Before their World Cup champion intervened, the Reds appeared to be losing to the poorest team in the Premier League at home.

Alexis Mac Allister is the primary factor behind Liverpool’s dominance in the Premier League. The Argentine was back at it at Anfield on Thursday, virtually winning the match with a 3-1 victory over Sheffield United, after setting up Mohamed Salah’s game-winning goal against Brighton on Sunday.

 

Darwin Nunez’s fortunate opener was cancelled out by an own goal by Conor Bradley, and with just 14 minutes remaining on a miserable Merseyside evening, Liverpool, looking bizarrely lackustral and lackadaisical, looked set to throw away two crucial points in the title race – and at home against the weakest team in the league.

But as the saying goes, “Cometh the hour, cometh the man,” and Mac Allister is unquestionably the man at Anfield right now. The ball dropped for Liverpool’s No. 10 on the outskirts of the Blades box as they rushed forward, and Mac Allister scored a spectacular goal to record his 10th goal involvement in his previous 11 games.

In the last minute of normal time, Cody Gakpo scored to add some gloss to the score, but the lackluster effort by Liverpool and the increasing significance of Mac Allister to his team’s title aspirations were evident.

GOAL ranks every Red on display at Anfield as Liverpool reclaimed the top spot by two points from Arsenal…

Goalkeeper & Defence

Caoimhin Kelleher (6/10):

Maintained his fine form with a wonderful reflex save with his feet from McAtee inside the opening 60 seconds, and it took a wicked close-range deflection to beat him. Distribution was also very good.

Conor Bradley (5/10):

Pushed forward at every opportunity down the right wing but to little effect. Not much he could have done about his own goal, but it rather summed up a tough night for the Northern Irishman.

Ibrahima Konate (5/10):

Back in the starting line-up and looked really rusty, giving away a needless free-kick at one point after carelessly losing possession on the left flank.

Virgil van Dijk (6/10):

Barely given anything to do other than snuff out the odd Sheffield United attempt at a counter-attack, but played McAtee onside in the lead-up to the visitors’ shock equaliser. Was always a threat in the Blades box, though.

Joe Gomez (5/10):

Couple of decent crosses early on, while he also had a couple of (obviously) unsuccessful attempts on goal before being beaten all ends up by McAtee just before the visitors levelled. Rightly replaced as Liverpool pushed for a winner, given he offers so little offensively.

Midfield

Alexis Mac Allister (8/10):

Actually misplaced a pass in the opening five minutes but was typically brilliant thereafter, winning the ball regularly, using it intelligently and then sticking it in the top corner to win the game for Liverpool. The Argentine was unlucky not to get the second goal his dynamic display merited, too.

Ryan Gravenberch (3/10):

After an early clash of heads with Souza, he had a couple of sights of goal but, as so often happens with the Dutchman, he vanished the longer the game went on. Rightly replaced on the hour mark after another painfully ineffective outing.

Dominik Szoboszlai (5/10):

The Hungarian was his usual industrious self and tested Grbic with a decent strike from distance just before the break, but his 72nd-minute substitution came as little surprise. Not good enough on the night.

Attack

Mohamed Salah (4/10):

May have missed loads of chances against Brighton but at least he was a constant threat. The Egyptian was barely involved here and Klopp was well within his rights to take him off as Salah was strangely subdued all evening.

Darwin Nunez (7/10):

Obviously a significant amount of luck involved in his goal but it was just reward for his pressing – as well as a bright start to the game. His influence faded in the second half but he never stopped running.

Luis Diaz (7/10):

Liverpool’s most creative attacking force, the Colombian’s final ball sometimes lets him down but he causes all sorts of problems with his wonderful dribbling skills.

Subs & Manager

Harvey Elliott (6/10):

Once again, Liverpool’s ‘super-sub’ made a big impact off the bench with his crossing and energy.

Andy Robertson (7/10):

made a significant impact as a left-back substitute and perhaps ought to have scored a back-post volley to put Liverpool ahead once more before setting up Gakpo for the game-winning goal.

Curtis Jones (6/10):

A huge boost for Liverpool just having him back on the field after his recent injury.

Cody Gakpo (7/10):

In stark contrast to the Brighton match, the Dutchman was sprinting around the field when he entered the game and rightfully won it with a well-placed header in injury time.

Jurgen Klopp (5/10):

Even though it ended in three points, the German had an extremely anxious and worrying evening. There’s no denying that his players appeared listless for extended stretches of time, even though they started with a very strong team. His adjustments were quite beneficial (as they always are), but in the end, Mac Allister’s incredible goal was what put Liverpool back in the lead.