Written by Jith Sreenivasan – @jithsreenivasan
Liverpool closed the gap on Manchester City in the Premier League to just one point after beating Arsenal at the Emirates thanks to goals from Diogo Jota and Bobby Firmino. It wasn’t a straight forward game with Liverpool soaking up a lot of pressure in the first half but they showed their class and decisiveness to put the game to bed.
Alisson – 10
That save against Odegaard is a save that we could look back in for years if we win this league title. The ability to stay on his toes and not commit to tackling Lacazette when the mistake occurred is truly elite.
Trent – 8.5
His passing is special, he’s the only player on that pitch who can pick out some of the passes that he picked out. Martinelli gave him a hard battle but he more than held his own against a challenging side.
Matip – 10
Imperious. He won every single battle that he needed to win today and that was exactly what we needed in that first half when we weren’t flowing in the first half.
Van Dijk – 10
Rinse and repeat from the Matip statement. He’s been back to his best for weeks now and it’s shown again with how dominant he is against any opposition that he plays against.
Robertson – 10
His ability to cover his CB was massive in the first half when we were under the cosh and he protected the space in the channel with incredible consistency. He then showed his attacking intent in the second half with peak gegenpressing against Saka followed by an assist of real composure for Firmino
Fabinho – 10
We were never going to concede a goal when our entire defensive spine was at the level they showed today. Fighting for everything, never giving Odegaard space; he put in a performance that made it impossible for Arsenal to win that midfield.
Henderson – 9
Hendo facilitated all of the good work that Liverpool needed to win this game. He supported Trent and Fab defensively when we were under pressure and gave the necessary support that was needed offensively to properly challenge the Arsenal defence when we were looking to pen them back.
Thiago – 9
Let’s just ignore that backpass ok? Ok cool. Now, let’s focus on his incredible assist and he single handedly opened up the game with a moment of pure Thiago beauty. He got involved in the job required from our industrious midfield but also provided the touch of class that shows why he’s one of the great central midfielders of the game.
Mane – 7.5
He worked hard and proved to be a real thorn in Arsenal’s backside. His disallowed goal was the first sign of weakness for Arsenal which allowed us to push on and take control of the game.
Jota – 8
Peak Jota performance here. The build up wasn’t particularly good as we were struggling to get up the pitch. But then he scores the decisive goal and puts us in complete control for the game.
Diaz – 7
Probably his weakest game at Liverpool but he put a shift in, tracked his runners really well and tried to be the outlet that we know he can be. Arsenal’s defence have pace and athleticism though which counteracts Diaz’s strengths very well.
Firmino – 10
He loves a crucial goal in a crucial moment in a rival’s stadium and he delivered here again. Anyone who doubts Bobby’s impact to this team needs to watch his impact tonight. He made the attack flow so much better and provided a change to the attack that bamboozled Arsenal massively.
Salah – 7
His coming on gave us balance and provided a more sustainable threat on the right hand side as well as giving more impact to Trent and Hendo in the match. On the ball he was reliable and solid but he’s still not at the peak level that we know that he can get to. We didn’t need the best player in the world tonight which shows the elite level of this squad.
