Salah sets more records as Liverpool move eight points clear

Mohamed Salah secured more records as Liverpool moved eight points clear at the top of the Premier League with a comfortable 5-0 win at West Ham United.

The Egyptian became the first player to score a goal and an assist in eight different games in a single season, giving the Reds another devastating performance and ensuring Arne Slot a victorious end to 2024.

Salah now has 23 assists in all competitions, the most by any Liverpool player in a single calendar year in the Premier League era.

Goals from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Salah put Liverpool under control before half-time at the London Stadium. Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected long-range shot and Diogo Jota’s finish then completed the defeat.

West Ham are in 13th place, while Liverpool’s title rivals now have to hope that the Reds slip up after the turn of the year.

It was Liverpool’s 14th win in their 18 games so far and they move eight points clear of second-placed Nottingham Forest, the only team to have beaten them so far.

How the game developed

The Reds were in front from the start when Salah forced an instinctive early stop from Alphonse Areola before they deservedly took the lead on the half-hour mark when Diaz hit the post.

Mohammed Kudus hit the woodwork at the other end, but less than two minutes later it was 2-0 when Salah beat his opponent with a brilliant shot to beat Gakpo.

Salah came into action in the 44th minute when the Egyptian scored his 17th league goal of the season just inside the penalty area, putting the Reds in the lead.

West Ham simply had no answer and Alexander-Arnold’s rocketing strike in the 54th minute deceived Areola after taking a nasty deflection off Konstantinos Mavropanos.

An injury to talisman Jarrod Bowen added to Julen Lopetegui’s frustration before Liverpool’s strength in depth was shown as substitute Jota scored their fifth goal after another assist from Salah, although West Ham came close to a consolation goal when Luis Guilherme in the Hit the post in stoppage time.

Liverpool, led by Salah, set standards

Slot’s team returns to Merseyside with an extended lead in the Premier League and further confidence. Arsenal and Chelsea will face each other in the coming days, with Nottingham Forest in second place, but the Reds look to be the team’s far superior side heading into 2025.

As the goals poured in, Liverpool’s attackers showed no signs of slowing down, spreading evenly across their starting line as Salah, Gakpo and Diaz all found the back of the net.

Despite the brutality of that win in the capital, Slot knows it could have been an even bigger margin as West Ham buckled under the pressure.

In the first half alone, Liverpool had eight shots on target and only some good saves from Areola saved the Hammers from complete humiliation.

Salah has now set a Premier League record – he has scored at least one goal and provided one assist in eight different games this season. No player has ever achieved such a feat. Only he knows whether he intended to direct the ball for Liverpool’s second goal of Gakpo’s career, but Salah’s form is the driving force behind Slot’s winning machine.

The fixture list allows Liverpool a small break before their next game – before hosting rivals Manchester United on January 5 – and Slot hopes the rest will set the stage for his team to get away with it in 2025.

Kudus is a shining light on a dark night in Hammers

A clear defeat and more pressure on Lopetegui meant there was little to celebrate for Hammers fans leaving the London Stadium after their final game of 2024.

The gap between the hosts and the Premier League leaders was mercilessly evident from the first minute as their defensive block was broken several times before the break.

While West Ham’s defenders struggled with wave after wave of attacks from Liverpool, their fans at least gave hope on the counterattack as Kudus caused plenty of problems for the Reds’ backline.

He created an early chance that Lucas Paqueta missed and if his shot had hit the post, Liverpool’s attack might have faltered. Shortly afterwards West Ham were further behind.

While Kudus provided a bright spot and a loss to the league leaders is not necessarily a catastrophe, the manner of the defeat – after four games unbeaten – will be frustrating for Lopetegui, whose team appear to have turned a corner but must now focus on one Prepare for a trip to Manchester City.

What the managers said

Julen Lopetegui: “We are definitely sad for our fans. But we lost to the best team in the Premier League, one of the best teams in the world.

“I apologize to the fans, the game was over in the first half. We were very far off in everything – with and without the ball. It’s very difficult against this team, but we have to do better. It’s a bad day for sure. The fans always have the right (to leave early) and we understand that. We have to recover.”

Arne slot: “If you look at Mo (Salah) and his numbers, you can’t say that (he is the best player in the world) there are many players with great quality, but he is at the top. He’s in a very good place, let’s hope he can stay that way for a long time.

“Controlling an away game is not easy but we didn’t give the West Ham fans much to cheer about.”

“It was a great year. I had a whole year with only one loss (for him). We still have a long way to go this season, but it was a very good first half.”

Club reports

West Ham | Liverpool

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