Brighton 1-1 Liverpool: No stopping March who tops player ratings again
Although all the media attention afterwards focused on Jurgen Klopp and the whinging of Liverpool, Brighton gave one of their better performances of the season when holding the champions to a 1-1 draw at the Amex and that is reflected in some impressive player ratings.
Solly March was once again the pick of the bunch as he topped the tree to continue his remarkable start to the season. Not far behind were Yves Bissouma, Ben White and Aaron Connolly, all of whom scored around or over 7.50 – highly respectable marks given the quality of the opponents.
It will come as a surprise to absolutely nobody that Neal Maupay was bottom of the pile with the lowest score of the season so far. Something is clearly not right with the Frenchman and it will be interesting to see how Graham Potter handles him going forward as Maupay looks like a man in desperate need of a rest and a chance to sort his head out.
This is probably the only place that you will read anything connected to Brighton versus Liverpool which does not debate VAR or the Premier League fixture schedule, two issues which Klopp and his players were desperate to use to turn attention away from the fact they had only drawn against little old Brighton.
Instead, bask in the glory of an excellent Albion result with your Brighton 1-1 Liverpool player ratings.
Maty Ryan – 6.25
He probably turned up at the Amex expecting to be kept very busy for 90 minutes. Instead, he had little to do save for picking the ball out of the back of the net after Diogo Jota’s clinical finish and after the two goals which were rightly ruled out by VAR.
Adam Webster – 6.17
Allowed Jota to get past him far too easily for the Liverpool goal. Given Joel Veltman’s performance and the return of Tariq Lamptey from suspension, there are some Brighton fans who think he may be dropped for next week’s game against Southampton. That would be a big decision from Potter given Webster is one of his firm favourites.
Lewis Dunk – 6.92
Brighton 1-1 Liverpool was his best performance for some time, as reflected by a highest score in the player ratings since the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United back in September. He lost Mo Salah for the first disallowed goal but this was a welcome return to form other than that.
Ben White – 7.50
Those shaky first few weeks as a Premier League player are fading to a distant memory. He was Brighton’s best defender here, cutting out Liverpool attacks with startling regularity and putting in firm but fair tackles all over the pitch, including one perfectly timed challenge which he was controversially booked for. Klopp was rumoured to be interested in securing White’s services before and this performance will have improved the defender’s chances of a move to the champions.
Joel Veltman – 7.17
On its own, his performance against Liverpool was impressive. When you consider that he was playing out-of-position as a right wing back, it becomes even more so. The Dutchman’s solid-yet-unspectacular style has something really likable about it and the £900,000 Brighton paid for his services continues to look an absolute steal. Good luck to Potter in justifying dropping him next week when Lamptey returns.
Yves Bissouma – 7.67
There was not much separating him and March at the top of the player ratings for Brighton 1-1 Liverpool. This was just the latest in a long line of impressive performances and it surely will not be long before one of the big boys come sniffing to take him away as the potential he has remains frightening.
Pascal Gross – 7.17
Sat a little deeper than normal as a central midfielder alongside Bissouma. That seemed to prevent him from being involved and there were more than a few Brighton fans who felt he should have been withdrawn as the Albion’s second sub rather than Aaron Connolly making way for Adam Lallana. Thank God Potter left Gross on – you would not have wanted anyone other than a German taking a last minute penalty to secure a point.
SOLLY MARCH – 7.92
An absolute menace up and down the left flank once again. Should have had an assist, only for his cross to be squandered by Alireza Jahanbakhsh. If voting on Player of the Season opened tomorrow, it would surely be a toss up between him and Lamptey – an astonishing turn of events given the number of fans who would have happily seen him sold to West Ham United, The Leeds United or Newcastle United in the summer.
Neal Maupay – 3.92
Not a good afternoon for the French striker, whose player ratings score of 3.92 for Brighton 1-1 Liverpool was our lowest of the season. He had been doing okay after being a surprise selection to play in the hole behind Connolly and Welbeck up until that unforgivable penalty effort in which he failed to even get his shot on target. He them substituted himself off minutes later to further antagonise supporters who felt it was more a case of him giving up then there being any real injury problem.
Aaron Connolly – 7.42
Made his first start since the 4-2 defeat away at Everton in October. The thinking behind it was clear; Potter wanted him to use his pace to get in behind Liverpool’s unfamiliar back four. He duly did that, forcing Klopp to haul Neco Williams at half time in an attempt to relieve some pressure. Not as effective after the break and he looked seriously aggrieved to have been substituted just after the visitors took the lead. The less said about his first half miss the better.
Danny Welbeck – 7.17
Another 90 minutes under his belt as he continues to find form and fitness. Offers something different to any of Brighton’s other strikers and you cannot help but wonder if the scoreline might have been different had it been him who took Maupay’s penalty or was on the end of Connolly’s first half one-on-one. Had one decent sight of goal which drew a solid low save from Allison.
Leandro Trossard – 5.83
Struggled to make much impact after replacing Maupay following the penalty miss. He went missing last winter to draw comparisons with Paul ‘Hibernation’ Brooker and Brighton will be hoping the same is not happening this time around. He also drew our favourite Twitter comment of the afternoon when somebody quipped, “Leandro Trossard looks like he has not slept for two weeks.”
Alireza Jahanbakhsh – 6.25
He is a very keen and willing individual and offered something different when coming on for Lallana. Should have done much better though with his headed effort from March’s cross.
The WAB Player Ratings are formulated using marks out of 10 given by Brighton fans via Twitter. To have your scores included, follow We Are Brighton on Twitter and look out for the player rating thread after each game.
