It was not a day for scintillating performances for Liverpool in their 3-1 win against Burnley, though one player stood above the rest – think you can guess who?
Jurgen Klopp‘s men were hit with an untimely flu that forced Alisson and Joe Gomez to miss out at Anfield, while Ryan Gravenberch “felt” something in the warm-up.
Not ideal preparations, but goals from Diogo Jota, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez ensured all three points were secured and that the Reds remain at the top of the table.
It was not a day of memorable performances from the starting lineup, and while Harvey Elliott took plenty of the plaudits for his substitute appearance, let’s take a look at how the XI fared.
Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, Goal, FotMob and This Is Anfield’s readers.
Amassing the highest average score was Luis Diaz (7.8), who scored his ninth goal of the campaign and combined that with diligent defensive work – winning seven of his 10 duels, as per FotMob.
TIA’s Joanna Durkan noted “his positive presence on the left wing” but also that he “had to make better decisions with his final ball,” we could’ve then been talking about assists as well.
Unsurprisingly, it was the goalscorers who took the plaudits as Diogo Jota (7.4) and Darwin Nunez (7.4) shared second place as they too added to their season’s tallies.
The Echo‘s Ian Doyle highlighted how Nunez “put in a real shift” and that Jota was “always busy,” two important traits in a game that was begging for moments of quality and intensity.
In Mohamed Salah‘s absence, the trio have stepped up and contributed consistently, and they were seemingly trying to outdo one another with their headed finishes at Anfield!
As for the lowest rating, that honour went to Alexis Mac Allister (6.2) following his shift to right-sided No. 8 after the return of Wataru Endo.
The Argentine was ineffective and after a brilliant run of performances in the deep-lying role, it will be intriguing to see how Klopp uses the pair moving forward.
The next look will come in a week’s time, when Liverpool travel to Brentford for the Saturday lunchtime kickoff – another must-win for the Reds.
