Two quickfire goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah saw Liverpool take all three points on Saturday afternoon.
Manchester City’s defeat at Bournemouth means that the Reds now sit two points clear at the top of the league table.
Arne Slot was once again able to inspire a much improved second half performance from his side, a feat he has managed multiple times this season.
The introduction of Curtis Jones marked a turning point in the match, but it was another Liverpool star that really stole the show in the Reds’ comeback.
Kostas Tsimikas cements his place as a starter
In what was only his fifth start of the season, Kostas Tsimikas proved to everyone why he deserves to be Liverpool’s starting left-back.
The Greek international was superb for the Reds, completing seven of seven tackles, making three key passes and completing 90.7% of his passes.
The 28-year-old achieved a WhoScored rating of 8.1, the highest of anyone on the pitch, and showed exactly why he deserves to start for Liverpool moving forward.
The Reds’ current first-choice left-back Andrew Robertson has struggled to find form this season and, after Tsimikas’ performance against Brighton, it may be time for the Scot to relinquish his place in the starting XI, at least until he can rediscover his form of previous seasons
How does Tsimikas compare to Robertson?
Robertson has been the first choice in his position for over five years but Tsimikas’ performances this season now leave Slot with a selection headache at left-back.
Tsimikas has made 4.8 tackles per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season compared to Robertson’s 1.3. His passing accuracy is also 5% better than his counterparts, he loses possession 1.4 times less per 90 and has a vastly superior aerial dual success rate.
The obvious caveat to these statistics is that Tsimikas has played considerably less minutes than Robertson, but Saturday’s performance showed that even when the rest of the team struggles, Tsimikas can still step up.
The Greek fullback also won the official Man of the Match award in Liverpool’s UEFA Champions League victory over RB Salzburg in October.
Although it may not be permanent, it appears that for now Tsimikas has cemented his place as Slot’s first choice left-back.
Why Tsimikas is ‘unbelievable’
The Greek international is also a great character in the dressing room. Harvey Elliott made that clear in an interview with the club’s official website a couple of years ago, describing Tsimikas as ‘unbelievable
He’s an unbelievable guy, one of my favourites in the world, to be honest. He’s a lovely guy and got a lovely family around him. So to be able to spend time with him, go for food and have a nice holiday with him, it’s great company to say the least,” Elliott said.
