It wasn’t the stroll many thought that it would be, but Liverpool continued their winning ways, with a 3-1 victory over Norwich City. After a goalless first half, Milot Rashica’s shot deflected cruelly off Joel Matip to give the visitors the lead.
Jurgen Klopp had to respond, and he did with a double change introducing Thiago and Divock Origi, who were both impressive as Sadio Mane and Mo Salah scored to turn the game around, before Luis Diaz scored his first Reds goal to wrap up the win.
Here’s how each player fared at Anfield.
Alisson Becker – 7/10
Not called on too much in terms of saves to make. Could’ve done nothing about the goal that he conceded. And provided an assist for a superb Salah goal that gave the Reds the lead!
Joe Gomez – 4/10
Not very good, but some much-needed minutes for him. He’s not a right-back, that much is clear. That, coupled with predictable rustiness, meant that he wasn’t particularly impressive either in defence or going forward.
Joel Matip – 6/10
Won most of his duels, and ensured the Liverpool line was always solid enough to play attackers offside. Unfortunate to have deflected the ball into his own net.
Virgil van Dijk – 7/10
Just another day at work for the big man. Was rock-solid at the back, and really didn’t allow Pukki too much to feed on.
Kostas Tsimikas – 6/10
Missed a glorious chance early in the game, which he should have scored with. Otherwise, put in a great shift at left-back, even though he may have done better in dealing with Sargent in the build-up to Norwich’s goal.
Jordan Henderson – 7/10
A tad slow and safe before the break. Got on the ball and controlled things a lot more in the second half, and rounded off his evening with a sublime assist for Diaz’s big moment.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 5/10
The occasional flash of good was surrounded by multiple moments of not very good. Hopefully from Liverpool’s perspective, he can build form again to the levels they were in January.
Naby Keita – 6/10
Mostly solid performance from Keita that was only marred by sometimes rushing into trying to find the killer vertical pass.
Mohamed Salah – 8/10
The best player on the pitch. Brandon Williams was tormented, and the Egyptian King really should have had more than just the one goal that he managed on the day.
Luis Diaz – 7/10
First half, he tried too much with nothing coming off. Worked his socks off all game, and in the second half, the quality on the ball improved as well. Delighted Anfield with his first goal in red.
Sadio Mane – 7/10
He was the one tasked with playing through the middle of the attack. Was bright enough, and had his chances. Scored Liverpool’s equaliser with a terrific acrobatic effort!
SUBSTITUTES
Thiago Alcantara – 7/10
Got his foot on the ball from the moment he came on and went about on his making-football-look-easy thing. What a player.
Divock Origi – 6/10Â
Put himself about, gave Norwich issues with his physicality. For someone who’s not played an awful lot recently, he looked surprisingly sharp. But hey, that’s Origi, isn’t it?
Takumi Minamino – N/A
Two touches. Two fouls won.
