Match reportLiverpool move seven points clear with 3-1 Premier League win over Leicester

Jordan Ayew handed the Foxes a sixth-minute lead at Anfield with a clinical finish but after both Andy Robertson and Mohamed Salah had struck the woodwork, Cody Gakpo swept in a long-range curler to level.

Just four minutes into the second period, Curtis Jones diverted in Alexis Mac Allister’s cross to put the Reds ahead and Salah wrapped up their final home fixture of 2024 with a clinching goal eight minutes from the end.

Team news

Arne Slot made two changes to the XI that had started at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend, with Jones – for his 100th Premier League appearance – and Darwin Nunez brought in.

Federico Chiesa returned to the matchday squad as a substitute.

Liverpool: Alisson, Gomez, Van Dijk, Nunez (Jota, 77), Mac Allister (Elliott, 90+1), Salah, Jones (Szoboszlai, 77), Gakpo, Robertson (Tsimikas, 86), Gravenberch (Endo, 86), Alexander-Arnold.

Unused subs: Kelleher, Diaz, Chiesa, Quansah.

First half

The teams emerged to heavy fog hanging over Anfield, and the hosts almost carved through it to strike inside four minutes.

Gakpo slickly dribbled in from his left-hand berth and curled in a cross that found Salah at the far post. The Egyptian was thwarted by the goalkeeper and goalframe at close range, before Jakub Stolarczyk also produced a reaction save to deny Jones on the follow-up.

And instead it was the Foxes who opened the scoring two minutes later.

Possession was fed to Stephy Mavididi down the left flank and he attacked the channel and guided a cross into the centre. Ayew controlled it, spun and threaded a low finish in the gap between Alisson Becker’s reach and the near post.

Nunez flicked a header wide from Robertson’s delivery into the other area as the Reds tried for a quick response, though at the other end Mavididi narrowly failed to find Patson Daka’s run for what would have been a one-on-one with Alisson.

A Salah effort from inside the box struck Victor Kristiansen and looped onto the roof of the net and, from the recycling of the resulting corner, Robertson sent a header against the right post from Trent Alexander-Arnold’s tee-up.

As Liverpool’s pressure grew, Salah couldn’t get the required touch on another Gakpo left-to-right ball in and he was then foiled by the crossbar with a trademark lofted curler.

Slot’s men finally drew level a minute into first-half stoppage time and it was a threat again created by Gakpo along the left. This time, he opted to go for goal himself and executed it perfectly, arcing an outstanding finish over Stolarczyk.

Second half

Liverpool began the second half with intent and Nunez clipped a good chance too high after Ryan Gravenberch had collected Jones’ through pass and picked out his teammate.

But the home side did take the lead with 49 on the clock.

An intricate passage of passing in Leicester territory eventually saw the ball worked to Mac Allister right of goal and his centre was nudged into the net from yards out by Jones.

A comprehensive VAR review made Anfield wait to fully celebrate, though the move was declared good and the Reds had achieved a rapid turnaround sandwiching the interval.

Daka got his footwork wrong in a dangerous position from a Foxes counter-attack, before Nunez collected Salah’s reverse pass into the box but had his driven finish blocked by Stolarczyk.

At the three-quarter mark, Gakpo thought he had provided Liverpool a cushion as he thrashed home a loose ball, only for an offside flag to quell celebrations. Another VAR review confirmed the on-field call.

Reds supporters were able to roar for real on 82 minutes, however, as Gakpo spread play out to the right wing and Salah did the rest, standing up his man, crafting a shooting angle and finding the far bottom corner for 3-1.

Attendance: 60,300