Liverpool were held to a 2-2 draw by Shrewsbury Town on Sunday, forcing the Reds into a replay that manager Jurgen Klopp would ideally not have preferred to play. The German gaffer said after the match that U23 manager Neil Critchley, and not him, would be managing the return fixture at Anfield.
Dejan Lovren captained the side but the Croatian as well as Joel Matip, both playing for the senior team after a while, weren’t at their best. Also rusty was Fabinho, who was making his first start since November. Klopp made eleven changes to the side that had edged Wolves over the weekend, but was forced to bring Ox, Salah and Firmino off the bench in an attempt to force a result, albeit unsuccessfully.
Young Neco Williams was impressive for the Reds, who took a 2-0 lead before the home side fought back to level the game 2-2. It could’ve well been 3-2 in favour of the Shrews had Jason Cummings not missed a change to register a hat trick late in the game.
Here are the player ratings from local newspaper Liverpool Echo for the game.
