Southampton 2-3 Liverpool player ratings: Salah inspires comeback as Reds extend Premier League lead | OneFootball

Liverpool took full advantage of Manchester City’s 4-0 defeat to Tottenham by coming from behind to beat Southampton 3-2 on Sunday.

The Reds took the lead through Dominik Szoboszlai but saw themselves 2-1 down after 56 minutes with goals from Adam Armstrong and Mateus Fernandes.

However, as long as Mohamed Salah is on the pitch, Liverpool are never out of it and two strikes in the final 25 minutes delivered all three points for Arne Slot’s men, who have now won 12 and drawn one of their last 13 matches across all competitions — extending their lead at the top of the Premier League table to eight points.

Here’s how the players rated at St. Mary’s.

Southampton player ratings

Alex McCarthy: 47%

Culpable for both Liverpool goals, playing his side into trouble on the first and completely misjudging the ball on the second. Made a couple of good saves but not enough to undo his mistakes.

Kyle Walker-Peters: 53%

Tried his best to give Southampton some thrust but only completed one of his five attempted dribbles. Put a big defensive shift in with three tackles, six clearances and five recoveries.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis: 53%

Was kept busy, winning four of his five aerial duels, while making five clearances, four blocks and one recovery.

Jack Stephens: 54%

Had plenty of defending to do but got through most of it well. Gave the ball away cheaply a few too many times.

Flynn Downes: 43%

Thrust into an unfamiliar centre-back role and in all honesty, didn’t do himself justice. Dispossessed multiple times in dangerous areas and dreadfully failed to clear the ball in the build-up to Szoboszlai’s opening goal.

Ryan Fraser: 49%

Moved into a wing-back role but only managed flashes of influence in the final third. Pinned back well by Salah.

Tyler Dibling: 50%

Played a crucial role in the build-up to Southampton’s second goal and was a constant threat on the break with his speed and dribbling, although he did only manage to complete one of five take-ons which knocks his score down.

Adam Lallana: 57%

Showed a few classy touches but had to come off early with an injury.

Mateus Fernandes: 53%

Caught in possession on Liverpool’s first goal but made up for it by scoring Southampton’s second. Created one chance and was accurate with two of his three attempted crosses, while he also made two clearances and four recoveries.

Paul Onuachu: 41%

Completed a match-high three dribbles but only touched the ball 20 times, finding himself very isolated.

Adam Armstrong: 66%

Got lucky to see his missed penalty rebound back at him but was alive to the chance. Also set up Fernandes for the second goal but his rating his hit by his initial penalty miss.

Sub: Joe Aribo (37′, for Lallana): 43%

Made a few exciting bursts forward but didn’t quite manage to influence the game enough.

Liverpool player ratings

Caoimhin Kelleher: 67%

Unlucky to see Armstrong score the rebound after he initially kept the penalty out and could do nothing about the Fernandes goal. Made a couple of smart saves at key moments.

Conor Bradley: 54%

Filled in well enough for Trent Alexander-Arnold, attempting three shots and and one of his two dribbles. Was dribbled past twice himself, though.

Ibrahima Konate: 51%

Looked off the pace but to his credit, did well to maintain his discipline after getting booked in the first half. Konate has had better days at the office.

Virgil van Dijk: 55%

Completed a match-high 77 passes and registered 100% success on aerial duels, while he wasn’t dribbled past once.

Andy Robertson: 47%

Created a match-high five chances and was a powerhouse going forward, but is marked down severely for his foul that led to Southampton’s penalty. Luckily, Salah made sure it didn’t matter.

Ryan Gravenberch: 67%

Controlled the game once again with some metronomic passing and timely defensive interventions. Created three chances, including setting up Salah’s first goal. Continues to be one of the biggest success stories under Arne Slot so far.

Curtis Jones: 59%

A bit of a comedown from his international exploits, but Jones was still clean as a whistle on the ball, completing all 56 of his passes, six of which went into the final third.

Mohamed Salah: 70%

Jamie Carragher once again declared Salah as ‘one of the greatest players ever to play for Liverpool’ and really, what more can you say? When things looked bleak for Liverpool, he stood up once again and delivered what could be two more monumental goals in this club’s history. Salah’s rating takes a slight hit because he missed with so many shots, but he won’t care one bit after deciding the match.

Dominik Szoboszlai: 81%

Took his goal brilliantly to open the scoring, while he created three chances, completed both of his dribbles and was successful with all four of his tackles. Liverpool need much more of this from Szboszlai, who is yet to show consistency at Anfield.

Cody Gakpo: 76%

A lively hour, creating one chance, attempting three shots and completing both of his attempted dribbles.

Darwin Nunez: 46%

Failed to get going or offer Liverpool much of anything. Lost all three of his aerial duels and won only two of six on the ground, while creating one chance and hitting just one shot on target.

How do Squawka player ratings work?

Squawka’s new player rating system is wholly stats-based. Player scores are based on the numbers they put up across a range of on-ball events, from goals scored to tackles won.

We tailored each score to the players’ respective positions using extensive research and expertise. For example, forwards are rated on metrics like shots on target, touches in the opposition box, and big chances created. Meanwhile, centre-backs are rewarded for winning aerial duels, making blocks, successful long-range passes, etc.