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Nick Pope endured a wretched 24 minutes before his Carabao Cup final plans were torn to shreds. And Tyrone Mings’ assist for Bukayo Saka earns him a spot in the weekend’s worst XI.
Here are the weekend’s worst performers, according to WhoScored ratings, in the shape of a 4-3-3…
GK: Nick Pope – 4.27
The Newcastle keeper is already feeling pretty rotten after the red card he received against Liverpool that sees him sit out the Magpies’ biggest game in years. So he probably doesn’t need this…
📉 Nick Pope earned a WhoScored rating of just 4.27 in Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on Saturday night
😖 It’s the lowest rated performance by a player in a Premier League match this season pic.twitter.com/da6tD7NcIT
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) February 19, 2023
LB: Victor Kristansen – 6.16
Full-backs were generally solid this weekend, evidenced by the fact that Victor Kristiansen was the lowest scorer with a very ‘meh’ 6.16. The Leicester defender, however, was dribbled past four times and lost possession 21 times at Old Trafford.
RB: Ben White – 6.18
Similarly, White is unfortunate to be included as one of the two worst full-backs among a competent bunch. But the Arsenal defender lost possession even more often than Kristiansen – 23 times – while failing with all three attempted dribbles. White also allowed Alex Moreno in behind him to set up Philippe Coutinho.
CB: Angelo Ogbonna – 5.22
The Italian lost a duel with Harry Kane that led to Tottenham’s second goal, and Ogbonna was bypassed the ball that played in Ben Davies to tee-up Emerson Royale. His place would be in danger if David Moyes had any other centre-backs.
CB: Tyrone Mings – 5.29
Two appearances in three weeks for the Villa centre-back after a very typical Mings performance against Arsenal. He made one superb goal-line appearance before giving Bukayo Saka the ball to score the Gunners’ opener.
Bukayo Saka take a bow 😮💨
An emphatic strike from Saka puts Arsenal back on level terms! pic.twitter.com/nhhrhbBvQ5
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) February 18, 2023
CM: Jonjo Shelvey – 6.00
The draw with City somewhat passed Shelvey by, with the midfielder managing only 25 touches in the 72 minutes before he was replaced. His radar was off, with only one of his five long passes finding a team-mate, while all three duels went the way of a City player.
RM: Flynn Downes – 5.98
A fourth Premier League start of the season for Downes in which the 24-year-old has faced three of the big six. West Ham lost those battles with Liverpool, Man Utd and now Spurs without scoring. Downes presence is likely to be a coincidence but he would have preferred to have a bigger impact in possession, but you could say the same of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek.
LM: Elliot Anderson – 5.78
The Newcastle midfielder is perhaps a harsh inclusion since his 24th-minute substitution came through no fault of his own following Pope’s red card. But in those 24 minutes, he managed only six touches, giving the ball away with three of them.
Read more: Two conclusions as Liverpool revive top-four hopes and Newcastle’s Pope suffers Carabao heartbreak
LF: Harvey Barnes – 5.67
The Leicester midfielder would have swerved this XI had David De Gea not pulled off a world-class save – one of two in the first half – when Barnes burst through to go one-on-one with the United goalkeeper. The 25-year-old also lost 10 of 12 duels; gave the ball to United on 16 occasions; and failed with both dribble attempts.
RF: Mason Mount – 5.88
The Chelsea attacker played more predominantly on the left but he struggled to make an impact wherever he roamed against Southampton. No key passes nor an accurate cross in 64 minutes, in which time Mount lost eight of his 10 duels.
CF: Alexander Isak – 5.93
Given a start with Callum Wilson presumably kept in reserve ahead of the Carabao Cup final, Isak did little to enhance his own case for a start at Wembley against Manchester United. Service was scarce, but the £63million striker managed just 23 touches and one shot off target before being replaced by Wilson just after the hour.
