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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

Joel Matip's Liverpool transformation complete - and Fabinho shows why Jurgen Klopp was right

Okay, we know there's still one game to go.

But with the Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur still to come in Madrid on June 1, the time has come to assess Liverpool's season and which players in particular have impressed.

The Reds have enjoyed an excellent campaign, even if there was the obvious disappointment of so narrowly missing out on the Premier League crown and two early exits from both domestic cup competitions.

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The ECHO has been rating Liverpool's players after every performance of the 52 games played so far.

And here is the average rating for every player who has made at least 10 scoring appearances.

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How Liverpool's players rated

Virgil van Dijk - 7.24

Fabinho - 7.17

Joel Matip - 7.16

Mohamed Salah - 7.06

Sadio Mane - 7.04

Joe Gomez - 7.00

Xherdan Shaqiri - 6.96

Andy Robertson - 6.94

Alisson Becker - 6.88

Gini Wijnaldum - 6.87

Jordan Henderson - 6.75

Roberto Firmino - 6.73

Jordan Henderson celebrates his side's victory in the match between Newcastle United and Liverpool (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

James Milner - 6.71

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6.66

Divock Origi - 6.54

Naby Keita - 6.53

Divock Origi celebrates after scoring Liverpool's fourth goal during the Champions League semi-final second leg win against Barcelona (PAUL ELLIS/AFP/Getty Images)

Dejan Lovren - 6.50

Adam Lallana - 6.30

Daniel Sturridge - 6.06

Van Dijk takes the acclaim

Not entirely surprisingly, Van Dijk takes the accolade as the ECHO's Liverpool player of the year, admittedly not quite as prestigious than the PFA Player of the Year award the Dutchman scooped last month.

Van Dijk was consistent throughout the campaign while earning nine 9s. His lowest score of 5 came in the Champions League defeats at Red Star Belgrade and Paris Saint-Germain.

Second was Fabinho, who overcame a difficult start to his Liverpool career with a string of impressive displays, particularly during the winter months. Klopp, it seems, was right in his handling of the Brazilian midfielder.

The most remarkable showing, though, was from Matip, who barely featured before Christmas and then seized his first-team opportunity. Not since the draw at West Ham United in early February has the centre-back scored lower than 7.

The forward duo of Salah and Mane were the other Liverpool players to average more than 7, while Firmino put indifferent early-season form behind him by averaging almost 7.5 during his last nine appearances.

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Xherdan Shaqiri's autumn form explains his high placing, while a run of 5-6-6-5-5-5 underlines why he then fell out of favour during the final third of the campaign.

With 6 being widely regarded as an average score, every single eligible Liverpool player ranked higher - a testament to how every player produced.

And, of course, there is still one game to go.

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