Liverpool player ratings against the Hammers – Salah shines again

Liverpool ripped the Hammers apart in their own backyard to move eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The Reds were dominant against West Ham from the first minute, shipped five goals past them and kept a clean sheet. In all fairness, they should have scored more.

Three goals in the first forty-five minutes meant that Liverpool did not need to go all in the second half and Slot managed the game brilliantly.

The Merseysiders added two more goals in the second forty-five minutes much to the delight of the traveling supporters.

PG rates the performance of Liverpool players against the Hammers:

Defense and Goal Keeper

Alisson – 6.5

The Brazilian international was mainly a spectator in the game and was not needed as Liverpool dominated the ball. However, he was well beaten when Kudus’s strike hit the post in the first half.

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8.5

The England star scored his first goal of the season from a deflected effort and celebrated in a way to suggest that he might end up staying with the club. Trent was also solid in the defensive third.

Joe Gomez – 6

Gomez did not put a foot wrong in the first half but suffered an injury before the break and Quansah came in to replace him. Slot has confirmed that the defender has suffered a hamstring injury and could be out for a while.

Virgil van Dijk – 7

Apart from the injury time effort from the Hammers that he blocked, the Liverpool captain did not have much to do in a rather comfortable evening. Went forward in the final minutes and even had a shot on target.

Andy Robertson – 5

On the ball, Robertson was fantastic but in the defensive third, the Scottish international continues to look shaky. He was once again the weakest link in the backline and was troubled at times by Kudus.

Midfield

Ryan Gravenberch – 7

The Dutch midfielder was calm on the ball as per usual and pulled the strings in the center of the park. Received and passed the ball around under little to no pressure from the opposition. Subbed off early on in the second half, a much-needed rest before the contest against Manchester United.

Alexis Mac Allister – 8

The World Cup winner was more active than Gravenberch in the attacking third. Provided the wide long ball to Luis Diaz that eventually led to the second goal and won possession with a strong tackle that led to the third goal for the visitors.

Attack

Curtis Jones – 7.5

Started in the No.10 role, but moved around to receive the ball and was impactful on the night. Saw his effort saved by Areola in the first half, but managed to set up the goal for Mohamed Salah.

Cody Gakpo – 8

Gakpo should have had an early assist when his sublime through pass reached Salah, but the Egyptian’s effort was saved by the West Ham goalie. Continued to work had and scored the second goal of the game.

Luis Diaz – 8

The Colombian returned to the starting lineup in place of Darwin Nunez and once again proved that he is better option in the No. 9 role than the Uruguayan star. Scored the opening goal of the game and was menacing from the left once Jota was brought on for Gakpo in the second half.

Mohamed Salah – 9.5

Scored his 17th goal of the Premier League campaign and bagged two more fantastic assists. The only reason Salah is not rated a perfect 10 is because he missed four big chances and should have got a hat-trick. West Ham feared the African superstar, who deservedly earned another Man of the Match award.

Substitutes

Jarell Quansah – 6

The youngster replaced Joe Gomez in the first half. Quansah was troubled in the last two PL appearances against Fulham and Newcastle, but had a comfortable time vs the Hammers.

Wataru Endo – 6.5

The Japanese play breaker had only featured for 23 minutes in the Premier League before last night. He was brough on Gravenberch and played for 33 minutes without much pressure from the opposition.

Diogo Jota – 7

Jota replaced Gakpo in the second half. The Portuguese striker scored the final goal of the game. He had two shots, the first one was saved by Areola and the second was placed perfectly into the net.

Harvey Elliott – 6

Came on for Curtis Jones in the second half for a runaround.

Kostas Tsimikas – 6

Replaced Robertson to see off the last 20 minutes of the contest.