Fabinho 9 out of 10, Mohamed Salah 8, Wilfried Zaha injured: Liverpool v Crystal Palace ratings

Anfield giants take a step closer to the Premier League title

• 

  LIVERPOOL RATINGS: Alisson Becker – 6, Paying spectators are currently locked out of matches. Alisson was a paid one in this game

• 

  Trent Alexander-Arnold – 8, Majestic free-kick in the 23rd minute set the wheels in motion for a rout. EPA

• 

  Joe Gomez – 7, Replaced the injured Joel Matip in the starting XI, and continued where he left off after his solid substitute outing against Everton. Reuters

• 

  Virgil van Dijk – 7, He and Gomez were under-employed in the centre of Liverpool’s defence. They will be happy with that. EPA

• 

  Andy Robertson – 8, Set the tone for his side with a thunderous early tackle. Inexhaustible thereafter. AFP

• 

  Jordan Henderson - 7, Hit the post early on, and could have had one before that, too. Reuters

• 

  Fabinho – 9, As though he was playing in his own exhibition match. Picked pockets while defending, played a lush through ball for Salah’s goal, and scored a screamer. Reuters

• 

  Georginio Wijnaldum - 7, Scuffed two early shots wide, and had a good chance in the second half, too. His performance merited a goal. Reuters

• 

  Mohamed Salah - 8, Looked rusty. Briefly. Then scored a fine goal, and played a brilliant first time pass for Mane to score. AFP

• 

  Roberto Firmino – 6, The ghost at the feast of Liverpool’s forward line. Unlucky not to earn a penalty off Gary Cahill’s arm early on. Reuters

• 

  Sadio Mane – 8, Things must have been going well: Salah set him up for a goal, as Liverpool laid waste to their visitors. AFP

• 

  SUB: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain – 7, Doing his best to earn a starting place via perky substitute appearances – but where to fit him in?. Reuters

• 

  SUB: Neco Williams – 8, Looked very confident in his late cameo despite having the unenviable task of following Alexander-Arnold. EPA

• 

  SUB: Takumi Minamino – NA, Itching to impress after his rusty outing in the Merseyside derby, but did not get the minutes to do so. Reuters

• 

  SUB: Harvey Elliott – NA, Short on game time, but still provided a brief glimpse of his rich talent with a volleyed cross from the left. Reuters

• 

  SUB: Naby Keita – NA, Not enough time to make a mark, after coming on as a late sub. EPA

• 

  CRYSTAL PALACE RATINGS: Wayne Hennessey – 5, Didn’t have a chance with the goals, but hardly inspired confidence the rest of the time. Reuters

• 

  Joel Ward – 5, Grinned broadly when he smuggled a shot from Van Dijk away for a corner early on. The smile did not last. EPA

• 

  Gary Cahill - 5, Lucky to escape giving away a penalty when he appeared to handle from Firmino. Reuters

• 

  Mamadou Sakho - 5, Must give Palace fans palpitations at times. Liverpool fans will feel they have upgraded since he was one of theirs. EPA

• 

  Patrick van Aanholt - 6, Lost Salah for his goal, and was booted by his former Sunderland teammate Henderson, on an unhappy night. Reuters

• 

  James McCarthy – 7, It might have been an unwinnable one, but at least he tried to carry the fight to Liverpool. AFP

• 

  Andros Townsend – 5, Unable to affect the game as Liverpool's pressing strangled Palace. EPA

• 

  James McArthur – 5, Fighting a losing battle against a formidable Liverpool midfield, and looked shattered when he went off. EPA

• 

  Cheikhou Kouyate – 5, Anonymous, as Palace chased shadows and barely kept up with those. Reuters

• 

  Wilfried Zaha – NA, Limped off with 15 minutes gone, having tried to play through an injury suffered in the warm up. EPA

• 

  Jordan Ayew – 4, Tried to help out in defence, but might have been better served staying out of the way, and he conceded the free kick for Alexander-Arnold’s opener. Looked forlorn the rest of the time. EPA

• 

  SUB: Max Meyer – 6, A difficult job filling Zaha’s boots. He felt he deserved a free kick when thwarted by Fabinho on the edge of the box. EPA

• 

  SUB: Luka Milivojevic – 5, Officially had 24 minutes in which to impress, but he did little to mark himself out. AFP

• 

  SUB: Jairo Riedewald – 5, The Dutchman was overrun by Liverpool’s midfield after coming on to replace Kouyate. Not that he was unique in that. Getty

Mohamed Salah scored in his first appearance after the return of the Premier League as Liverpool moved to within two points of winning the title.

Jurgen Klopp’s side thrashed Crystal Palace 4-0 at Anfield, with Trent Alexander-Arnold, Fabinho and Sadio Mane also scoring.

As an indicator of the game’s one-sidedness, it was the first time since such statistics have been kept in the Premier League that a side failed to have a single touch in the opposition’s box.

To see the player ratings at Anfield click on the arrows in the gallery above or swipe on your mobile device.