Liverpool entertained Crystal Palace at Anfield earlier this evening hoping to pick up another three points that would take them one step closer towards the Premier League title. The home side made a dominant start to the game and took the lead in the 23rd minute via Trent Alexander-Arnold’s superb free-kick. Mohamed Salah doubled his side’s advantage just before half-time whistle courtesy of his calm finish from close range.
The second half was more of the same with Jurgen Klopp’s men pushing on in search of more goals. Fabinho put real daylight between the two teams when he scored a breathtaking goal from long range in the 55th minute. Sadio Mane put the icing on the cake when he joined in on the goal-scoring act with his tidy finish just 14 minutes later. The contest ended with Liverpool securing a dominant 4-0 victory at Merseyside.
Let’s take a look at how each Liverpool player fared during the match against the Eagles.
GK: Alisson Becker – 7/10
The Brazilian international hardly had anything to do in the game as the opposition failed to test him during the 90 minutes. He will be happy to keep a comfortable clean sheet at the back.
RB: Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8/10
The English right-back scored a peach of a goal after executing his free-kick to perfection in the first 45. He hardly had to do any work defensively before getting replaced in the second half.
CB: Joe Gomez – 8/10
The Liverpool defender saw a lot of the ball and interchanged passes without breaking a sweat going forward. He also made a couple of critical recovering runs inside his half.
CB: Virgil Van Dijk – 8/10
The Dutch centre-half was in complete cruise control throughout the game and secured an easy shutout at the back.
LB: Andrew Robertson – 7.5/10
The Scottish full-back didn’t put a foot wrong and excelled at making several marauding runs down the left flank. He also picked up an assist when he set up Fabinho’s goal in the second half.
CM: Jordan Henderson – 7/10
The Liverpool captain put in another tireless shift in the middle of the park. He led the press well in midfield and was unfortunate to have hit the post with his attempt in the first 45 minutes.
CM: Fabinho – 9/10
The Brazilian produced a masterclass of a performance in midfield and scored a fantastic goal from long range. He ran the show at the centre of the park and deserved the man of the match award.
CM: Georginio Wijnaldum – 6/10
The Dutch playmaker kept possession ticking in the opposition half and was guilty of squandering a few decent opportunities to score.
RW: Mohamed Salah – 8.5/10
The Egyptian winger started a bit slow but ended up putting in a majestic display throughout the remainder of the contest. He netted a neatly crafted goal and also showcased excellent vision to pick out Mane’s run in the lead up to the Liverpool’s fourth goal.
ST: Roberto Firmino – 6/10
The Brazilian forward tried his best to cook up some decent openings for his teammates but lacked the cutting edge in the final third.
LW: Sadio Mane – 8/10
The Senegalese worked hard on the left flank and was a constant menace for the Palace defenders. He kept his composure to score a beautiful goal from a tight angle.
Substitutes:
CM: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 6/10
He got into some promising positions but has nothing to show for his efforts.
RB: Neco Williams – 8/10
It was a lively cameo from the young Liverpool full-back. He was always looking to link up with Salah down the right-wing, and went close scoring and even assisting a goal.
ST: Takumi Minamino – 7/10
He kept things tidy in and around the opposition box but didn’t get too many openings to find the back of the net.
CM: Naby Keita – N/A
He did not have enough time to make an impact.
LM: Harvey Elliott- N/A
The talented starlet came on to provide some fresh legs on the field.
