Sadio Mane was excellent in Liverpool’s hard-fought 2-1 win at Aston Villa, but others were far from their brilliant best.
The Reds faced yet another mammoth game in this most memorable of seasons, knowing dropped points at Villa Park would effectively end their Premier League title chances.
Douglas Luiz’s early goal made anyone of a Liverpool persuasion fear the worst, only for Joel Matip to hit back immediately.
It was left to Mane to seal a 2-1 win, as was the case against Villa back in 2019/20, as the Reds went level on points with Man City.
Here we compare our player ratings with those from the Liverpool Echo, WhoScored, FotMob and the TIA readers.
Mane (8.1) got the highest average rating against Villa and rightly so, following another big contribution.
The 30-year-old superbly steered home a match-winning strike, keeping up his eye-catching form since becoming more of a central striker.
TIA’s Mark Delgado thought Mane was Liverpool’s star man on Tuesday, hailing the Senegalese’s “superb control and hold up play.”
Ian Doyle of the Echo felt the Reds’ No.10 put in a “tremendous amount of work”, as he notched his 22nd goal of an influential season.
In second place were Joel Matip (7.4) and Luis Diaz (7.4), both of whom did their bit on a tough night against Steven Gerrard‘s side.
Matip earned FotMob‘s highest rating, not only equalising for Liverpool but also making a total of five clearances, including a vital late header.
Meanwhile, Delgado praised the ever-impressive Diaz for being a “forceful runner whenever given the opportunity”, assisting Mane’s winner.
Alisson (7.2) and Trent Alexander-Arnold (7.2) were joint-third in the reckoning, with the former again making some key saves in one-on-one situations.
It was not a good night for Fabinho (4.9), though, who was all over the place before going off injured, receiving comfortably the worst all-around score.
Next up for Liverpool is the small matter of Saturday’s FA Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley (4.45pm BST).
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