Liverpool 3-1 Leicester: Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah score as Reds go seven points ahead | Football News

With a 3-1 win against Leicester at Anfield, Liverpool moved seven points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Second-placed Chelsea’s defeat by Fulham at the start of Boxing Day gave Arne Slot’s side the chance to extend their lead at the top and they took it with both hands – albeit after an early scare.

Leicester took a surprise lead in the sixth minute when Jordan Ayew spun and found the bottom corner with a deflected shot from Stephy Mavididi’s low cross, but the hosts came roaring back.

Cody Gakpo equalized when he shot inside from the left side and curled a great shot from the edge of the box into the goal in first-half stoppage time. Liverpool then took the lead when Curtis Jones swept Alexis Mac Allister’s putback into the goal early in the second period.

Mohamed Salah, who hit the crossbar in the first half, brightened the result late on when he shot into the box from the right and fired a superb finish past Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk for his 16th Premier League goal of the season.

Liverpool’s lead at the top will shrink to six points if third-placed Arsenal beat Ipswich at the Emirates Stadium on Friday night, but Arne Slot’s side still have a game in hand, putting them in an even more commanding position in the title race.

Leicester, meanwhile, slip to 18th behind Wolves and are just one point away from safety after their third straight Premier League defeat.

Slot: You’ve seen how good we are

Liverpool Boss Arne Slot:

“It sounds strange but I thought we got off to a really good start. We were dangerous for them for six minutes but then there came a moment where we underestimated a situation and it immediately led to a chance and a goal and we have to work really hard to get back in the game.

“Ultimately I wouldn’t say we were lucky but it really helped to score before half-time because we were 1-0 down and it was a game before we made it 3-1. Then I think you saw how.” Good thing it really is us.

On the title Liverpool have to lose, he added: “That’s not how I see it. That’s a bit of a boring answer, but as a manager you go game by game because you know how many games you still have to play.” You can see, especially in the Premier League results, that you didn’t expect that because they Teams have so much quality.

“If it was the Eredivisie it might feel like that, but not in this competition.”

Salah scores again

Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah To Amazon Prime:

“This is a good result. They were better in the first half, they were very good in the way they prepared.”

“The way they were in front of the penalty area, it was pretty difficult for us, especially in the first half, but we managed to score three goals and that’s a great result.”

“(Gakpos) was a great goal and it gave us the confidence in the second half to win the game. He practiced that a lot in training. It was a great finish from him.”

On his own goal, Salah added: “It’s great. The most important thing for me is that the team wins. Hopefully we win the Premier League and I have a big influence. We just have to concentrate and keep it up.”

Cody Gakpo said of his goal: “We practice a lot and they always say practice makes perfect, so we’ll keep practicing.”

“Obviously we fell behind, we had to fight to get the equalizer and we got some good opportunities. I got the ball from (Mac Allister) and saw some space and just did what we do in training.”

“We know the qualities we have, but it’s not nice to fall behind. We are working on it so that we are not careless in the beginning.”

Salah reaches milestone – Opta stats

• Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been involved in 27 goals in 17 Premier League games this season (16 goals, 11 assists), just one fewer than in 32 appearances last season (18 goals, 10 assists).
• His goal to make it 3-1 was his 100th home goal in the Premier League. He is the eighth player to reach this milestone.
• Mohamed Salah made his 250th Premier League start for Liverpool, becoming the fourth player, alongside Wayne Rooney for Man Utd (276) and Ryan Giggs for Man Utd, to record 250 Premier League goal involvements for a single team (171 goals, 79 assists). (271) and Harry Kane for Tottenham (259).

Analysis: Is there anything stopping Liverpool?

By the time the final whistle sounded, Ayew’s opening goal seemed to be a distant memory. Remarkably, Leicester didn’t have a single shot after the 10th minute of the game.

Such is Liverpool’s ability to crush their opponents. They stayed cool after falling behind, even if they struggled to find their rhythm. But Salah isn’t their only game-changer.

Gakpo is another. His equalizer was something wonderful and the result never seemed in doubt after that. Liverpool were in the lead shortly after half-time and of course Salah had to score. In the end it seemed to have been as easy a win as Liverpool could have wished for.

The last game defeat was four months ago. The defeat to Nottingham Forest in September is looking more and more like an aberration. Recent draws against Newcastle and Fulham also felt out of character, but Liverpool are now back on track.

Their unbeaten streak now stands at 22 games in all competitions. They will be top at the turn of the year regardless of the result against West Ham on Sunday. They will most likely be at the top in May too. It is becoming increasingly difficult to see a different result.

Van Nistelrooy: Thanks to my team

Leicester Boss Ruud van Nistelrooy:

“We had the start we wanted. We knew we had to be compact, we had to defend well, block crosses well, which we did, and with a few breaks we were dangerous. We were in the game and were 2-1.” Had the chance with Patson Daka.

“Those are the moments that you have to endure in a game like this. But all praise for the team, we were competitive and we were in the game for a long time.”

“It’s up to us to continue to develop, to continue to do what we do, to continue to game plan for each opponent and think about how we can win the game. The players know what to do and they acted accordingly, and today it was the maximum possible.

History of the game in the statistics…

What’s coming up in the Premier League?