After an atrocious performance against Leicester City, Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool pulled out their big game mentality yet again this weekend as they put a lifeless Arsenal to sword at Anfield. With Alexis Sanchez starting on the bench, Liverpool had little attacking threat to worry about in a first half that saw Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane pick up a goal and an assist each. Though the Chilean added some flavor to Arsenal’s game in the second half, they were clearly the second better side on the night. Danny Welbeck’s goal in the second half did not count for much as Georginio Wijnaldum came up with a late goal to seal a 3-1 victory for the Reds. This sees them move into the top-4 for the first time since they went down more than a month ago, replacing Arsenal. Here are the player ratings for the Liverpool players in this victory:
Simon Mignolet (7):
Made a couple of important saves and was also confident with his handling in yet another superb performance from the Belgian.
Nathaniel Clyne (6):
A superb game on the flank where he was a constant outlet in attack and was also disciplined in defense to frustrate the visitors.
Joel Matip (7):
A towering performance to keep the likes of Welbeck, Giroud and Sanchez away from goal to help his side a victory.
Ragnar Klavan (7):
Replaced Lucas in the first team and hardly put a foot wrong, keeping Arsenal away from goal for most of the game and earning his team all three points from this game.
James Milner (6):
Though did nothing out of the ordinary, Milner was ever present on the left-flank for Liverpool as he helped the on both ends of the field.
Georginio Wijnaldum (8):
Manchester City, Chelsea and now Arsenal, Wijnaldum has a nag of scoring important goals for Liverpool and he capped off him immaculate performance with a late goal that killed Arsenal off at Anfield.
Emre Can (5):
A mixed night for the German who put in a good shift in front of the defense but also gave away the ball cheaply on a number of occasions.
Adam Lallana (8):
Almost everywhere on the field on the night, Lallana put in yet another electric performance, running the midfield for his side in this crunch game.
Sadio Mane (7):
His usual self on the flank, running the Arsenal defense ragged and stretching them all over the place. Picked up a goal and an assist to help his side a win.
Philippe Coutinho (6):
Still not back to his best but was a handful for the Arsenal defense who found it hard to keep his quite. Took 6 shots, 4 of which tested Cech.
Roberto Firmino (7):
The Brazilian was too hot to handle for Arsenal as he created a number of chances, picked up an assist and a goal on a productive night for Liverpool.
Subs:
Divock Origi (7):
Acted as a target man and helped Liverpool run the clock down before popping up with an assist for Wijnaldum’s late goal to see off the Gunners.
Lucas Leiva (5):
Bought in too see of the game and see off the game he did.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (5):
An appearance against Arsenal on his CV already.