Liverpool have found their new midfield talisman, as Mohamed Salah shows why he’s world class

The first half was impressive, but the second was even better. Had it not been for the eagle eyes of the referee’s assistant then Liverpool could have gone into the break a goal to the good. As it turned out, it didn’t matter.

It was a win that should help with the confidence as much as helping Liverpool progress in the Champions League. Recent results and performances have not been to the standard that you would expect, but on a Tuesday night in Budapest it was normal service resumed from Klopp’s men.

Here’s the podium from the brilliant performance against Leipzig.

Gold: Curtis Jones

What more can we say about Curtis Jones that hasn’t already been said. This time last year he was just making his way in the first team, starting the odd cup game and made one or two substitute appearances in the Premier League. Now, you can’t see a Liverpool starting line-up going forward without him included.

The more impressive aspect of his game is probably his ability to keep hold of the ball in tight areas. Plenty of occasions surfaced where the Leipzig players surrounded the Kirkby academy graduate, but he still managed to find space and navigate his way out of trouble. Considering he has only just recently turned 20 years old, that is a valuable skill to have.

Silver: Mohamed Salah & Sadio Mané

There was more to both of their performances than just the goals, though. They both could easily have scored in the first half, and given the lack of confidence from recent results to be able to keep going in a tricky away tie is a testament to their abilities.

When you go away from home in a European game, you want your best players to stand up and be counted. Take the responsibility and grab the tie by the scruff of the neck. Both Salah and Mané did that and more.

On a side note, the strike from Salah was his 24^th of the season in all competitions, now surpassing his tally from the previous campaign. Given there’s 14 more league matches and the potential for further games in the Champions League, this is an astonishing statistic and further evidence that the Egyptian is among the world’s best.

Bronze: Ozan Kabak

When he made his Premier League debut against Leicester, all you wanted from Ozan Kabak was a quiet afternoon and with little to do and no doubts over his quality. That didn’t happen, and so the pressure coming into the game in Budapest was immense.

Given he’s 20 years old and only been at the club for a couple of weeks, this was an outstanding performance from the former Schalke defender. It’s clear to see why Liverpool wanted him and rated him so highly, and we’ve only seen him for two games.

Was it a nine or 10 out of 10 performance? No, probably not, but it he was certainly one of the star men for Liverpool. Partnering captain Jordan Henderson, who was also brilliant, Kabak barely put a foot wrong and won plenty of headers late on in the game when Leipzig were piling on the pressure.

There is definitely a world class centre-back in Kabak, that’s for sure. If his talent can be harnessed, which with a world class manager like Klopp alongside him is more than possible, and if he has more performances like that then he’s set for a long and successful career at Anfield.

Must do better: The disallowed goal

It was almost a faultless performance from Liverpool, with the exception of almost letting Hwang Hee-chan score in the closing moments. It could have been even better had Roberto Firmino’s tap-in not been disallowed in the first half, though.

A brilliant piece of pay by Mané saw him tee-up Firmino who nodded the ball into the net, only for the linesman to rule that the ball had gone out of play before the pass. Upon closer inspection, it appeared that it had stayed in, but in fairness to the official it was very, very close.

Probably unfair to label this as a ‘must do better’, but Liverpool barely put a foot wrong and this was the only negative to come out of the game.