Liverpool 3-1 Tottenham: Winners and Losers as Jeremie Frimpong Struggles

· GiveMeSport

Liverpool progressed to the fourth round of the EFL Cup with a dominant 3-1 win over Tottenham.

Liverpool claimed a dominant 3-1 win at Anfield to defeat Tottenham Hotspur and progress into the fourth round of the EFL Cup .

Alexis Mac Allister opened the scoring with a fine strike into the top corner in the first-half, before Cody Gakpo doubled the lead with a powerful strike in the second half. Conor Gallagher pulled one back with a header to make it a tense ending, before a stunning Dominik Szoboszlai strike in injury time wrapped up the win.

Andoni Iraola made several changes to his Liverpool starting lineup to freshen things up and got a strong performance, but there were some who came out as winners and losers more than others, and GIVEMESPORT has taken a look...

Iraola went for a relatively young team at Anfield, with Trey Nyoni and James McConnell handed their first starts of the season in midfield, and Nyoni in particular was very impressive.

The lanky midfielder showed excellent composure in possession and broke up play well, which helped the team to control the game for the most part. His quality was shown more after he was substituted on 62 minutes, as Tottenham begun to take over from that point on, and Iraola will now know that he can rely on him against physical midfields with quality.

Alongside him young striker Lewis Koumas also impressed in attack after leading the line as the starting striker, and Iraola will be delighted with his decision to keep him beyond the summer window despite interest in his services.

Milos Kerkez has come under a lot of criticism for his performances this season, but the Hungarian looked back to his best during the game, and his energy in both directions was key to the victory.

Iraola has always been a big fan of using his full-backs to help in attack, but Jeremie Frimpong continues to struggle in England with his performances.

The Netherlands international was ineffective going forward throughout the game, and also had trouble containing Mathys Tel, Mohammed Kudus, and Omar Marmoush at different points. He was booked, and always looked like he was being targeted by the opposition, suggesting they saw him as a weak link too.

With Ronald Araujo in good form, Frimpong may have a battle on his hands to get back into the side as a first-choice option.

Another player who may struggle is Ryan Gravenberch, with the Dutchman also struggling for control after his introduction as a substitute. When playing as the deepest midfielder alongside Mac Allister and Szoboszlai, Liverpool lost control of the game and there were big gaps appearing all over the pitch.

Iraola won't have been a big fan of what he saw in the last half hour, despite eventually claiming the win, and the security without Gravenberch may go against him in the coming fixtures.

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