Liverpool player ratings as Reds beat Watford to keep pressure on Manchester City

Here are our player ratings after Liverpool beat Watford 2-0 thanks to goals from Diogo Jota and Fabinho.

A win against Watford was the best way to start this month. Even though it was expected that the Reds would come away with the three points, Roy Hodgson's side put up a good fight.

Jota scored his goal, the Hornets should've been 1-0 up, but thanks to a fantastic save by Alisson, Liverpool went up the other end and scored the opening goal after 30 seconds of the save.

The rest of the game was a formality but there were a few standout performances so here are our player ratings for the 2-0 win over Watford.

Alisson - 8/10

We would genuinely be battling for top four without Alisson. This season he's probably been our most important player, in my opinion.

A save that 90% of keepers would fail to save, he makes it look easy with his timing, positioning and reflexes. What did we do to deserve this man?

Joe Gomez - 8/10

Wow Joe Gomez, where did you learn how to do that? He's clearly been learning from Trent Alexander-Arnold because he was putting the ball on a dime all game.

He probably should've had another assist or two yesterday. His defending wasn't great but we kept a clean sheet so we can't really complain too much.

Joel Matip - 7.5/10

Another solid Joel Matip performance. He won 10 of his 13 duels and overall it was a great game by him.

Virgil van Dijk - 7.5/10

It feels boring doing this every game but Virgil van Dijk and Joel aren't doing anything extraordinary though they're doing everything right.

Another great display by Virgil. He won every duel and his long balls were amazing, as always.

Andy Robertson - 7/10

A pretty average performance by Andy Robertson. He didn't do anything spectacular but he also didn't put a foot wrong.

Jordan Henderson 7/10

Even though he played out of position today, Jordan Henderson didn't look out of place. However, we do need him at the right central midfield role as that's by far his best position on the pitch.

Thiago Alcantara - 8/10

I mean, wow, just wow. Seeing Thiago Alcantara playing in a Liverpool shirt is an absolute joy. He just oozes class and makes me smile every time he makes a pass.

He ran the game from midfield today. He was just too much for Watford to handle and his confidence is unparalleled. Amazing game from the Spaniard.

Curtis Jones - 5.5/10

A poor game from Curtis Jones. He was lucky to stay on after half-time in my opinion. Apart from being invisible for 90% of the time he was on the pitch, his only real contribution was skying the ball into row Z multiple times.

Diogo Jota - 8/10

A much more well-rounded game from Diogo Jota. I find myself criticising his overall game a lot but today he was driving forward, creating space and holding the ball up well.

Another goal topped off a great performance, even though he probably should've had a hattrick of headed goals.

Roberto Firmino - 7/10

It was a very Roberto Firmino performance today. He held up the ball well, he was dropping deep but he didn't really create much going forward.

However, this game definitely hasn't hurt his chances of starting more and more for the Reds during the final few months of the season.

Mohamed Salah - 5.5/10

I'm not too sure what is wrong with Mohamed Salah. Ever since returning from AFCON he just hasn't been the same.

Whether it's due to the ongoing contract negotiations or failure with the Egyptian national team, Mo's form has really fallen off a cliff. Hopefully, he can refind his form as we're going to need it.

Substitutes

Fabinho - 7.5/10 (62nd minute for Curtis Jones)

Fabinho is going to be so important for this side in the upcoming weeks. When the Brazilian came on he showed how crucial he was.

Hendo moved more upfield and we thrived and really controlled the game from then on out. An amazing penalty rounded off a great cameo for Fab.

Sadio Mane - 6.5/10 (69th minute for Mohamed Salah)

Sadio Mane did better than Salah so that's a positive. He was looking forward and trying to make penetrating runs. An okay performance for a 20 minute run out.

James Milner - N/A (90th minute for Thiago)

100% pass accuracy (5/5).