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#3 Fabinho
With Thiago ruled out with a late injury, Liverpool needed someone to step up and lock horns with Chelsea’s famed midfield.
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Fabinho answered the call and produced one of his best performances of the season to stop the Blues from overrunning the midfield.
Like most of his teammates, the Brazilian also struggled to get a foothold in the opening few minutes.
After the initial storm had passed, Fabinho slowly and surely crept into the game and started dominating proceedings. His positioning was immaculate, passing was accurate, and he also switched play with his precise long-balls.
Against Chelsea, Fabinho made 63 passes with 92.6 percent accuracy, pinged six long-balls to his teammates, and registered a key pass. He also made two interceptions, attempted a tackle, and performed a clearance.
The midfielder also exuded calmness when taking his penalty kick. Instead of opting for power, he casually dinked the ball down the middle, completely beating Kepa.
#2 Luis Diaz
Since his transfer from Porto in January, Luis Diaz has proven himself to be quite a handful.
Last night, he extended his purple patch, emerging as the Reds’ most dependable and excitable forward against Thomas Tuchel’s side.
The Colombian international was a live wire on the pitch, always prepared to take players head-on. He used his footwork and movement to keep Trevoh Chalobah on his toes.
Diaz attempted four shots against the Blues, two of which were saved by Mendy while the other two were blocked.
He also did the dirty work well, helping out at the back tirelessly until his 97th-minute substitution.
#1 Caoimhin Kelleher
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp decided to rest Alisson in Sunday’s EFL Cup final, giving the Brazilian’s understudy, Caoimhin Kelleher, another chance.
Kelleher, who had only featured in seven games across all competitions leading up to the match, needed to do something special to gain Klopp’s faith. And that is exactly what he did in front of a packed Wembley.
Kelleher was confident, collected, and agile inside his box. He read the game well, positioned himself superbly and expertly thwarted a couple of great Chelsea attempts.
The first save came in the sixth minute when Cesar Azpilicueta played Christian Pulisic through on goal with a perfectly weighted through ball. The Irishman made himself big to stop the ball from going in.
His second big save came in the 95h minute when Romelu Lukaku cleverly slid inside the box. The Belgian’s toe-poke was neat, but it wasn't enough to beat the Liverpool shot-stopper.
The 23-year-old was also tasked with taking the Merseysiders’ all-important 11th penalty kick.
Without hesitation, he rocketed the ball into the top-left corner, which ended up being the decisive strike on Sunday night.
