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Performed: Mohamed Salah
Premier League’s leading goalscorer Mohamed Salah was tipped to make a telling impact against Chelsea on Sunday afternoon. The Egypt international started the game strongly and was regularly getting into threatening positions.
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In the sixth minute, he got the chance to put Liverpool ahead after Mane played him through on goal. Chelsea shot-stopper Edouard Mendy rose to the challenge to deny Salah his 16th Premier League goal of the season.
Salah, however, was not going to stop coming at Chelsea’s goal on Sunday and eventually got his goal in the 26th minute. Played on through by Trent Alexander-Arnold, Salah shifted to his left foot to find the right corner of the net.
He came close again in the 56th minute, but found a brick wall named Mendy guarding his target.
Underperformed: Diogo Jota
Considering the form he was in heading into the match, many expected Diogo Jota to find the back of the net against Chelsea. Unfortunately, he could not find his shooting boots at Stamford Bridge and cut a rather frustrating figure up top.
The Portugal international’s work rate was top-notch as always. He pressed Chelsea all night long and forced them to misplace passes. As a matter of fact, it was Jota’s cross and Chalobah’s poor clearance that led to Liverpool’s opener in the ninth minute.
After the Liverpool goal, Chelsea paid closer attention to Jota and neutralized his impact. The Portuguese only completed 11 passes, won only two of his 14 duels, and had zero shots on goal.
The former Wolves man also gave the ball away a whopping 24 times. Following his unimpressive shift, Jota was substituted with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 69th minute.
Performed: Sadio Mane
Sadio Mane has not exactly been at his best for Liverpool this season, but on Sunday he was undoubtedly their standout performer. The Senegalese was nothing short of a live wire on the pitch and pounced on every Chelsea player that stood in his way.
In the sixth minute, Mane created an opening for Salah, which could have easily led to Liverpool’s opener. Mendy’s athleticism denied the Reds their goal. Three minutes later, Mane capitalized on Chalobah’s slip-up to punish Chelsea single-handedly.
Mane also pressed relentlessly, helped out at the back, and was uncharacteristically unselfish in his play. All in all, a solid shift by the Liverpool number 10.
