Liverpool's Player of the Match Winners Show Why They're Champions
The contributions made by the likes of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Ryan Gravenberch have been obvious. The rest of the squad have had golden days too.
Liverpool’s 3-1 loss at Chelsea doesn’t merit deeper analysis than saying that a team with nothing on the line was beaten by one for whom it meant plenty.
We could debate the identity of the Reds’ player of the match, if you like. Virgil van Dijk had the most shots and scored, Kostas Tsimikas created more chances than any other player on either team while Mohamed Salah had the most touches in the penalty box en route to delivering the best expected assist number.
The algorithms at SofaScore and WhoScored gave Wataru Endō the POTM nod, with Alisson Becker taking the honours over at Fotmob. One outlet which didn’t crown a player of the match, or even ask your opinion, was the club itself. You might have noticed before, they never do when the Reds lose.
A draw can go either way. Failing to beat dross like Everton or Manchester United doesn’t merit a best player vote, whereas decent points at the likes of Arsenal and Nottingham Forest do. It’s an inexact science.
A striking aspect of Liverpool’s title-sealing 5-1 thumping of Tottenham Hotspur was that Alexis Mac Allister was their Player of the Match. The unusual element of this was that he hadn’t yet claimed the gong this season. Neither had Trent Alexander-Arnold before lashing home a left-foot winner at Leicester the week before, in what is now confirmed to be one of his final notable acts for his hometown club.
The Reds would not have won the league without an all-round team effort of the highest order. It’s still important to highlight that almost every member of the squad has had at least one day belonging to them. It’s time to give flowers to some heroes.
For once this season we can brush past Salah, as he has earned 13 POTM awards in 2024/25. He will be the player of the season for any group of people who gets to cast a vote on such matters, be they fans, players, writers or anyone else. As we’re highlighting games of note, Salah was deemed Liverpool’s leading man in two wins against Manchester City for starters.
Behind the Egyptian for most Player of the Match trophies this term are two colleagues from the attack, Luis Díaz and Cody Gakpo, on four apiece. Lucho edged it 3-2 for league games, with the Colombian delivering one of the individual performances of the season in the 1-0 derby win against Everton. Gakpo’s stand out day came against Ipswich, as he became the only player not called Mohamed to record three goal contributions in a Liverpool league match this season.
Along with Ryan Gravenberch, the aforementioned due of Allison and Endō each collected three POTM nods from the club’s supporters this season. The trio all shone brightly in 2-1 wins in the Premier League; against Wolves for the midfielders, then when West Ham lost at Anfield for the best goalkeeper in the world. Gravenberch deserves greater credit for the 2-2 draw with Fulham, though, as he played multiple roles when Arne Slot had to deal with an early red card.
If you ever need evidence that every dog has its day (or that these awards are largely meaningless), consider that Darwin Núñez, Dominik Szoboszlai and Virgil van Dijk have the same number of Player of the Match prizes in 2024/25 (two). The Uruguayan is the only one of the three to collect both of his in the league too.
As important as his equaliser against Southampton was in the moment, the goals at Brentford were clearly Darwin’s most telling contribution to the campaign. Van Dijk took the POTM prize at Selhurst Park (and the San Siro) before Szoboszlai was lauded against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup then Newcastle in the league three weeks later. The Hungarian has suffered a Salah effect, as he could easily have been acclaimed as the best player in wins at Spurs and City to name two which spring to mind.
Along with Alexander-Arnold and Mac Allister, we have five further players who have a solitary Player of the Match prize from 2024/25 on their mantlepiece.
In the league we had Curtis Jones (for his winning goal against Chelsea), Ibrahima Konaté (at Arsenal) and Diogo Jota (thanks to an equaliser at Nottingham Forest), with Caoimhín Kelleher and Conor Bradley taking European awards against RB Leipzig and Real Madrid respectively. A Liverpool right-back outshining Real Madrid? Imagine.
The most notable player who hasn’t been honoured this term is Andy Robertson. With a series of error-strewn performances seeing him deliver just one assist all year, that’s hardly a surprise. Joe Gomez played in some big wins (City, Tottenham) where Salah was always likely to be recognised, while Jarell Quansah has suffered something of a sophomore slump, to borrow a phrase from American sport.
Harvey Elliott didn’t start a league game until the title was secured and Federico Chiesa is unlikely to even now. Their link-up in the Carabao Cup final might have been honoured had Liverpool completed an unlikely comeback, but there was never going to be a Player of the Match vote after that team performance.
Nonetheless, they have been part of a successful squad, as have Kostas Tsimikas and Vítězslav Jaroš. The former assisted a goal which prevented Nottingham Forest from drawing within three points of Liverpool in January, after the latter had saved an Opta-defined big chance in a match the Reds won 1-0. Everyone contributed in some way or other.
And that is why Liverpool are champions of England. No passengers, only heroes.
So, who has been your unsung hero? Never mind Salah or Virgil or Gravenberch, who sneaked under the radar?