Mohamed Salah signed off in style in Liverpool’s 4-2 win at home to Newcastle, standing out as his side’s best player in a Premier League thriller.
The Reds host the Magpies on New Year’s Day, looking to get 2024 off to a perfect start and pull further clear at the top of the table.
Salah missed a penalty in the first half, but Jurgen Klopp‘s side took the lead through the Egyptian, prior to Alexander Isak equalising.
Curtis Jones and Cody Gakpo put Liverpool 3-1 up, but Sven Botman pulled a goal back, before Salah completed the scoring from the penalty spot.
Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, Goal, FotMob and This Is Anfield’s readers.
Shining the most for Liverpool against Newcastle was Salah (8.3), who showed just how much the Reds will miss him for the rest of January.
The 31-year-old scored twice and bagged an assist, and he consistently caused Newcastle‘s defenders nightmares with his dribbling and movement.
Ian Doyle of the Echo focused on Salah’s creativity over his goals, saying he laid on the third goal for Gakpo in “superb fashion”.
TIA’s James Nalton felt he “more than made up for his early miss and wastefulness”, as he enjoyed a great outing in the final match before he heads off for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Luis Diaz (7.6) was in second place, following one of his best performances in a number of months.
The Colombian was a menace all evening and saw one goal chalked off for offside, with Goal’s Patrick Rowe describing him as “a bright spark” for the hosts.
Next up was Wataru Endo (7.5), as he again shone at the base of midfield, keeping things ticking over nicely.
The 30-year-old completed 91 percent of his passes, according to FotMob, and he also made two interceptions and three recoveries.
Not every Liverpool player shone on the night, however, with Alisson (6.4) and Darwin Nunez (6.4) sharing the lowest score.
In fairness to the former, he could do little about either goal, but Doyle said that the latter was a “real mixed bag” at Anfield.
