Liverpool have little representation left at the World Cup, with only three players remaining in the tournament as of Sunday evening.
One of them, Alisson Becker, was in last-16 action against Norway with Brazil on Sunday, in a game which also saw two of Liverpool‘s potential new winger targets come up against each other.
With so few of their own players left, watching possible targets is a way for Reds fans to keep interested in this summer’s tournament, and in Rayan and Antonio Nusa, they saw two come face-to-face in New Jersey. But who came out on top?
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Rayan edges uninspiring clash against Nusa
After scoring a brilliant goal during the last-32 match against Ivory Coast, Nusa has emerged as a cost-effective option for Liverpool, with €60m reportedly enough to pluck him from RB Leipzig this summer.
As a result, Reds fans will have been watching him closely on Sunday as he started in his favoured left-sided role for Norway.
The 21-year-old is still a young player, though, and he failed to really make any kind of impact during the first-half.
Andoni Iraola wants dribblers at Liverpool next season, and Nusa tried four of them in the opening 45 minutes, successfully completing two.
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Though he was dispossessed twice, the Leipzig star looked lively in the opening minutes before fading as the half went on.
Part of the reason for that was the defensive work Rayan got through directly up against him.
The Bournemouth youngster is a willing runner and uses his big frame to win challenges, getting the better of two out of four duels in the first-half. When he got on the ball Rayan was a threat as well, successfully completing both of his attempted dribbles and creating three chances for his teammates.
Despite having more touches – 30 to Rayan’s 23 – Nusa did not create anything at all for Erling Haaland, Alexander Sorloth or anyone else on the Norwegian team.
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Sadly for the young winger, Stale Solbakken had seen enough, and took Nusa off at half-time.
With the chance to step up, Rayan did not do an awful lot with it during the second period, but did force a decent stop from goalkeeper Orjan Nyland with a right-footed effort.
The 19-year-old was then taken off himself with 23 minutes left to play, having put in a decent showing, but failed to really take charge of his chance to nail down a spot in the Brazil attack.
If Liverpool scouts were watching this particular match – and you’d have to think they are watching most – if not every – World Cup match, they would not have been hugely impressed by what they saw from either player here. They can’t be judged on one match alone, but perhaps there are better targets out there.
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