Liverpool ended their Premier League campaign in style as they produced a well-rounded performance to thrash Brighton 4-0 at Anfield on Sunday.
The Reds emerged on their home turf needing at least a point to guarantee a top-four finish for the second consecutive season, having lost 1-0 to rivals Chelsea last time out.
Ahead of the Champions League final on May 26, this could have presented itself as a banana skin, with the success of Liverpool’s season depending on their results over just two games.
But with Mohamed Salah‘s record-breaking strike, Dejan Lovren‘s bullet header and first-ever goals for the club for both Dominic Solanke and Andy Robertson the hosts made light work of Brighton.
Though the Seagulls certainly lacked the resolve and verve that made them a surprise package at times this season, Jurgen Klopp‘s side deserve praise for their efforts on the final day.
So who were singled out for praise by journalists and statisticians?
Below we compare our ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, Sky Sports, ESPN, The Anfield Wrap, Anfield Index, The Redmen TV and WhoScored:
As expected, Salah (8.8) was deemed the top performer after netting his 32nd league goal to surpass Luis Suarez, Alan Shearer and Cristiano Ronaldo for the most in a 38-game Premier League season.
The Egyptian was the spark in the Reds’ attack at Anfield once again, and was the only player to not be rated anything below an eight out of 10 by any publication.
Liverpool’s back line were as earmarked for praise, however, with Robertson (8.4), Lovren (8.0) and Virgil van Dijk (8.0) all widely lauded.
The Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle hailed Robertson for “busting a gut in the closing stages,” while ESPN’s Dave Usher acknowledged how Van Dijk “makes the game look so easy.”
After a difficult start, including a string of poor touches and fumbled efforts, Solanke (7.7) improved significantly, and was rightly lauded on par with Sadio Mane (7.7).
Loris Karius (6.9), who enjoyed a quiet afternoon with Brighton firing just one shot on target, was the only Liverpool player to average a rating below seven out of 10.
Statistically, it is a similar story for Klopp’s Reds, with Salah, Robertson, Lovren and Van Dijk all standouts, but interestingly Solanke stands as the third-highest rated Liverpool player.
Only Mane (five) created more chances than the 20-year-old (three), who also completed the joint-most successful dribbles (two) and registered the second-highest passing accuracy of the forward line (80.8%).
Also deserving of praise was Georginio Wijnaldum, who found his man with 95.1 percent of his attempted passes, as well as making the most tackles (four) of any player.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was the only outfielder to be rated at lower than seven out of 10 by WhoScored, with the teenager relatively quiet compared to the all-action Robertson.
But overall it was another comfortable, controlled display from Liverpool, and one that bodes well for this month’s clash with Real Madrid in Kiev.
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