Roberto Firmino might have been the Liverpool player on everyone’s lips as he scored a hat-trick in their 5-1 thrashing of Arsenal, but Match of the Day pundit Danny Murphy was more impressed with Sadio Mané’s performance at Anfield on Saturday.
Mané scored a goal but Murphy highlighted his overall performance and willingness to track back, saying he was “electric” and that he delivered “Everything Jurgen Klopp wants from his players”.
Talking on Match of the Day (Saturday, BBC1, 10.30pm), Murphy said, “It was the variation in Sadio Mané’s play that impressed me. Doug his job technically, helping out Robertson when he had to, as Arsenal did cause them some problems early on.
“End product, closing down, everything Jürgen Klopp wants from his players, he was electric today Mané. It was a super team performance but when they went a goal down he was the player that got them back into it.
“I liked his ability to win the ball back further down the pitch. Liverpool are playing with a confidence and a swagger we haven’t seen in a long time.”
OPINION
Liverpool were fantastic against Arsenal at Anfield. This was supposed to be a test of their title credentials and they passed with flying colours, although Arsenal wrapped the game up and handed it to them on a plate. Their defending was laughable at times and when you do that against a rampant Liverpool team you’re always going to be in trouble. The really impressive thing about Liverpool was the energy they played with. Klopp demands that but if it’s going to drop at any time you’d think it would be at Christmas when lots of matches are played and energy levels are down. That’s not happening at the moment and Liverpool seem to have caught their momentum just at the right time. They’ve got Man City next and if they win there then you’d have to think the title is all but won. As it is they’re 10 points clear of Pep Guardiola’s men, although they have a game in hand and play Southampton later on today. Murphy was right about Mané too, he was fantastic against Arsenal and typifies the way Liverpool player under Klopp. They’re a brilliant team at the moment.