Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Fabinho were among the best performers as Liverpool dismantled Crystal Palace with a 4-0 win.
Liverpool made amends from their draw in the Merseyside derby last week with a truly dominant performance at Anfield against Crystal Palace. The Reds took on the game from the first minute, when a close-range effort from Roberto Firmino was caught easily by Wayne Hennessey.
Jurgen Klopp’s men took the lead in the 23rd minute courtesy of a sublime free-kick by Trent Alexander-Arnold, and it was only up from there. Mohamed Salah doubled the lead just before half-time, and Fabinho took it to three with a spectacular strike from nearly 30 yards out. Sadio Mane then put the game to bed with a fourth in the 69th minute.
The Hard Tackle now runs the rule over Jurgen Klopp’s men.
Alisson Becker: 6/10
Alisson Becker Vs Crystal Palace. pic.twitter.com/CpZ95Boq5B
— Scouser Chris (@ScouserChrisLFC) June 24, 2020
Alisson did not touch the ball with his hands even once through the course of the game, since Crystal Palace did not register a single shot on target out of the three they took. Moreover, they did not even touch the ball in the opposition box, the first time this has happened in a Premier League match since Opta started collecting data for this statistic in 2008.
Trent Alexander-Arnold: 7.5/10
Trent Alexander-Arnold remained largely untroubled in defence throughout the game since Wilfried Zaha had to be subbed off in the 15th minute for Max Meyer, who did not do half of what Zaha could have.
In attack, the right-back scored the opener with a brilliant free-kick and created one chance with an early cross. He did, however, lose the ball 21 times, the joint second-highest among the starters.
Joe Gomez: 7/10
Not a lot for Gomez to do on his return to the starting lineup. He took 132 touches of the ball (the second highest in the game), recorded a 91.2% passing accuracy, making 114 accurate passes and made three interceptions (the most). Gomez also stopped Zaha in his tracks with a brilliant sliding tackle early in the game when the Ivorian was leading a counter-attack.
Virgil van Dijk: 7.5/10
The Liverpool defenders had a really easy outing and the numbers are proof of the same, as van Dijk registered the highest number of touches and accurate passes with 145 and 130, respectively. He was also able to successfully complete seven of his nine long passes. The Dutchman was vocal throughout the 90 minutes and marshalled the defence to a brilliant performance.
Andrew Robertson: 7.5/10
Robertson was able to start against Crystal Palace after missing out on the squad list altogether in the derby. He set up 2 chances for his teammates, even though neither of them were converted. He did, however, get the assist for Fabinho’s thunderbolt, which served as some sort of compensation.
Jordan Henderson: 7.5/10
Henderson had a comfortable outing against Palace, but he stood out with his exceptional long passing, completing 7 of his 8 long balls and creating 2 chances from them. The Liverpool captain completed 100% of his dribbles and lost the ball only eight times in the 64 minutes he played before being substituted. Also made two interceptions and as many blocks in the game.
Fabinho: 10/10
Fabinho's game by numbers vs. Crystal Palace:
❍ 107 touches
❍ 98% pass accuracy
❍ 61 passes completed (opp. half)
❍ 12 duels
❍ 6 tackles
❍ 2 interceptions
❍ 1 goal
❍ 1 assistA monstrous performance from the Brazilian. ? pic.twitter.com/SeQyVyji6b
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) June 24, 2020
Fabinho enjoyed one of his best games under Jurgen Klopp on Wednesday, scoring once and assisting another goal. He also completed each of his long balls (5/5), one of which brilliantly set up Mohamed Salah’s goal just before the half-way mark.
The Brazilian also recorded a 98% passing accuracy, the highest of the 16 players that wore the red jersey for Liverpool yesterday. He also won seven of his nine ground duels and completed all of his attempted tackles. A well-rounded performance for Fabinho, who deserved the 3 bonus points he got for that performance in the Fantasy Premier League.
Georginio Wijnaldum: 6/10
Wijnaldum was probably one of the poorest performers for Liverpool yesterday. He gave away the ball 11 times in midfield, one of which led a counter-attack early in the game before Joe Gomez had to step in and stop it with a sliding tackle.
The 29-year-old also missed a chance to increase Liverpool’s lead in the second half after Sadio Mane set him up with a through ball. He did, however, create one chance, which did not result in a goal.
Mohamed Salah: 9/10
? "It's our time to win it"
Mo Salah on being one step closer to becoming champions pic.twitter.com/80SnazZJBM
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) June 24, 2020
Salah returned to action with a bang and showed why he is still Liverpool’s best attacker. He added to his goalscoring tally for the season taking his total to 17 in the Premier League. The Egyptian also set up Sadio Mane’s goal later on in the game with an outstanding through ball he played from his own half.
It can only be called a near-perfect performance, though, as he completed just one dribble and lost the ball 23 times, more than anyone else in the game. We can only expect Salah to get better from here on and retain the Golden Boot ahead of runaway leader Jamie Vardy, who is currently just two goals ahead of Salah.
Roberto Firmino: 6/10
Firmino has been quite lacklustre in the league since his hat-trick of assist against Southampton in February. On Wednesday, in the 70 odd minutes he clocked, he was only able to take one shot and completed none of his attempted dribbles while making only 20 accurate passes and losing the ball 12 times.
He was able to make three successful tackles, though, but neither of them resulted in a turnover. A very disappointing evening for the Brazilian.
Sadio Mane: 9/10
Another day, another stellar performance from Sadio Mane. The Senegalese scored Liverpool’s fourth in the 69th minute, but that was only the cherry on top of his brilliant display. He completed 100% of his long balls, created five goalscoring chances and led almost all of the attacks against Palace. Mane was very unlucky not to bag an assist after a strong showing.
SUBSTITUTES
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 6.5/10
Oxlade-Chamberlain was subbed in near the hour mark for captain Jordan Henderson and was immediately involved in the attack after coming on, as he whizzed a shot on the wrong side of the pole. He completed all three of his attempted long passes and made an interception. Could get the nod ahead of Georginio Wijnaldum against Manchester City.
Neco Williams: 7/10
19-year-old Neco Williams replaced Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 74th minute and put in a brilliant shift at right0back. He won three of his four ground duels and all of his aerial duels, all while creating two chances and registering a shot on target. Could turn out to be a worthy deputy for Alexander-Arnold in the near future.
Takumi Minamino: 6.5/10
Minamino replaced the disappointing Roberto Firmino in the false nine role and did as much as the Brazilian did in 70 odd minutes, perhaps even more, winning one ground and one aerial duel each.
Naby Keita: N/A
Subbed on late in the game, helped maintain the scoreline.
Harvey Elliot: N/A
A late introduction, Elliot helped to see the game out.
