Football
David Usher, Liverpool blogger 6y

Philippe Coutinho's hat trick earns him perfect 10 for Liverpool

Liverpool's "Fab Four" ran wild, sending the Reds through to the knockout stages as Spartak were swept aside by a 7-0 tidal wave of attacking football. On this form no one will relish facing Jurgen Klopp's men over two legs.

Positives

Where to even start? Far too many to mention.

Negatives

Alberto Moreno left the field in tears after picking up an injury just before half-time. Hopefully it's nothing too serious.

Manager rating out of 10

8 -- Liverpool's failure to hold onto a 3-0 lead in Sevilla meant Klopp could not afford to rest any of his stars for this game, which was bad news for Spartak, who couldn't contain Liverpool's fearsome forwards. Klopp was able to give Dejan Lovren and Roberto Firmino a bit of a break once the game was well in hand, and introducing Daniel Sturridge to keep him involved was a smart move as Liverpool will need the striker over these coming weeks.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Loris Karius, 7 -- Made one good save and a few other easy ones.

DF Joe Gomez, 7 -- Another eye catching-performance from the versatile youngster. Impressive at right-back and then switched to the centre and showed what an exciting prospect he is at that position.

DF Dejan Lovren, 7 -- Steady and confident. Replaced midway through the second half as Klopp looked to protect him ahead of a hectic period of games. He's recovered well since his horror show at Tottenham in October.

DF Ragnar Klavan, 7 -- Not the most testing of games but the Estonian was efficient and commanding and started numerous attacks with his crisp passing from the back.

DF Alberto Moreno, 7 -- Started the game full of energy and purpose and impressed at both ends of the field before his evening was ended prematurely just before half-time with an injury he picked up while making a key block on the edge of his own area.

MF Emre Can, 7 -- Strong in the middle of the park and kept things ticking over nicely by getting the ball to his attackers and letting them play. Collected a rather unfortunate booking that will rule him out of the Reds next game in the competition.

MF Georginio Wijnaldum, 7 -- Energetic display from the Dutchman who was popping up all over the pitch. Strong in possession and showed a nice range of passing. Like the rest of his teammates he seemed to really enjoy himself.

FW Philippe Coutinho, 10 -- An imperious performance from the little Brazilian capped by a well-deserved hat trick on a night when he captained the team for the first time. His cool penalty gave Liverpool a dream start and he doubled the lead soon after. His third goal was aided by a fortuitous deflection but his play in the build up was wonderful.

MF Sadio Mane, 9 -- Somewhat wasteful early on and squandered two good opportunities in the first half before making amends with two fine finishes after the break. Brilliant in the second half.

FW Roberto Firmino, 9 -- Another goal and another assist for the unselfish Brazilian. He's in terrific form at the moment.

FW Mohamed Salah, 9 -- It was beginning to look like the Egyptian would somehow miss out on the goal fest but the England's leading scorer eventually got his reward late on when he kept a cool head to finish in front of a delirious Kop End.

Substitutes

DF Trent Alexander-Arnold, 7 -- Impressive showing from the teenager who replaced Lovren for the final half an hour. Got forward to good effect and linked well with Mane. Almost created a goal for Sturridge but the striker couldn't keep his shot down.

DF James Milner, 8 -- Famously doesn't enjoy playing left-back but he must have felt good about this as he spent the entire second half raiding down the flank and recorded three assists, the first of which came from a glorious cross that Mane smashed in with a spectacular volley.

FW Daniel Sturridge, NR -- Will be disappointed not have got in on the scoring but he created one for Mane, played his part in Salah's strike and would surely have been awarded a penalty had the referee not taken pity on Spartak.

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