Mohamed Salah secured more records as Liverpool surged eight points clear at the top of the Premier League with a dominant 5-0 victory at West Ham United.
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The Egyptian became the first player to register a goal and an assist in eight different Premier League matches in a single season as the Reds produced another devastating display, ensuring a winning end to 2024 for Arne Slot.
Salah now has 23 assists in all competitions in 2024, the most by any Liverpool player in a single calendar year in the Premier League era.
Strikes from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and Salah put Liverpool in control before half-time at London Stadium. Trent Alexander-Arnold's deflected long-range drive and Diogo Jota's finish then completed the rout.
It was Liverpool's 14th win from their 18 matches so far, and they sit eight points in front of second-placed Nottingham Forest, the only team to beat them so far. West Ham sit 13th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
18 | +28 | 45 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
19 | +21 | 39 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
19 | +7 | 37 |
| 4 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
19 | +15 | 35 |
How the match unfolded
Liverpool were on the front foot from the off as Salah forced an instinctive early stop from Alphonse Areola, before they deservedly went ahead on the half-hour mark as Diaz scored in off the post.
Mohammed Kudus struck the woodwork at the other end, but it was 2-0 less than two minutes later as Salah brilliantly span clear of his marker to tee up Gakpo.
Salah then got in on the act in the 44th minute as the Egyptian curled home his 17th Premier League goal of the campaign from just inside box to put the Reds in cruise control.
West Ham simply had no response, and Alexander-Arnold's 54th-minute rocket beat Areola after taking a wicked deflection off Konstantinos Mavropanos.
An injury to talisman Jarrod Bowen compounded Julen Lopetegui’s frustration, before Liverpool’s strength in depth told as substitute Jota lashed in goal number five from another Salah assist, though West Ham did go close to a consolation when Luis Guilherme hit the post in stoppage time.
Salah-led Liverpool set the standard
Slot's team head back to Merseyside with their Premier League lead extended and their confidence given another boost. Arsenal and Chelsea will play in the coming days, while Nottingham Forest are flying high in second, but the Reds look by far the league's best side heading into 2025.
As the goals flowed, Liverpool's attackers showed no signs of slowing down, with an even spread across their starting front line, as Salah, Gakpo and Diaz all found the back of the net.
Despite the ruthless nature of this victory in the capital, Slot knows it could have been an even greater winning margin, as West Ham wilted under the pressure.
The first half alone included eight shots on target for Liverpool, and only some fine stops from Areola stopped the Hammers from suffering complete humiliation.
Whether Salah meant to spin the ball into Gakpo’s path for Liverpool’s second goal, only he knows, but Salah’s form is the driving force to Slot’s winning machine.
The fixture schedule affords Liverpool a small break before their next outing – hosting rivals Manchester United on January 5 – and Slot will hope that rest sets the stage for his team to cruise away in 2025.
Kudus a shining light on a dark Hammers night
A resounding defeat, and more pressure on Lopetegui, meant there was little to celebrate for the Hammers fans heading out of London Stadium after their final game of 2024.
The gap between the hosts and the Premier League leaders was ruthlessly underlined from the first minute as their defensive block was breached multiple times before the interval.
As West Ham’s defenders struggled to cope with wave after wave of Liverpool attacks, their fans were at least offered hope on the counter by Kudus, who caused plenty of problems for the Reds’ back line.
He created an early chance that was squandered by Lucas Paqueta, and if his effort against the post had gone in, the match might have been different. As it was, West Ham were further behind swiftly after.
While Kudus provided a bright spark and a loss to the league leaders is not necessarily a disaster, the manner of the defeat will be frustrating for Lopetegui, whose team appeared to have turned a corner with four games unbeaten. They must now rally themselves for a trip to Manchester City.
What the managers said
Julen Lopetegui: “We are sad for our fans, for sure. But we lost to the best team in the Premier League, one of the best teams in the world.
“I say sorry to the fans, in the first half the match was gone. We have been very far off in all the things - with the ball, without the ball. Against this team, it is very difficult but we have to do better. It is a bad day, for sure. The fans always have a right (to leave early) and we understand. We have to recover.”
Arne Slot: "If you look at Mo (Salah) and his numbers, you can't argue that (he's the best player in the world) There are a lot of players out there with a lot of quality, but he is up there. He's in a very good place, let's hope he can stay like this for a long time.
"To control an away game is not easy, but we didn't give the West Ham fans a lot to cheer about.
"It's been a great year. I've had a whole year with only one loss (for him). There's a very long way to go this season, but it's been a very good first half."
Club reports
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has been involved in 30 goals in just 18 Premier League games this season (17 goals, 13 assists), the fewest appearances any player has needed to reach 30 goal involvements in a single campaign in the competition.
West Ham have conceded more Premier League goals in 2024 than any other side, with their 79 goals conceded their most in a single calendar year since 1967 (85).
Liverpool have scored 5+ goals in consecutive Premier League away games for the first time since October 2021, when they won 5-0 at both Watford and Manchester United.
Salah has scored 20+ goals in all competitions in all eight of his seasons with Liverpool. Among Premier League players (since 1992-93), only Alan Shearer (10) and Harry Kane (9) have had more 20+ goal campaigns than the Egyptian.
With another goal and assist today, Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah has now been involved in 52 goals in all competitions in 2024 (29 goals, 23 assists), more than any other player in Europe’s big five leagues.
West Ham failed to have a single shot on target in a Premier League match for the first time since May 2021 (vs Everton).