Liverpool 5-0 West Ham (December 29, 2024) Match analysis

Liverpool beat West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium to extend their lead in the Premier League to eight points on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah once again in irrepressible form.

The Egypt international has enjoyed a great season despite uncertainty over a new contract, scoring a goal and providing two assists as Liverpool dismantled their inferior hosts.

He has now scored 20 goals in all competitions this season and looks set to lead Liverpool to their 20th league title in Arne Slot’s first season as coach.

Liverpool have 45 points from 18 games, with surprise team Nottingham Forest their closest rivals with 37 points and a game more. Fourth-placed Chelsea could reduce their deficit to seven when they face Ipswich Town on Sunday.

Surprisingly, Liverpool were unable to make their superiority clear in the early stages. But when Luis Díaz fired a shot past home goalkeeper Alphonse Areola after 30 minutes after the ball bounced nicely back into his path, there was no stopping Slot’s men.

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West Ham may have pointed to a Mohammed Kudus shot that rattled the post when the score was 1-0, but they were never really close.

Salah showed great footwork as he beat Cody Gakpo to make it 2-0 in the 40th minute and was then substituted by Curtis Jones to effectively end the contest just before half-time.

Liverpool slowed down after the break but still created several chances and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s shot deflected off Max Kilman’s head to make it 4-0 in the 54th minute.

Slot made a number of substitutions in the second half but Salah stuck with it to torment West Ham, providing some great dribbling before releasing Jota in the 84th minute, who curled the ball in in the fifth minute.

Some of the few West Ham fans left at the end booed at the final whistle, but Liverpool, as they have been since the start of the season, were just too good.