There was great praise for several Liverpool players following their 3-1 win over Man United, from the towering Fabinho to match-winner Xherdan Shaqiri.
The Reds were exceptional against United at Anfield, comfortably outplaying their rivals and returning to the Premier League‘s summit.
Sadio Mane finished from close range to open the scoring, only for Alisson‘s howler to gift Jesse Lingard an undeserved equaliser.
Just as it looked like Jurgen Klopp‘s side may drop points, substitute Shaqiri popped up with two deflected efforts to send Anfield wild.
It was the latest in a string of thrilling victories, with Liverpool recording five on the bounce since losing away to Paris Saint-Germain last month.
So what did the watching media make of the game?
Below we compare our ratings with those from the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, Sky Sports, ESPN, Anfield Index, FotMob and the TIA readers.
Liverpool’s highest-rated player on the day was Fabinho (8.6), who deserved all the plaudits that came his way.
The Brazilian was an enormous presence in the middle of the park, with the Liverpool Echo‘s Ian Doyle claiming he “ran the show.”
Similarly, This is Anfield’s Henry Jackson declared him the Reds’ Man of the Match, saying he “jumped into tackles, showed great strength and was eye-catching with the ball.”
Andy Robertson (7.5) was lauded by Jose Mourinho after the game, with the United manager labelling his performance as “absolutely incredible”.
ESPN‘s Glenn Price was not as praiseworthy, however, criticising a number of crosses and corners which “didn’t beat the first man.”
Somebody who understandably received some flack was Alisson (5.3), having earned so much adulation for his Napoli heroics throughout the week.
Anfield Index correctly deduced that “you can’t really excuse” the error, although Doyle did feel it “didn’t let it affect him.”
FotMob rather strangely rated Dejan Lovren (7.2) higher than Virgil van Dijk (6.9) on the day—the latter’s overall rating was higher, though—even though the Dutchman produced a colossal showing up against Romelu Lukaku.
Lovren was good at times, in fairness, but a patchy performance means it is difficult to see where he outshone his centre-back partner.
FotMob’s rating for Naby Keita (6.6 overall) was more fair, however—still a little harsh, perhaps—on a day when the Guinean threatened to shine but frustrated with his end product.
Shaqiri enjoyed his best day yet in a Liverpool shirt and it was no surprise to see glowing assessments of his contribution everywhere.
Price feels he is “making vital contributions,” which is something the Reds haven’t had from the substitutes’ bench in years, while Doyle demanded, “all hail the power cube!”
Up next for Liverpool is a trip to Wolves on Friday night, with victory meaning the Reds will be top of the table at Christmas.
Klopp and his players are in the middle of a fantastic run, with this side surely the strongest seen at Anfield in the Premier League era.
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