Liverpool vs Chelsea: Post-Match Player Ratings
Mauricio Pochettino walking across the pitch. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Liverpool hammered a lacklustre Chelsea team to maintain their lead at the summit of the Premier League.

It was a rough night for the Blues, where the hosts were ruthless and could have had six or seven goals. 

Goals from Diogo Jota, Conor Bradley, Dominik Szoboszlai and Luis Diaz saw the Reds comfortably dispatch the Londoners with ease, with a Christopher Nkunku consolation the only positive for the visitors.

Here is the player ratings from the contest at Anfield.

Alisson Becker: 6/10

Alisson was rapidly off the line in the opening minute to stop Raheem Sterling from causing any threat. There was nothing he could do for the late goal, with the finish by Christopher Nkunku being put away clinically. Overall, it was a fairly quiet game for the Brazilian stopper.

Conor Bradley: 10/10

Yet again, another top-quality performance, with a brilliant goal and two excellent assists, earning him the Man of the Match award.

The Northern Irishman was constantly up and down the right side of the pitch, defusing danger time and time again. He expertly managed to pick out Jota for the first goal and rounded off an incredible showing with a top-class cross for Dominik Szoboszlai to head home.

Ibrahima Konate: 7/10

Konate was once again imperious on the pitch. The French centre-back seems to be turning into a proper leader in the backline, defusing any threat that Chelsea tried to make.

Virgil Van Dijk: 5/10

The Liverpool captain was certainly not at his best today. He started the game rather poorly and was too deep, as Sterling went through on goal early on. Throughout, he looked like he may not have been fully focused on the game, and this was further reinforced when Nkunku turned him inside out and made it 3-1.

Joe Gomez: 6/10

A steady showing for the makeshift Liverpool left back. With his recent performances, it will definitely give Jurgen Klopp something to think about now that Andrew Robertson is back.

Alexis Mac Allister: 8/10

Once again, another high-class performance, winning the most duels (11) and keeping the ball moving in midfield.
 

The World Cup winner had an incredible performance in all phases of the game, and it looks like he is truly aiming to nail down that defensive midfielder role in the future.

Curtis Jones: 7/10

An important showing from Jones, who was constantly causing the Chelsea defence trouble in and around the box but was also impressive without the ball, pressing the Chelsea players into giving the ball back with ease.

Dominik Szoboszlai: 7/10

The Hungarian captain was enjoying his return from injury, capping off a decent performance with a powerful header to put the game out of Chelsea’s reach.

Diogo Jota: 8/10

Jota is in the form of his life, and it really showed. He was terrifying the defence throughout the whole game and once again started the scoring for the Merseyside outfit.

Darwin Nunez: 7/10

It was a weirdly impressive performance for Nunez. The Uruguayan was all over the pitch, causing chaos, and certainly managed to outdo himself, breaking the record for the number of times he managed to hit the woodwork, that being four times.

Capped off with a superb cross for Diaz’s goal.

Luis Diaz: 7/10

He was one of the bright sparks up front and managed to cap off a decent performance with a goal at the back post following a Nunez cross.

Substitutes

Cody Gakpo (68’ for Jota): 6/10

He came off the bench with twenty-two minutes of normal time left and came close with a long-range effort. Apart from that, the Dutchman didn't really get involved as much as he would've wanted.

Trent Alexander-Arnold (68’ for Bradley): 6/10

The English right back came on to replace the Man of the Match and managed to shake off some cobwebs in the process.

Andy Robertson (69’ for Gomez): 5/10

The Scottish international came on and instantly looked eager to make an impact after a long lay-off.

Harvey Elliott (69’ for Szoboszlai): 6/10.

The Fulham Academy graduate came on, showed a great deal of energy, and managed to get a decent shot on target, but was thwarted by Petrovic.

Bobby Clark (82’ for Jones): (N/A)

  • Chelsea

Djordje Petrovic: 6/10

The Chelsea goalkeeper, signed from US side New England Revolution, made a couple of decent saves, and was the Blues best player by a country mile but ultimately there was nothing he could do to prevent any of the goals. 

Axel Disasi: 4/10

The makeshift Blues right back was, by no stretch of the imagination, the worst player in the backline, but he looked completely out of his depth.

Thiago Silva: 3/10

A game to forget for the veteran centre-back. The Brazilian failed to stop Jota from scoring as the Portuguese walked through the 39-year-old’s weak tackle.

Benoit Badiashile: 3/10

The young centre back started the game, getting outmuscled by Jota in the build-up to the first goal. The French international's torrid performance continued to unfold when he gave away a penalty late in the first half. A game to forget for sure.

Ben Chilwell: 2/10

The experienced English left back was at fault for the first goal, cheaply passing the ball to Bradley while on the attack.
 

He was then booked for diving in the box, which ultimately sums up his performance.

Moises Caicedo: 3/10

The Ecuadorian midfielder was constantly being overrun in the midfield all game and was struggling to help protect the defence.

Enzo Fernandez: 3/10

These are the kind of games where Chelsea needed their £108 million man to take the game by the scruff of the neck, but he just couldn't do it. In previous games, the Argentine has showcased his ability to maintain possession under pressure, but today he was dire in possession.

Conor Gallagher: 4/10

The box-to-box midfielder started the game lively and potentially should’ve been awarded a penalty following a collision with Liverpool captain Van Dijk, but was then dominated in the midfield by his counterparts before being hauled off at halftime.

Noni Madueke: 4/10

The former PSV Eindhoven winger failed to make any noticeable impact at any point in the first half and was conveniently subbed off at halftime as a consequence.

Raheem Sterling: 4/10

The English international was quiet throughout the first half, but in the second half, he started to offer Chelsea something when he was moved into the centre. The winger seemed to have a lapse in concentration in the build-up to the Reds’ second goal, leaving Bradley with acres of space to exploit. The result and his own performance definitely would not have gone the way the former Liverpool man would have wanted.

Cole Palmer: 4/10

The Blues’ most influential player this season just couldn’t get into the game at any point. He managed to produce some good linkup play, but apart from that, there wasn’t much that he did that could be highlighted in a positive light.

Substitutions

Mykhailo Mudryk (45’ for Madueke): 4/10

Within a short period of time, Mudryk had a big chance to get Chelsea back into the game, but he got under his shot and ended up fumbling the chance.

Christopher Nkunku (45’ for Gallagher): 7/10

As soon as the former Leipzig man came on, he brought a different dynamic to the Chelsea attack and scored with a brilliant finish into the bottom corner.

Malo Gusto (45’ for Chilwell): 6/10

The main highlight for Gusto was a brilliant overlapping run and pin-point cross, which found Mudryk unmarked, unlucky not to have an assist.

Carney Chukwuemeka (66’ for Caicedo): 5/10

The Cobham graduate managed to get himself an assist by driving through the Liverpool midfield and finding Nkunku with an incisive pass.