I liked the starting XI.
Gomez despite doing well for England, being saved for the games against the tough attacking sides coming up. Trent offering more attacking wise than Gomez, seemed a good idea in a match at home against a team we should be dominating.
I also liked the balance of the midfield. Last season we were best with Henderson as the deepest, Wijnaldum as the 8 and Lallana being the third creative one. Coutinho replacing Lallana in that position, made the CM look one of the most balanced we've had this season and I thought all three were excellent as a result.
I thought everyone played well.
Salah was man of the match, for the important first goal, the intelligent run and finish for the 2nd - plus his all round game is just brilliant. Starting from his touch, linking with players and his work rate off the ball is ace too. He'd be a nightmare to play against and he's proving it.
I agree with the poster who said earlier in the thread how Henderson was of the players who set the tempo at the beginning. I actually thought he gave a pretty flawless performance in terms of how that role needs to be played. It's a very demanding role, but his energy, pressing, good use of the ball and presence was very impressive.
Mane is just fab. A doubt before the game, he's coming back from a injury. But he is still just a huge threat for the opposition.
Firmino was intense. Pressing, winning the ball numerous times, always moving, creating gaps, linking play - just gave their defence numerous problems. Typified by the second goal, where VVD came out of the defence to track him, leaving the big gap for Salah to exploit.
Talking of that goal, what a pass from Coutinho. He got a good ovation from the crowd when he came off and rightly so. After his personal disappointment of not going to his dream club in the summer. He has knuckled down, been professional, is working very hard without the ball and being the magician with it. No sulking, he looks like he's enjoying his football and that can be only good for us.
I wouldn't have started Moreno, as I think Robertson's crossing is better and in a game where we hope to dominate, I'd being playing Robertson over Moreno. Having said that, I think Moreno is just playing so well at the moment, Klopp (I can't argue with it) is finding him tough to drop or rest. His energy levels are impressive. He's really improved defensively this season cutting out the rashness and showing more awareness without the ball - when to press or when to drop off. He also put a couple of really good crosses which could have resulted in goals. I'm happy for him. I've been a very big critic of his, which I think was valid at the time. But now I can't praise him enough for how well he's playing this season and consistently. Keep it up Alberto!
Wijnaldum I thought had a good game too. He's not flashy, but he does have that ability to make others around him play better. Read this week that Wijnaldum has the best win % out of all our CMs. He might not be the best defensively or the best attacking CM or have loads of touches of the ball or excel at anyone thing really. But he still seems to provide that balance to the CM to improve it.
Mignolet had little to do. Thought a couple of times he maybe should have come off his line quicker. But he got the ball, so maybe he judged those situations well.
Lovren was very good on the whole and I thought Klavan was quietly impressive.
A very strong performance. The balance between defence & attack was right. I think we played at the right tempo as well.
Probably our best performance of the season.