Liverpool
Loris Karius – 6
Was tested early on by a fierce Kolarov strike but from then on he had fairly little to do until the last 10 minutes, although he was unlucky with Dzeko’s goal and the penalty.
Trent Alexander-Arnold – 6
Was kept busy by Nainggolan and Schick when he came on in the second half – it appeared that the young Englishman was the one Liverpool player that struggled to deal with the pressure and atmosphere, not his best performance of the season.
Virgil Van Dijk – 7
Was comfortable dealing with the fairly poor service that Roma provided, he was calm when bringing the ball forward from the back and made several important interceptions – the last 10 minutes were more down to collective fatigue than anything else.
Dejan Lovren – 7
For much of the match he was very capable of dealing with the limited threat that Dzeko posed and consequently his most notable moment came when his header came back of the crossbar just before half-time which should have increased Liverpool’s lead – he did, however, misread the ball in the build-up to Roma’s first goal.
Andrew Robertson – 8
Played a very important role in this Liverpool victory and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed by the crowd – his passing was superb, sharp and crisp and he could have even scored his first goal for the club only for his effort to ricochet clear.
James Milner – 8
Ran himself into the ground and kept on doing a lot of the donkey work that this Liverpool team require to thrive – he did give away the late penalty with a handball in the area but the decision was possibly on the harsh side.
Jordan Henderson – 8
The captain received the biggest applause when he exited the pitch at full-time and rightly so – the leader of this Liverpool team was dominant in the midfield and his passing, yet again, instigated a number of Liverpool attacks including the opening goal.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 8
Went off early on with a bad looking knee injury, his replacement Georginio Wijanldum, however, was arguably Liverpool’s best player – his energy and impetus during Liverpool’s dominant and captivating spell each side of half-time was remarkable.
Mohamed Salah – 9
Against his former club, he managed two goals and two assists – but perhaps more telling was that once he had gone off his team slowed down, Roma gained control and scored two vital goals.
Roberto Firmino – 8
Like Salah, the Brazilian managed two goals and two assists – he did particularly well for Liverpool’s second goal when he carved his way through the middle of the pitch but also his headed goal, Liverpool’s fifth, was a delight.
Sadio Mane – 7
Missed two glorious chances to open the scoring and then had a smart finish disallowed for offside – his head briefly dropped but he did manage to score in the second half to atone for his mistakes.
AS Roma
Alisson – 7
Despite conceding the five, he will still leave Anfield with plenty of admirers – his quality distribution was telling and his shot-stopping before Liverpool’s opener was particularly impressive – was let down by his defence on more than one occasion.
Alessandro Florenzi – 6
His usual attacking nous was somewhat subdued by his team’s lack of creativity especially during Liverpool’s dominant spell – defensively, he performed admirably if not spectacularly.
Federico Fazio – 5
Struggled to really find his rhythm – despite the ball being in and amongst the Roma defence for large parts of the game, he only managed six clearances, he lacked mobility and was repeatedly targeted and will also no doubt be next week.
Kostas Manolas – 5
Was given the difficult task by Di Francesco of essentially man-marking Salah as part of a man-for-man back-three, it didn’t go well – he afforded Salah far too much space despite playing a high-line and never really put a meaningful tackle in.
Juan Jesus – 3
A very disappointing performance – was booked early on for an unpleasant lunge on Mane and that was probably the high point of his evening, he was often caught out of position and made fouls to make amends.
Aleksander Kolarov – 5
Was forced back into a back-five for much of the game and was not able to provide the service to Dzeko in the form of crosses from deep – he did manage to rattle the woodwork though with a terrific first-half strike.
Daniele De Rossi – 4
Was dominated in midfield and struggled to have any influence on the match – he looked uncomfortable throughout and seemed to find the pace of the game difficult to keep up with, he was substituted in the second half.
Kevin Strootman – 5
Was caught in possession during the build-up of Liverpool’s opener and never really recovered – he picked up a knock in the second-half and that may well have affected him as he did move to freely from then on.
Cengiz Under – 1
Did nothing – didn’t return for the second-half.
Radja Nainggolan – 6
Worked tirelessly and for little reward for much of the evening but he was the cog in everything good that Roma did – in the final 10 minutes he was at the centre of the creation of Roma’s two goals, was their best player on the night.
Edin Dzeko – 5
Dilly-dallied in possession when he did get service in the Liverpool half – but did manage to score a potentially crucial late goal after capitalising on a poor misjudgment by Lovren.
