Liverpool ended their run of two straight defeats after claiming a vital 1-0 win over Brighton at the Amex Stadium.
Mohamed Salah’s powerful second-half penalty was all that separated the two sides after the Egyptian was hauled to the floor by Pascal Gross.
Elsewhere, Xherdan Shaqiri went close with a first-half header while Roberto Firmino had an effort from distance well saved by David Button.
Jurgen Klopp’s men were far from their free-flowing best but got over the line and extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points, with Manchester City to face Wolves on Monday night and Tottenham to play Manchester United on Sunday.
So Salah made the difference but how did he and the rest of his team-mates perform? Below you can see talkSPORT.com’s Liverpool player ratings.
Alisson Becker – 6
The keeper wasn’t required into making any notable saves but showed real composure when the ball was at his feet despite being put under pressure by the Brighton players on occasions.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 5
There were whispers that the teenager injured himself during the warm-up and he was moving gingerly at points. However, Alexander-Arnold soldiered on and helped his team get a clean sheet.
Fabinho – 6
Fabinho was the man drafted in to centre-back due to Dejan Lovren’s injury and looked much more comfortable with Van Dijk by his side than he did in the FA Cup defeat at Wolves. The Brazilian also made an important block on Gross’ effort shortly after Liverpool took the lead.
Virgil van Dijk – 6
Simply put, Liverpool are a much better team when Van Dijk is playing. He made important tackles and interceptions as he always does but makes it look so so easy, almost poetic.
Andy Robertson – 5
The left-back was not at his best but still put in a decent shift. Robertson got forward plenty of times in the first-half but sat back a little bit more after Salah scored.
Jordan Henderson – 5
Henderson was rumoured to be unavailable due to injury but managed to put aside whatever his niggle was to help the Reds grind out a hugely important result.
Georginio Wijnaldum – 6
The Dutchman was out of sorts during the Reds’ loss to Manchester City but this performance was much more like the outstanding Wijnaldum of this season.
Xherdan Shaqiri – 6
Shaqiri was a menace for the Brighton defenders in the first-half but faded after the break. His glancing header in the 26th minute almost broke the deadlock. The Swiss was then taken off on 71 minutes for Milner to help Liverpool preserve their lead.
Mohamed Salah – 7
Not a vintage Salah performance but it was ultimately his goal which has got Liverpool the all-important three points. The Egyptian also won the penalty after drawing Gross into the foul.
Roberto Firmino – 5
Firmino did his usual work spearheading the attack but only had one effort at goal which saw his swerving shot force Button into a save on 75 minutes.
Sadio Mane – 5
The forward caused some problems in the first-half when combining with Robertson down the left but this was not really Mane’s best day. He was subbed off for Keita as Liverpool wound down the clock.
SUB – James Milner – 6
Milner came on with 20 minutes left to do one of the things he does best and break up the play of the opposing team.
SUB – Naby Keita – N/A
Keita came on in the final moments to help Liverpool close out the result but had basically no impact on the game.
SUB – Divock Origi – N/A
Was brought on in the last minute of stoppage-time purely for time-wasting purposes. Origi touched the ball once.
