Liverpool: Takumi Minamino failed to impress in Porto victory | OneFootball

Liverpool had no issue in keeping their unbeaten run in the Champions League going after last night’s 2-0 victory over FC Porto at Anfield.

Goals from Thiago Alcantara and Mohamed Salah secured the win for Jurgen Klopp’s side in front of their home fans after convincingly beating Arsenal 4-0 at the weekend in their previous Premier League fixture.

1 of 10

First up in this 2020/21 season quiz, how many PL goals did Mo Salah score?

20 21 22 23

However, one player that started in midweek that did not take the opportunity to shine with both hands was Takumi Minamino.

Despite playing the full 90 minutes of the game against the Portuguese club, Minamino only managed to have 33 touches of the ball, which was fewer than the 51 touches Reds goalkeeper Alisson Becker had throughout the game.

In addition to this, Minamino failed to have much of an attacking impact as well, despite starting through the middle in between Salah and Sadio Mane.

The Japan international failed to register even one shot at goal, only completed one of the two dribbles he attempted, make just 14 accurate passes and get caught offside on two occasions.

Minamino also managed to win just 35% of the 14 duels he was involved in and lose possession of the ball on nine occasions, ultimately earning himself a rather uninspiring overall match rating of 6.7/10, making him the lowest-rated Liverpool player that started the match according to SofaScore.

Given how Minamino scored in the 4-0 win against Arsenal after coming off the bench to replace Diogo Jota who picked up a knock to the knee against the Gunners, it’s easy to see why Klopp gave him the chance to shine from the start.

However, looking at his performance, it’s safe to say he didn’t fully use this opportunity to really stake a claim for a place in the team next time around for their upcoming Premier League clash against Southampton at the weekend.

Did Minamino have a good game against Porto?

With Roberto Firmino still out with a hamstring injury, it’s likely that Minamino will get the chance to prove himself again in the coming weeks and months for Liverpool and when he does, he will have to make sure he puts in a more assured performance than the one he delivered against Porto.