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This article is part of Football FanCast's In Numbers series, which takes a statistical look at performances, season-long form and reported transfer targets...

Jurgen Klopp made the somewhat bold decision to drop Georginio Wijnaldum for James Milner against Napoli, and it's a gamble that didn't pay off.

Liverpool suffered their first defeat since their penalty shoot-out loss against Man City in August, going back to their defeat in the Nou Camp last season, but were uncharacteristic in their sloppiness in all departments - which was summed up in the two goals they conceded.

A big challenge prior to kick-off was how the Reds would cope in terms as possession, with Napoli's average of 57% in Serie A proving they're a side which likes to keep the ball.

Klopp's side was most effective in that department, and indeed enjoyed a majority of the ball with 52% possession, but Milner failed to live up to his league average 87% pass accuracy.

In fact, there were multiple aspects of his play which suggest that he may no longer be effective on the European stage, with certain signs that his age may finally be beginning to catch up with him.

In Milner's defence he hadn't started a match for a month, and he was coming up against high calibre opponents by helping Andrew Robertson deal with Dries Mertens and Jose Callejon, who have 63 Champions League appearances between them.

Despite that, according to WhoScored he achieved a pass success rate of just 78% - making just 37 successful passes in total - which is not good enough at Champions League level, particularly against opponents who are so accomplished on the ball.

By comparison, the player he replaced - Wijnaldum - has a pass accuracy of 92% this term, and without the energy he provides in midfield the likes of Fabian Ruiz and Dries Mertens were allowed too much time to display their influence, with 82 and 71 touches respectively.

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Milner worked hard but he was often found out in the middle, and the game began to get away from him in the second half with his second foul of the match culminating in a booking, before he was subbed moments later.

Added to that, he failed to make a single interception in the match, thereby underperforming compared to his midfield partner Jordan Henderson, who made three.

All of the above statistics and his display in general suggest the 5 foot 9 man may no longer be able to compete at the very highest level for Liverpool, and with less than a year remaining on his contract maybe it is time for the two parties to bid farewell to each other.