Liverpool had two standout players at opposite ends of the pitch at Bournemouth.
A trip to Bournemouth had never felt so fraught with nerves, such was the Cherries’ impressive form and the Reds’ desperation not to offer any incentive to those in the chasing pack.
Mohamed Salah won the match off his boot, with a goal in either half, but Alisson proved just as vital at the other end of the pitch with timely saves to underline his status in the side.
The result means Liverpool are nine points ahead of Arsenal and can watch their match against Man City on Sunday with their feet up.
Here we compare our player ratings with those of the Liverpool Echo, GOAL, Sky Sports, FotMob and This Is Anfield’s readers.
Unsurprisingly, Salah (8.6) earned the highest rating on the south coast, with the Echo‘s Ian Doyle highlighting that he “didn’t allow frustration at some close attention to get to him.”
He was closely marked throughout by Liverpool target Milos Kerkez, but in the words of GOAL’s Stephen Darwin, the Egyptian was “unstoppable” in the moments that mattered.
Not far behind the No. 11 was Alisson (8.3), who quietened any suggestions that his reaction time has been affected with quick, low saves that were rewarded with a clean sheet.
And while his saves earned deserved recognition, This Is Anfield’s Danny Gallagher made a note to say that, “not enough is said of Alisson‘s ball dispersion, given how good his all-round game is.”
The Brazilian was calm and composed when he needed to be and Darwin perhaps was not wrong to say that, it “might’ve been a different result had he not been playing.”
Rounding off the top three is Ryan Gravenberch (7.3), who played more on the right than usual and thrived – can we talk about his exceptional skill on the touchline? Sublime.
As per FotMob, Gravenberch won more tackles (4), recoveries (9) and duels (9) than any other player on the pitch.
The Dutchman “used possession intelligently,” in the words of Doyle, exemplified by his 93 percent passing accuracy, and navigated 41 minutes with a yellow card without a hitch.
It was not quite an afternoon to remember for Trent Alexander-Arnold (5.4), meanwhile, due to injury and his performance.
The vice-captain was the subject of Antoine Semenyo’s close attention and Gallagher described the outing as “underwhelming” as he “was simply not at the races” – unfortunately, not for the first time.
Understandably so, Slot cast doubt over Alexander-Arnold’s ability to feature against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg on Thursday after “he felt something.”
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