Mohamed Salah stood tallest in Liverpool’s priceless 3-2 win away to Southampton, on a day when many players were below-par.
The Reds took on their bottom-of-the-table opponents on Sunday afternoon, but it proved a big test of Arne Slot‘s side title credentials.
Dominik Szoboszlai fired Liverpool in front, but an iffy VAR decision saw Southampton given a penalty, with Adam Armstrong scoring at the second attempt.
Mateus Fernandes gave Saints a shock 2-1 lead, only for Salah to equalise and then bury a ruthless penalty late in the day to open up an eight-point lead at the top.
Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, GOAL, FotMob and This Is Anfield’s readers.
Salah (8.3) wants this Premier League title more than anyone and he inspired his side to victory yet again.
With Liverpool so poor and searching for some brilliance, the Egyptian struck twice to turn the game on its head.
When it came to Salah, GOAL’s Tom Maston simply posed the question: “Where would they be without him?”
Ryan Gravenberch (7.7) was also an assured presence in midfield, and while not his best display of the season, he still caught the eye with his first assist of the season.
Ian Doyle of the Echo said that the Dutchman was “heavily involved as Liverpool dominated possession first half,” adding that he “stepped up” when the Reds needed him.
TIA’s Mark Delgado did admit that Gravenberch was far from perfect, though, saying there was a combination of “some nice touches with losing challenges in the middle of the park.”
Szoboszlai (7.4) also had a positive afternoon overall, opening the scoring and providing plenty of energy.
Maston described his finish as “excellent,” but felt he “lacked composure at other times,” summing up how even the better players were flawed at St Mary’s.
Ibrahima Konate (5.2) was miles short of his best and got the worst overall rating, even being given a three-out-of-10 score by Maston.
Next up for Liverpool is a mouthwatering Champions League clash with Real Madrid on Wednesday night (8pm GMT).
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