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PLAYER RATINGS Thiago ran the show and Salah was back to his best, but Fernandes and Dalot were poor

  /  autty

Mo Salah scored twice as Liverpool comfortably beat old rivals Manchester United 4-0 at Anfield on Tuesday night to move top of the Premier League.

Sportsmail's DOMINIC KING rated the players.

LIVERPOOL (4-3-3)

Alisson Becker – Set the tone for the night when hoodwinking Fernandes with a back heel in the third minute – 7.5

Trent Alexander-Arnold – Outstanding once again, he’s been playing like a Player of the Year contender for four months – 8

Joel Matip – In cruise control from the word go, passes always found the target and got his foot in at all the right moments – 7

Virgil Van Dijk – Got out of second gear once or twice, most of his efforts were focused on pushing his team up the pitch – 7.5

Andrew Robertson – Busy and industrious as always, provided the pace and belligerence on the left you have come to expect – 7

Jordan Henderson – The captain enjoyed this game and never let anyone’s standards drop, as he ran miles to preserve the advantage – 7.5

Fabinho – When he plays well, Liverpool play well and he dwarfed the United midfielders who tried to contain him – 8

Thiago Alcantara – A quite magnificent performance with all manner of passes and tricks that ensured he received a standing ovation – 9

Mohamed Salah – The lull in form is over thanks to an assist and two goals; the second was beautifully dispatched – 8.5

Sadio Mane – What a wonderful footballer he is, his goal provided the gloss, his assist for Salah was glorious – 8.5

Luis Diaz – If Liverpool win the league, the moment this jet-heeled Colombian arrived on Merseyside will be seen as key. Superb again – 8.5

SUBS

NOT USED

Kelleher (GK), Konate, Milner, Keita, Gomez, Jones, Jota, Tsimikas, Origi

MANAGER

Jurgen Klopp – Spent most of the night with his arms behind his back relaxed or up in the air celebrating. His team are in the groove – 8

MANCHESTER UNITED (3-4-2-1)

David De Gea – No chance with the goals he conceded but his distribution was poor and never allowed United to build – 5

Victor Lindelof – He can take solace that he won’t have to face Luis Diaz anytime soon but he’ll probably be seeing him in sleep after this – 4.5

Harry Maguire – Not the worst member of his team but that isn’t exactly a glowing commendation in the context of this shambles – 5

Phil Jones – On a hiding to nothing in what was just his third start of the season, substituted at half-time – 5

Aaron Wan-Bissaka – Supposed to provide cover for Lindelof but did nothing of the sort; ended up at left-back – 4

Paul Pogba – One over-hit pass before he was substituted, appearing to hold his left thigh – 3

Nemanja Matic – His leaden-footed efforts summed up in the 19th minute when he put a simple back pass straight out of play – 4

Diogo Dalot – Barely found a team-mate when he was in possession, barely kept tabs with Salah when he was defending – 4

Bruno Fernandes – The wisdom of playing him 24 hours after his involvement in a car crash must be questioned; barely involved – 4

Marcus Rashford – Tried to play on Matip’s shoulder but got little service; when he did, his touch was poor – 5

Anthony Elanga – Utterly thankless task for the teenager, who got no service and was never given any hope by Liverpool’s defence – 5.5

SUBS

Lingard (for Pogba 10mins) 5; Sancho (for Jones 46mins) 6

NOT USED

Henderson (GK), Bailly, Mata, Lingard, Sancho, Telles, McTominay, Mejbri, Garnacho

MANAGER

Ralf Rangnick – His tactics of nullifying Liverpool were shredded within five minutes and he did little to stop the rot – 4

REFEREE

M Atkinson – Nothing contentious for the official to deal with, one of the easiest big games he will ever oversee – 6