Jamie Carragher was in a positive mood despite Liverpool’s Champions League defeat to Napoli on Tuesday night.
Liverpool suffered a 2-0 defeat thanks to two late goals from the home side as they started their Champions League campaign on the wrong foot.
A debatable penalty call led to Dries Mertens’ opener for Napoli, while a stoppage-time goal from Fernando Llorente sealed the points as Liverpool lost at the San Paolo Stadium for the second season running.
But Carragher was decidedly upbeat, judging by the ex-defender’s tweet following the game, where he singled out three players in particular for praise.
He tweeted: “Nothing between both teams before the penalty, it was harsh but one you’d be wanting at the other end. Fabinho & Henderson excellent & the Adrian save unbelievable! Toughest game out the way & LFC didn’t do [too] bad after losing here last season.”
It seems as though Carragher has a good eye for this sort of thing, with Fabinho and Jordan Henderson the only Liverpool players, apart from Sadio Mane, to record a match rating from WhoScored of over 7.0.
Henderson recorded a total of three key passes – only Roberto Firmino (4) had more – while Fabinho’s pass accuracy rate of 95.4% was only bettered by teammate Andrew Robertson (98.2%) from those in Liverpool’s starting XI.
Meanwhile, Adrian’s wonder-save from Mertens was arguably one of the highlights from a Liverpool perspective.
As Carragher recognised himself, Liverpool lost in Naples last year – which may provide the Reds with a positive omen ahead of their remaining group fixtures.
However, the stark reality is that the performances of the trio may not count for too much – and the onus will now be on the Reds to deliver in the upcoming group games – as well as in the Premier League to get back to winning ways.
Though with Carragher feeling Liverpool’s toughest test is now behind them, the former centre-back may well be confident that the Reds will have no problems bouncing back.
Liverpool fans – how are you feeling after the Napoli result? As good as Carragher, or perhaps not as confident? Let us know by entering the discussion below!
