Not just Ngumoha: Liverpool star who won 7 duels was ‘excellent’ against Villarreal
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October 20th 2026, 23:01 (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) Rio Ngumoha was the undoubted star of the show for Liverpool in their 4-3 win over Villarreal on Tuesday night, but he wasn’t alone in delivering a magnificent individual performance for the Reds.Andoni Iraola rolled the dice with his starting line-up as he made six changes from the weekend victory at Brentford, with the expensive trio of Bradley Barcola, Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz all dropping to the bench.The German playmaker was summoned at half-time with the teams level at 2-2, and he went on to score what ultimately turned out to be his side’s winning goal midway through the second half.Wirtz was ‘excellent’ in Liverpool winWhile much of the post-match attention understandably centred around Ngumoha, Liverpool Echo reporter Ian Doyle also hailed the contribution from the Reds’ number 7 against Villarreal.He gave Wirtz 8/10 in his player ratings for the game, writing: ‘Excellent showing in the number 10 role, for which his well-taken strike was deserved reward. A player in form.’ (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)Want more Empire of the Kop coverage?
Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trustWirtz answering his critics with some fine performancesIt was only a few days ago that Jamie Carragher was calling for the Germany international to be axed from Liverpool’s starting XI, but while Iraola did that tonight, it was with a view to managing his minutes rather than any slight on his performances.Amid the wild anti-Wirtz agenda from many pundits and journalists in the UK, there wasn’t much said about his marvellous performance against Brentford in which he created a whopping nine chances, and he excelled once more against Villarreal on Tuesday. Goals 1 Passes completed 34/38 (89% success) Duels won 7/8 Shots on target 2 Key passes 2 Dribbles completed 2/3 Tackles 3 Statistics via SofascoreHis goal to put the Reds 4-2 ahead midway through the second half will feel like a weight off his shoulders, having previously not found the net for his club since the 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in April.Having been all too ineffective against Manchester City earlier this month, the German has now delivered three strong performances in a row and has surely earned a recall for the visit of Brighton to Anfield on Sunday.It’s been a great week for Wirtz – now the task is to maintain that level of consistency throughout the season and leave even his most ardent critics dining out on humble pie.