Brighton 2-2 Liverpool: Baleba and March lead improved ratings
Leading the Brighton 2-2 Liverpool player ratings were two newcomers and one stalwart taking up an unfamiliar position as Roberto De Zerbi continued to heavily rotate his side in the final match before the October international break.
De Zerbi making so many changes from game-to-game has caused a few murmurings of discontent as performance levels and results have dropped off in recent weeks.
But against the Redmen, the Albion head coach got the big calls right. With Pervis Estupinan injured and Tariq Lamptey likely to break if he plays two games in a row, Solly March was given a new brief at left back.
The ever reliable March excelled in the unfamiliar position, doing a fine job of dealing with Mo Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold whilst also providing an attacking threat up and down the flank.
Simon Adingra was given an opportunity on his favoured right flank, taking over from March. Adingra scored a brilliantly opportunistic goal in a livewire display.
And then there was Carlos Baleba. De Zerbi gave the £25 million summer signing from Lille a long-awaited first start. Baleba did not disappoint, putting in a showing which was reminiscent of Yves Bissouma in his prime.
There were plenty of other encouraging individual performances aside from March, Adingra and Baleba. Here are your Brighton 2-2 Liverpool player ratings.
Bart Verbruggen – 6.75
Gave away a goal for a second home game in a row, playing a terrible pass to Pascal Gross leading to the Liverpool penalty. Distribution needs to improve if De Zerbi’s plan of giving his goalkeepers a 50-50 split of games is going to work.
Joel Veltman – 7.08
You know Brighton are struggling when even Veltman puts in a series of questionable performances. Was back to his dependable best, dealing very well with the dangerous Luis Diaz.
Lewis Dunk – 6.92
Loves a goal when Brighton play Liverpool; sometimes into the Redmen net and other times past his own goalkeeper. On this occasion he found himself scoring for Brighton with a clinical finish from March’s free kick for the equalising goal.
Igor Julio – 7.42
Igor! Igor! Igor! Looked much more assured on his full Premier League debut than he had on his previous two starts against AEK Athens in the Europa League and Chelsea in the Carabao Cup. A shame to see him go off injured.
SOLLY MARCH – 8.42
His pathway to the England squad might be blocked by the likes of Bukayo Saka and Phil Foden, but should Gareth Southgate open his mind to picking March as a left back? Based on him topping the Brighton 2-2 Liverpool ratings, the answer to that is yes.
Pascal Gross – 6.67
Lucky to stay on the pitch when pulling Dominik Szoboszlai to the ground, conceding a penalty with no intention of winning the ball. That was a very un-Gross like moment.
CARLOS BALEBA – 8.42
De Zerbi has hailed him as the heir to Moises Caicedo but as has been already said, this was more of a Bissouma-style performance featuring a lot of athleticism and a willingness to carry the ball forward. A very, very promising first Premier League start.
Simon Adingra – 8.25
The anticipation to nick the ball off Alexis Mac Allister followed by the awareness to catch Alisson Becker out with an early shot from 30 yards made for a superb individual goal. Would have bagged a brace were it not for a brilliant one-handed stop from Alisson early in the second half.
Joao Pedro – 7.50
Schemed brilliantly in the number 10 role behind Evan Ferguson and was at the heart of most of the good stuff Brighton did. Loses marks though for that awful miss which could and probably should have won the game for the Albion.
Kaoru Mitoma – 6.67
One of his quieter games as he struggled to get into it too much. Has since withdrawn from the Japan squad for their two upcoming internationals with fatigue.
Evan Ferguson – 5.92
Pretty anonymous again, suggesting he is still not fully over the illness which ruled him out last month. One good bit of target man play saw him hold the ball up before sweeping a pass out right to Adingra but that was about it.
Danny Welbeck – 5.08
Marginally better than Ferguson, making it odd that he ended up with a lower score. Plenty of running and helped stretch the Liverpool defence as the Albion sought an equaliser.
Jan Paul van Hecke – 6.83
Not an easy game to get thrown into because of injury. Yet he slotted in seamlessly after replacing Igor, doing some nice stuff in possession.
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.
