Following all the talk that Liverpool were getting nervous in their bid to win a first league title in 29 years, they silenced the doubters by beating Bournemouth 3-0 on Saturday.

Sadio Mane's header opened the scoring and main man Mohamed Salah sealed the victory three minutes into the second-half with a neat finish to a lovely team move.

Back-to-back draws against Leicester City and West Ham United saw Liverpool slip to second in the table, but a return to winning ways also saw them return to the first place.

Sandwiched in between Mane and Salah's goals was a quite magnificent strike from Georginio Wijnaldum, who wasn't even in the squad at the London Stadium.

However, he returned to Jurgen Klopp's starting XI with a top-class display, and after the match, both his manager and teammate revealed the extent of the issues he overcame.

Wijnaldum stars on return to starting XI

There were some doubts as to whether or not Wijnaldum would feature against Bournemouth, but he lined up alongside Fabinho and Naby Keita in midfield.

The Netherlands international has looked very assured in a deeper midfield role this season and he was at it again at Anfield, dictating play and helping his team control the tempo.

He put some gloss on his performance with a goal in the 34th-minute to make it 2-0, latching onto a Andy Robertson's ball after the Reds regained possession.

Wijnaldum plucked the ball out of the air and, despite being confronted by Nathan Ake, saw Artur Boruc off his line and had the technical quality to produce a super lob into the net.

Klopp and Milner on Wijnaldum pre-match

In post-match interviews, manager Klopp and captain Milner provided insights into Wijnaldum's physical illness which make his classy outing even more impressive.

"He (Wijnaldum) didn't sleep in the team hotel last night," said Klopp, confirmed by journalist Ben Dinnery on Twitter.

The Liverpool boss continued: "He had diarrhoea and vomiting two nights earlier so he couldn't come to the team hotel."

Meanwhile, Milner, who filled in at right-back, expressed his amazement at the Dutchman's display considering he was "nowhere to be seen" on Friday - a day before the match.

"It's been a tough few weeks with players injured and ill," 33-year-old Milner stated. "Georginio Wijnaldum was nowhere to be seen yesterday and then he produces a performance like that."

The 28-year-old was replaced by another returnee in Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 77th-minute and was deservedly given a great ovation by the crowd.

Let's hope Wijnaldum doesn't have any similar problems before Liverpool's next two games - Bayern Munich in the Champions League, and Manchester United at Old Trafford.

What do YOU make of Wijnaldum's performance, given how much he was struggling? Do YOU think Liverpool will finally win the title this year? Drop YOUR thoughts in the comments box below!