool came from behind to beat Villarreal in the Champions League at Anfield on Tuesday evening, with the club's expensive bench proving decisive.
Andoni Iraola rotated the £100m trio of Wirtz, Alexander Isak and Bradley Barcola out of the starting XI, mindful of a fourth game in 10 days following a bruising encounter at Brentford. The onus fell on younger players, with Rio Ngumoha commanding the headlines, while Trey Nyoni and Lewis Koumas also impressed.
Youngsters Step Up
Neither Nyoni nor Koumas had it easy in the opening exchanges as Liverpool floundered. Nyoni was outnumbered in midfield while Koumas received precious little service up front. Soon, though, the ball began to stick with Koumas, whose energetic presence is a boon for Iraola.
Nyoni was better, with nobody close to the same number of touches and passes as the 19-year-old, despite being replaced with 10 minutes remaining. He also had real economy of possession, with no starting Liverpool player having a better percentage of completed passes - 94.3%.
Wirtz Makes an Impact
Both Isak and Barcola had second-half cameos, but Wirtz was the standout among the substitutes when introduced at the interval, culminating with a well-taken first goal of the season. That's three good performances in succession for the Germany international.
Gravenberch gives Iraola poser
Right-Back Conundrum
Another game, another right-back. The problem position that drove Arne Slot to distraction last season is showing no signs of abating under successor Iraola. With Dominik Szoboszlai and Jeremie Frimpong having joined Conor Bradley on the sidelines, Ryan Gravenberch became the sixth player to step into the role after starter Ronald Araujo was hooked at half-time.
Araujo had been less than convincing during a fitful first-half showing, but he continued to prove Liverpool's lucky charm in the Champions League by ghosting in to head the Reds level on the stroke of half-time. The Uruguay international now has two goals and an assist in his three appearances in the competition, far outstripping his output over eight years at Barcelona.
Gravenberch had started the game as number 10 but made negligible impact before being much improved and more effective having shifted into defence, comfortable in possession and defensively aware for the most part. Given Iraola's lack of options in the position and the heavy schedule continuing at home to Brighton on Sunday, the Dutchman could offer an intriguing alternative.
Anfield Power Felt
There was a moment midway through the first half that summed up how everything was going wrong for Liverpool. Georges Mikautadze, who had scored the first of the two goals that had Villarreal in total control before the half-hour mark, received a pass on the left wing and had enough time to have a brief game of keepie-uppie before laying the ball off to a team-mate.
Virgil van Dijk had set the tone by gifting Mikautadze the opener with a wayward backheader in the fourth minute. But even before then, the Dutchman had made uncharacteristic mistakes and struggled to recover on a rare off-night.
If Iraola had been outsmarted by his close friend Inigo Perez, his tactical changes at half-time ultimately helped the Reds take the game away from the Villarreal boss. While Liverpool continue to toil at home in the Premier League, here the home crowd helped rouse the team from their early slumbers and shock the visitors sufficiently into submission. As Perez noted afterwards, there was nothing his side could do about it.
