Liverpool were back to their brilliant best as they swatted aside Chelsea 4-1 at Anfield, and there were no shortage of stunning individual performances to choose from.
The Reds cruised to a 2-0 half-time lead courtesy of goals from Diogo Jota and Conor Bradley, with Dominik Szoboszlai heading home shortly after the hour to make it three.
There was brief concern when Christopher Nkunku steered home a consolation for the visitors, but Luis Diaz put the game beyond doubt with 10 minutes to go.
Adam Beattie (@beatts94) and Jack Gill (@jacklfcgill) are here to bask in a fantastic evening for Liverpool.
Let’s start with the main man. Conor Bradley, discuss…
ADAM: I’m lost for words, he looked superhuman!
I thought it was purely adrenaline that was carrying him through in Trent’s absence, but last night he looked like he’d been Liverpool’s first-choice right-back for years.
His decision-making going forward is seriously impressive and he dealt with a lively Raheem Sterling effortlessly, sheer class throughout.
Dropping him on Sunday would feel extremely harsh, how do we go about getting both him and Trent on the pitch, I wonder?
JACK: Wow. What a talent we have on our hands here. Opposition fans must really envy us when they watch Conor Bradley and realise we have another sensational talent who can easily step in when the best right-back in the world is unavailable.
All you can ask from a young player is that when they get their opportunity, they give their all and show why they have got the chance and why they deserve to be around the first team. Bradley has certainly done that and some.
If there’s a way of getting both him and Trent in the team together I think it needs to be done, so we may see more of Trent in midfield from now on.
A statement performance on the pitch, and Anfield back to its best off it?
JACK: I personally think that was our best performance of the season so far… it’s certainly up there.
We dominated the game from start to finish and Chelsea hardly had a sniff. Anfield was a lot better too.
It’s been really flat a lot this season in the stands but the Jurgen news has obviously given everyone that push that we need to be the 12th man and push the lads right to the end of the season so Jurgen can sign off with the league title and as many trophies as possible.
ADAM: That is the best it has been for a long time, in my opinion, in all senses.
Barring the five minutes of madness when we briefly lost our shape after making four changes, Chelsea couldn’t lay a glove on us.
Arsenal just before Christmas was loud but we consistently stuck behind the players for the full 90 minutes and it has been a long time since we’ve been able to say that.
Jurgen’s departure looks like it’ll get the best out of the players, and it might just get the best out of us as fans, too.
Who else stood out for you?
ADAM: I thought Alexis Mac Allister was brilliant, he constantly looked capable of picking out a deadly pass from deep and he was so clever in tight spaces both on and off the ball.
Ibrahima Konate looks in the form of his life, too. I wouldn’t swap this centre-back pairing for any other on the planet and that makes us a dangerous prospect given how much the forwards are purring.
JACK: Everyone stood out for me, I thought it was an excellent performance all-round and no one looked off it at all. Alexis MacAllister was absolutely terrific once again in the midfield and gave everything, as Adam said.
I also thought Darwin Nunez was exceptional, he did everything but score. I genuinely think he’s the most unlucky player I’ve ever seen. His overall game has come on so much and at some point, his luck is going to come and he won’t be able to stop scoring.
I could sit here and praise every single one of the lads for last night though as it truly was a fantastic performance from the whole team. The type of performance that you watch and think, yeah, this season is going to be special!
What changes would you make for Sunday?
JACK: I know we’ve got some big players coming back from injury but it would be harsh changing anyone after we have just produced our best performance of the season.
With that being said, the lads are knackered after giving everything last night, so we may benefit from making a couple of changes.
As I said in the previous question, Mac gave everything and was limping in the tunnel at the end after picking up that knock, so it may be that he isn’t fit enough to start against the Gunners.
If he is absent, we might see Trent in midfield with Bradley starting at right-back.
One thing I will say is it’s nice to have options again and I’m confident of beating Arsenal if we can perform at the level we have done since the turn of the year.
ADAM: It feels ridiculous to say it but there is no guarantee Andy Robertson or Trent are dropped straight back in, such has been the form of Joe Gomez and Bradley.
We’ve got serious options and the manager will likely have to have some difficult conversations this week, but with the five substitutes, you feel as though he’ll be able to make it work.
I’m definitely not touching that midfield and I’d be pretty content seeing the front three go again. You could talk me into Cody Gakpo but the others look full of confidence at the moment.
Fan Comments