Basically the same with PHP in general; only real difference is the use of Route::currentRouteName(). Code:

<nav>
<?php
        $links = [
                (object) array(  "i" => "fa-pie-chart" , "a" => "Overview" , "r" => 'tools.256-overview'  ),     
                (object) array(  "i" => "fa-sitemap"   , "a" => "Keywords" , "r" => 'tools.256-keywords'  ),     
                (object) array(  "i" => "fa-link"      , "a" => "Backlinks", "r" => 'tools.256-backlinks' ),     
                (object) array(  "i" => "fa-list-alt"  , "a" => "SERPs"    , "r" => 'tools.256-serps'     ),     
                (object) array(  "i" => "fa-globe"     , "a" => "Sites"    , "r" => 'tools.256-sites'     ),     
        ];
?>
@foreach ($links as $l)   
        <?php
        if   ( Route::currentRouteName() == $l->r ) { $class = "active"; }
        else                                        { $class = "";       }  
        ?>
        <li class="{{ $class }}" ><a href="{{ route($l->r) }}"><i class="fa {{ $l->i }}" aria-hidden="true"></i> {{ $l->a}}
        @if ($class == "active")<span class="sr-only">(current)</span>@endif
        </a></li>
@endforeach
</nav>

Mostly self explanatory. Uses PHP stdClass.

Sir, I can do you a nice SEO.