Liverpool 2-1 Chelsea: Five positives as Firmino and Alexander-Arnold fire Reds to victory

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 22: Trent Alexander-Arnold of Liverpool celebrates with teammates Virgil van Dijk and Roberto Firmino after scoring his team's first goal during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on September 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images) /

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LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 22: Joel Matip of Liverpool clears the ball from Mason Mount of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Liverpool FC at Stamford Bridge on September 22, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) /

Matip’s good form looks like a permanent improvement

This time last season Joel Matip’s place in the first team squad was being questioned and he was arguably fourth choice central defender behind Gomez and Dejan Lovren. Fast forward 12 months and he’s turned around his Merseyside career and is now one of the top dogs.

Matip has been getting rave reviews, even playing better than Virgil van Dijk is some pundit’s eyes, and is keeping one of Klopp’s poster boys out of the side for extended periods.

Liverpool look solid at the back. Van Dijk and Matip combine well, they’re both composed, strong and good in the air and are in the form of their life. In fact, we’ve now got to consider whether this is the new Matip for life – and not just for the last year.

Right now that spells bad news for Gomez and especially for Lovren, but before we start counting our chickens before they hatch we should remember the injury record for those three central defenders. The season is a long one and there will be rotation, but right now Joel is King.

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