It was a horror moment in an otherwise solid full Premier League debut for young Mike Penders over the weekend, when he punched a Spurs corner straight into the back of his own net, so it was especially great to see him put in an excellent performance in a tough environment just a couple days later. He didn't show any obvious ill-effects, mentally or otherwise, of the gaffe; quite the contrary in fact: he made multiple good saves and a couple good punches to clear his area. Liverpool had an xG of over 2 but could only score from the penalty spot.
In the shootout, Penders was nearly able to complete his redemption as he saved the effort from Ryan Gravenberch. Unfortunately, Emmanuel Emegha produced one of the worst takes of the evening when he had a chance to win it, and then Wesley Fofana one-upped that by putting his into low Earth orbit to complete our early exit from this year's League Cup.
But hopefully for Penders himself, this puts him back on the right track as he needs to keep deputizing for Emi Martínez for a few more weeks yet, at least.
It's nice to have Caicedo back, that's for sure, though Xabi Alonso revealed afterwards that our key midfielder had a "little problem" that forced him off in the second half. Alonso has a habit of vastly understating injuries, so hopefully it's not actually a big problem.
First start for Lavia in five games, part of a new-look three-man midfield. It wasn't the worst idea; I'd imagine we'll see something like that more often in certain situations, combined with a back-four (i.e. a 4-3-3 rather than a 3-4-3 — though Alonso likes to keep things fluid, so lineups are never as rigid and straightforward as they are in writing).
EXCEPTIONAL (8.5-9.5) : —
EXCELLENT (7.5-8.4) : —
GOOD (6.5-7.4) : Penders (7.1)
AVERAGE (5.5-6.4) : Caicedo ( 6.4), Lavia ( 6.3), Acheampong ( 6.2), Colwill ( 6.2, sub ), Henderson ( 6.0), Emegha ( 5.9), Neto ( 5.9), Lacroix ( 5.8), Palestra ( 5.6, sub )
SUBPAR (4.5-5.4) : Barco ( 5.3, sub )
BAD (3.5-4.4) : Gusto ( 4.4), Emegha ( 4.3, sub ), Welbeck ( 4.2)
TERRIBLE (2.5-3.4) : Fofana ( 2.7)
