Mohamed Salah became the first player to score and assist in eight Premier League games in the same season as Liverpool thumped West Ham to finish the day eight points clear of Nottingham Forest at the top of the Premier League.
Salah, who along with Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold can negotiate summer transfers to foreign clubs from Wednesday, set up Cody Gakpo before scoring on the stroke of half-time.
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Liverpool were already ahead thanks to Luis Díaz’s goal in the 30th minute and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s long-range shot deflected 10 minutes into the second half, before Salah danced with the ball midway to score Liverpool’s fifth goal (for Diogo Jota) and secure a comfortable goal. victory that consolidated its leadership for 2025.
Here The Athletic’s Andy Jones and Liam Tharme break down the key issues from the game.
Just when you think you’ve seen Mohamed Salah do everything, like all wonderful magicians, pull a rabbit out of the hat.
In a game where he once again registered both a goal and an assist, it was the touch leading to his pass for Cody Gakpo’s goal that underlined his brilliance… as if we needed any more reminding.
As Luis Diaz ran onto a ball over the top, Salah drifted towards the box ready to receive the ball.
The Colombian slipped the ball into his feet and, as he waited for it, Salah glanced over his shoulder, spotting the oncoming Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Before he could react, the ball had passed through the Greek’s legs and Salah had moved away from him.
The touch was so good that it is difficult to describe. Salah hopped into the air, before flicking the ball with his right foot in the direction of the goal. It was unorthodox as it was mesmeric. A moment of brilliance and beauty.
This may become the modern-day ‘Bergkamp touch versus Newcastle’ debate over whether it was intentional or not. In the form Salah is in, it is difficult to think anything other than it was fully intentional.
The 32-year-old then took advantage of an acceleration to reach the ball first, a nutmeg from another West Ham defender, and direct it towards Gakpo, who made no mistake. Asked via Sky Sports after the attack on The two nutmegs, Salah said the first was involuntary but at the time deliberate.
The forward couldn’t help but laugh as Curtis Jones quizzed him about it as well during the celebration immediately after the goal. He is a man at the top of his game and continues to make the seemingly impossible, possible.
It’s still December and Luis Diaz has already equalled his Premier League goal tally (eight) from last season. The Colombian benefited from Slot’s attacking approach, spending a lot of time in the midfield and on both flanks, connecting with Liverpool’s wingers and complementing midfielders who run beyond the ball.
His first match at the London Stadium was a smart and responsive finish, having beaten Trent Alexander-Arnold and attempted to locate Curtis Jones’ penetrating run. Fortunately, the pass bounced off Díaz and he shot.
Díaz has also played on the left, when Darwin Núñez is number 9, he is at his best when Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah play up top and on the sides. His form can be inconsistent, as is the case with top forwards, and he failed to score (and only assisted once) in the final nine games of last season, so Diaz has scored two or more goals four times this season. , adding a hat. -Opposite trick against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League. When he’s on it, he’s on it.
Liam Tharme
Being the Premier League’s best at Christmas seems like a big deal for big-name contenders, but as 2025 approaches, Liverpool are leaving the backpack in the dust.
At the final whistle at the London Stadium, Liverpool increased their lead at the top of the table to 8 points, restoring the kind of hole they had built at the beginning of December.
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While Chelsea and Arsenal are yet to play their games in this round of matches, the postponed Merseyside derby between Liverpool and Everton means they have played the same number of games (18) as either – Arsenal have nine points in third place and Chelsea 10 in fourth. . Nottingham Forest is in second place, having played one more match than the 3 teams.
It is a substantial lead and feels significant because Liverpool are not only in the driving seat, but it gives them room for error that the chasing pack does not have because of the number of points left to make up.
The home defeat by Nottingham Forest in September remains the only loss of Liverpool’s Premier League campaign and, as they go from strength to strength, they continue to find new ways to win and impress.
The lead they have achieved is incredibly impressive, but there is still much to do. However, if the groups under his command continue to release topics as they did in the first part of the campaign, they will soon want to play pool.
Andy Jones
There’s a lot to be said for a ‘boring’ second half when you’ve scored three first-half goals. Liverpool found that out the hard way at Tottenham a week ago but were excellent at managing their lead away to West Ham, at a ground where they have far from a perfect record.
Lopetegui’s half-time tweaks saw the introduction of Niclas Fullkrug as No 9, giving them a target man, and allowing Jarrod Bowen to revert to his primary role as a winger. Little changed; Liverpool defended well in wide areas, with the ground so quiet that on-pitch shouts of “higher” — for the defence to get up — could be heard up in the press box.
Considering Liverpool had a second-choice centre-back, Joe Gomez, and ended up with a third option when he went off injured to be replaced by Jarrell Quansah, his rigidity and compactness were excellent. West Ham were limited to just 4 shots with a value of 0. 29. expected goals and Liverpool made more tackles (21 to 16) despite dominating possession.
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Their first-half pressing was excellent, setting traps into the right-footed left-back Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and they slotted into a low block and played counter-attack football when they needed to. It’s only a second away clean sheet in eight games but an important one with trips to Tottenham (again), high-flying Nottingham Forest and (outstanding at home) Brentford next up.
Liam Tharme
Asked about the expired contracts of Salah, Van Dijk and Alexander-Arnold: “I think I have a lot about what they do: if they are in an educational field, if they are in an assembly with me. But let’s talk about their “I don’t have anything about them. So that was the scenario six months ago, the scenario as long as I’m a coach, but I have one thing for sure about what I expect from them on the field.
“I’m pleased to see what Virgil brings to the table, what Trent brings to the table and what Mo brings to the table. Now, the positive thing for me is that for 4 or five months you only talked about Trent, Mo and Virgil.
“I guess, please, don’t disappoint me, that other people (the media) are now going to be talking about all the players we’re going to sign in the coming months and which player is leaving. So I had other questions as well, and not just about those three.
Asked by Sky Sports if he was able to provide any good news about his own contract situation, Salah said: “No. We’re far away from that. But again, I don’t want to put something in the media and people start saying stuff, but nothing has really moved on.
“For now, the only thing on my mind is Liverpool winning the league and I want to be part of that. That is the only thing I’ve focused on since the beginning of this season.”
On Joe Gomez going off, Slot said: “You saw today an injury of Joe Gomez. If a player says he wants to stop, he has to be changed.“In a sprint, then we all know it’s a hamstring and we all know it’s going take a while before he is back. I don’t know how long but he will be out for quite a bit. These situations can happen in a season.”
Sunday, January 5: Manchester United (H), Premier League, 4:30 p. m. United Kingdom, 11:30 a. m. m. ET