Man Utd were rotten v Bournemouth but there were enough genuine thwackings elsewhere to keep them down to just one man in the worst XI.
Tottenham are obviously well represented but Ipswich’s lack of attacking quality without Liam Delap was exposed.
GOALKEEPER: Dean Henderson (Crystal Palace)
Not directly responsible for any of Arsenal’s five goals but if you ship five from six shots on target then you are going to find yourself in the worst team of the weekend. Quite how Danny Ward evaded this fate is a mystery.
RIGHT-BACK: James Justin (Leicester City)
Was given the E for Error by Opta after a failure in communication with Danny Ward for Wolves’ second goal but was pretty rotten for all of the 52 minutes he stayed on the pitch, completing only 57.7% of his passes.
CENTRE-BACK: Archie Gray (Tottenham)
He’s 18, he’s playing out of position and he is playing alongside the erratic Radu Dragusin. But Gray was given the E by Opta for one of Liverpool’s six goals, though nobody watching would blame him for the clown show.
CENTRE-BACK: Noussair Mazraoui (Manchester United)
Made a ridiculous braindead challenge to concede a penalty against Bournemouth, though he might reasonably argue that he had been shifted wide when he committed that atrocity. United are lucky to have only one representative on this list, saved by the thwackings suffered elsewhere.
LEFT-BACK Keane Lewis-Potter (Brentford)
Robbed by Anthony Elanga for Nottingham Forest’s second goal; it was not his first or last heavy touch of the afternoon as the Bees’ lack of a natural left-back continues to cause issues.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Jens Cajuste (Ipswich Town)
Ipswich Town’s best midfielder this season but he called for the ball in the box, got dispossessed by Bruno Guimaraes, and ensured the game was over by half-time.
CENTRAL MIDFIELD: Yves Bissouma (Tottenham)
A poor game all-round as he was entirely outclassed by Liverpool. In truth, Dragusin and Pedro Porro were more culpable than him or Gray, but Bissouma did nothing to stem the tide.
RIGHT WING: Wes Burns (Ipswich Town)
When this comes from an Ipswich fan…
Wes burns is the worst footballer the premier has seen by the way. Fucking useless
— Jack (@campoitfc) December 21, 2024
ATTACKING MIDFIELD: Omari Hutchinson (Ipswich Town)
A sobering day for all in blue, with Hutchinson contributing basically nothing in defence or attack before being substituted at half-time to save him for Friday night’s daunting trip to Arsenal.
LEFT WING: Sam Szmodics (Ipswich Town)
See above except he lasted 77 minutes.
STRIKER: Yoane Wissa (Brentford)
Was probably no poorer than those around him in an oddly toothless Brentford attack – shackled expertly by that Forest defence – but picked up a booking along with his one off-target shot.
