Naby Keita impact becomes clear as importance of Liverpool defensive trio emerges

It couldn't really have gone much better.

The UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup in the bag, a mammoth lead at the top of the Premier League and through to the knockout stages of the Champions League, Liverpool have enjoyed an impressive first half of the season.

Jurgen Klopp's European champions have been churning out the results, particularly in the top flight where their relentless pace has left everybody else trailing.

Not all the individual performances, though, have been consistent, and there remains plenty of room for improvement in some obvious areas.

The ECHO has been rating Liverpool's players after every performance, and here's the average for every player who has made at least 10 scoring appearances of at least 15 minutes in a match.

How Liverpool have rated so far

Virgil van Dijk - 7.19

Joel Matip - 7.18

Dejan Lovren - 7.17

Fabinho - 7.16

Naby Keita and Fabinho in action for Liverpool (Visionhaus)

Naby Keita - 7.09

Sadio Mane - 7.08

Roberto Firmino - 7.00

Mohamed Salah - 7.00

Blood Red: Jurgen Klopp on the pep talk he had with Roberto Firmino during barren run

Jordan Henderson - 6.96

Andy Robertson - 6.89

Trent Alexander-Arnold - 6.88

Alisson Becker - 6.76

James Milner - 6.76

Adrian - 6.67

Joe Gomez - 6.53

Gini Wijnaldum - 6.48

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain - 6.47

Van Dijk leads the way

It will surprise nobody to see Van Dijk heading the list, such has been the quality of his play throughout the season.

However, eyebrows might be raised at seeing Matip and Lovren up next, both just about making the cut with 11 and 12 scoring appearances respectively.

Their consistency underlines how the Reds have been blessed at the heart of defence this season, helpful given the injuries that have affected that area of the team. They have the best defensive record in the Premier League.

The impact of Fabinho before his injury and the emergence of Keita in recent weeks are shown by their high averages, although the understandable issues long-term absentees Oxlade-Chamberlain and Gomez have had in regaining full match sharpness are reflected in their scores, which will undoubtedly improve with more minutes.

Also interesting to see Mane, Firmino and Salah all bunched so closely together, highlighting their combined threat up top for Klopp's side.