Leeds United 0-3 Liverpool: three heroes and three villains plus player ratings as Harvey Elliott suffers bad injury


Liverpool remain unbeaten in the 2021-22 Premier League season as they strutted to a 3-0 victory at Leeds.
Mo Salah opened the scoring in the first half before Fabinho and Sadio Mane were on target after the interval.
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Hide AdHowever, the Reds’ win was marred by Harvey Elliott’s sickening injury he suffered in the 58th minute, which saw Leeds’ Pascal Struijk issued a straight red card.
The heroes
- Mo Salah: the Egyptian bagged his 100th Premier League goal with a close-range finish in the 20th minute. Salah is the 30th player in Premier League history to achieve the feat.
- Fabinho: Liverpool had been braced to be without the Brazilian for the game. Instead, his 50th-minute finish gave the Reds a deserved second when he swept home a loose ball from a corner. He also broke up play superbly throughout.


- Thiago Alcantara: came in for Jordan Henderson in the engine room and thrived. His composure on the ball and ability to slow the game down nullified Leeds’ high-octane approach.
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Hide AdThe villains
- Pascal Struijk: the Leeds defender’s 58th-minute tackle caused Elliott to suffer a bad injury. Although the challenge wasn’t malicious, Struijk was unsurprisingly sent off by referee Craig Pawson.
- Luke Ayling: the Whites favourite missed a huge chance to equalise towards the end of the first half. In acres of space at the back post, he couldn’t make his mind up whether to go with his head or foot and instead used his knee - with his effort flying over.
- Marco Bielsa: The Leeds boss got his tactics all wrong and his side were again humbled by a title-chasing side. The Yorkshire outfit are still without a win this season.
Player ratings
Leeds (4-2-3-1): Meslier 6; Ayling 4, Cooper 4, Llorente 5 (Struijk 32; 3), Firpo 4; Phillips 6, Dallas 5; Raphinha 5, Rodrigo 5 (Roberts 46; 5), Harrison 4; Bamford 7.
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Hide AdLiverpool (4-3-3): Alisson 6; Alexander-Arnold 8, Matip 7, Van Dijk 7, Robertson 7; Fabinho 7, Thiago 8 (Keita 90+3), Elliott 7 (Henderson 63; 6); Mane 7, Salah 8, Jota 7 (Oxlade-Chamberlain; 82).
Liverpool’s Champions League campaign kicks-off with a visit of AC Milan on Wednesday (20.00 BST).
The Reds then welcome Crystal Palace to Anfield in the Premier League on Saturday (15.00 BST).
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