Watford vs Liverpool; Player ratings

Liverpool swept aside Watford with ease as their new manager Claudio Ranieri could not inspire his new set of players.

It was one of the poorest performances you will ever likely see as they offered nothing in attack for 83 minutes and let Liverpool walk all over their defence.

And walk all over them they did.

Sadio Mane got the scoring underway eight minutes in after a wonderful assist from Mo Salah.

Eight minutes before half-time Roberto Firmino got a tap-in and then seven minutes after the interval he went and got himself another tap-in.

Two minutes later Salah went and done something ludicrous again.

He scored one of the best solo goals you will ever see playing with the Watford defenders like he was playing futsal before slotting it past Ben Foster.

Eventually Firmino went and got his hat-trick with yet again another tap-in.

The three points send Liverpool to the top of the table for the time being.

Here are the Liverpool player ratings from a fantastic afternoons work:

Caoimhin Kelleher: 7

Had absolutely nothing to do until the 58^th minute when Juraj Kucka had a long-range shot on target which he held. Then late-on after Liverpool had taken their foot off the gas Juan Hernandez had a shot which Kelleher superbly saved onto the post.

Trent Alexander-Arnold: 9

Dictated play down the right-hand side all game. There were some fantastic passes in-behind and a volleyed pass into the half-space for Firmino. He was playing like he was down at the park, running the game from full-back again. Vital that he stays fit.

Joel Matip: 8

Been a major reason why Liverpool have been so impressive so far this season. His passing from the back was sublime again and his tackle on the half-hour mark to stop a counter-attack was important. Faultless performance.

Virgil Van Dijk: 9

His passing from the first couple of minutes was a joy to watch finding Salah with diagonals which are his trademark. Was that bored he decided to head the ball to himself just like he did against Brighton two seasons ago. Might be another trademark of his now.

Andy Robertson: 6

Didn’t stop for the 63 minutes he was on the pitch. Linked up with Mane well as he always does but his end product was off today. Didn’t complete a cross all game but was solid defensively.

James Milner: 8

Was moved back into midfield after playing right-back against Manchester City and did not disappoint. Made some smart runs in-behind and was a menace in Watford’s box. Got an assist for the second goal after getting on the overlap for Mane and putting in on a plate for Firmino. Rarely ever lets Klopp down.

Jordan Henderson: 6

Was a quiet game for the captain but he kept the game ticking over in the middle of the park with 100 accurate passes. Got stuck into some challenges in the first half and was very comfortable in the holding role.

Naby Keita: 6

Another quiet game from one of the midfielders but yet again quietly effective. Came so close to scoring with a deflected effort hitting the bar before half-time. Good to see him play the whole game after playing all three of Guinea’s international matches.

Mohamed Salah: 10

I am, like everyone else, running out of words to describe this man. He started the game on fire with one of the assists of the season. It was a delicious outside the boot pass to find Mane one-on-one and it allowed him to finish it first time. He was teasing Ben Foster with a couple of curling efforts which he done really well to save. However, he could not deny him his inevitable goal. Three Watford players were surrounding him before he escaped them to then finally cut in and whip one past Foster. It was magic, he is magic. No doubt that he is the best player in the world at the moment.

Roberto Firmino: 10

Can’t get a hat-trick and not get a 10. Started the game slowly but grew into it and was loving the half-space he was constantly getting behind the midfield. All his goals were tap-ins, but you have to be there to score them. Sometimes criticised for not being in the right place at the right time, today got his reward for exactly that.

Sadio Mane: 8

His first-time finish certainly was not easy and with that goal he got his 100^th Premier League goal. He is only the third player to score 100 Premier League goals without any of them being penalties. Looked sharp throughout the 90 minutes as Watford did not know what to do with him.

Substitutes:

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: 3

Game had died down when he came on for the last 25 minutes and didn’t really make an impact, but it was important that he got some minutes.

Kostas Tsimikas: 3

Same applies for Tsimikas, game was finished when he came on so didn’t have much to do.

Neco Williams: 5Was only on for seven minutes but went past Danny Rose like he wasn’t there and found Firmino with his cross to give the Brazilian his hat-trick.

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Watford vs Liverpool; Player ratings

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