The standout performers were clear as Liverpool raced to a 3-1 victory over Brighton on Wednesday night, with Mohamed Salah back to his best in the attacking line.
The Reds made it hard for themselves last time out against Aston Villa, and ahead of their trip to East Sussex, Jurgen Klopp outlined the toil of travel.
But having flown to Brighton the night before, they were quick off the blocks at the Amex, and surged to a two-goal lead within the first eight minutes as Salah and Jordan Henderson found the back of the net.
A spirited fightback from the Seagulls saw Leandro Trossard halve the lead, though, with Graham Potter’s side resolved to not lie down for the champions.
Their resilience broke with a set-piece routine, though, and Salah nodded home Andy Robertson‘s near-post corner to make it 30 wins from 34 in the league.
So who made their mark in Falmer, and who struggled to keep up?
Here we compare our player ratings with those from the Liverpool Echo, the Mirror, ESPN, The Redmen TV, FotMob and the TIA readers:
It was no surprise that, with two goals and an assist, Salah (8.9) took the top score, with no publication rating the No. 10 below an eight out of 10.
The Egyptian was nearly untouchable on the ball, in a significant improvement on his predictable showing against Aston Villa—almost as if he’s realised the race for the Golden Boot is on.
Not far behind Salah was Naby Keita (8.5), who kept up his strong run of form with a suffocating display in the middle of the park, with his pressing leading to the opener from Salah.
Both Virgil van Dijk (7.6) and Jordan Henderson (7.5) also ranked highly, though ESPN’s Nick Judd contrived to view Van Dijk’s display as “shaky by the big Netherlands international’s standards.”
“Couldn’t get involved,” came Karl Matchett’s assessment of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain‘s 60-minute showing (6.0), in This Is Anfield’s ratings.
“Another opportunity which passed him by here, with just a couple of half-sighters on shots and crosses. Never looks comfortable in the front three.”
The midfielder followed up a dismal performance against Aston Villa with an anonymous outing on the left flank at the Amex, and no player was rated worse than him on the night.
Not far ahead was full Premier League debutant Neco Williams (6.3), though unsurprisingly given the circumstances, the full-back was spared such criticism, the Echo‘s Ian Doyle deeming it to have been a “learning curve.”
The Liverpool squad flew straight back to Merseyside after the game, as they face another tight turnaround—and likely more changes—with Burnley the visitors on Saturday.
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