Liverpool’s title ambitions suffered a subtle blow when Fabian Schar scored an 89th-minute equalizer to rescue Newcastle a deserved point on Wednesday night.

It’s fair to say that nobody played their best game for the Reds after comfortable wins against Real Madrid and Manchester City last week.

With Arsenal and Chelsea narrowing the gap at the top to seven points, here are the player ratings for the game:

Caoimhin Kelleher: 3.5

A rare poor performance from the reliable Irish international. Anthony Gordon’s powerful strike and terrible misreading of the free-kick for the equalizer were to blame. Alisson Becker’s return is getting closer. But Kelleher deserves recognition for his contribution to the team.

Andrew Robertson: 3.5

No attacking input and shakiness when receiving the ball. One of the more experienced players who gives up the ball in dangerous positions. He’s been a liability at best these last few weeks.

Joe Gomez: 5

Second start in the team and a difficult one with little game fitness. A sloppy pass here and there, but overall looked solid. Arne Slot will need him in the coming weeks.

Virgil van Dijk: 6

He’s not bad on his own, but given the weak defensive unit around him, it’s difficult to praise him too much. It was always going to be difficult – just not the usual dominance we see from the club’s captain.

Jarrell Quansah: 4

Not a right-back but performed well under the circumstances.

Ryan Gravenberch: 5

Probably his worst performance of the season. At the start of every game, the fatigue was clearly visible. It’s easy to be too harsh. Gravenberch has been immense so far – hopefully this isn’t a turning point.

Alexis Mac Allister: 5

He received a harsh yellow card early on and simply couldn’t leave his mark on the game. It’s a shame that he didn’t get into the front positions anymore, where he hit the post, for example.

Curtis Jones: 6

The ball was pocketed too often and was a bit indecisive at times. Still a nice, instinctive finish to the goal.

Cody Gakpo: 5

Like most, he had little impact on the game but did well to head the ball back to Nunez in the second half. It would be great if he had a little more confidence when playing against his defender.

Darwin Nunez: 4

A disappointing performance with two missed big chances. Liverpool fans’ patience is starting to wear thin. Never stopped running and still pushed well.

Mohamed Salah: 8.5

Two goals and an assist – it’s fair to say that a player has been strong as ever for Liverpool. So dangerous in the opponent’s penalty area as he also hit the crossbar. He’s strangely quiet for large parts of the game – but he comes alive when the team needs him most.

Luis Diaz: 6.5

A quiet game for Diaz, although he contributed well to the build-up of the game. Better ones come from him.

Trent Alexander Arnold: 8

The vice-captain’s passing quality was clearly evident from the second he came on, including an assist for Salah. Showed the club what they would miss out on if their contract situation wasn’t clarified.

Dominik Szoboszlai: 7.5

Brilliant intensity from Szoboszlai. Played with real intention.

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