Chelsea 1-2 Liverpool player ratings: Joel Matip steals the show

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Roberto Firmino of Liverpool celebrating after scoring the second goal of Liverpool tying his boots before the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on September 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: (THE SUN OUT, THE SUN ON SUNDAY OUT) Roberto Firmino of Liverpool celebrating after scoring the second goal of Liverpool tying his boots before the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on September 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Liverpool’s English defender Trent Alexander-Arnold (L) celebrates with Liverpool’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (R) after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London on September 22, 2019. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)
Liverpool’s English defender Trent Alexander-Arnold (L) celebrates with Liverpool’s Dutch defender Virgil van Dijk (R) after scoring the opening goal during the English Premier League football match between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge in London on September 22, 2019. (Photo by BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images)

Trent Alexander-Arnold – 7.5/10

He rarely gets on the scoresheet but the young Englishman did just that today in fine fashion. It was a well-worked freekick routine with Mohamed Salah which saw Alexander-Arnold smash the ball into Kepa’s net. He also had the better of Marcos Alonso on an attacking front throughout most of the match.

Joel Matip – 9/10

For me, Matip was the best defender for Liverpool today. He did well to see off pressure from the likes of Mason Mount and Willian. Arguably the centre backs could have got tighter to Kante to prevent the midfielder, but this was not an individual error and in the end it wasn’t too costly.

He used his height well and kept his tenacity throughout the match. There was a point in the match where he made three headers in a row to deny Chelsea. Without him, things could have been very different.

Virgil van Dijk – 7.5/10

Virgil van Dijk was solid as he so often is. He made amends for the error he made against Napoli in midweek and he gave Abraham a very limited sniff at goal. He stuck to his position well and accompanied Matip by ensuring that balls into the box were dealt with in a timely manner.

Andrew Robertson – 7/10

Robertson got the assist for Firmino’s goal. He did what he does best by floating an inviting ball into the box, ready for an attacker to get a head to. He had a few meetings with his opposite number Cesar Azpilicueta but it was a fairly even matchup. Overall, a solid shift from the Scotsman.