Tom Prentki looks at the fallout from Liverpool's 2-0 triumph at AFC Bournemouth, as the Premier League leaders achieved what could be a significant victory in the title race.
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Where Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Manchester City failed before them, a Mohamed Salah-inspired Liverpool prevailed, winning at AFC Bournemouth as Arne Slot's Reds went nine points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The Vitality Stadium has been a graveyard for so many sides this season. Andoni Iraola's side had beaten the second, third and fourth-placed teams at home this season and were looking to complete the set on Saturday and dent their opponents' hopes of winning only a second-ever Premier League title.
Bournemouth headed into this match as the top flight's form side, unbeaten in 11 matches since 29 November and winning the joint-most points of ALL Premier League teams since then, picking up three more points than even Liverpool. They were also fresh off big back-to-back wins over Newcastle United and Forest, whom they beat 4-1 and 5-0 respectively, despite having an injury-hit squad.
But, as he has done so many times before, Salah stepped up when Liverpool needed him most.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
23 | +35 | 56 |
| 2 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
23 | +23 | 47 |
| 3 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
24 | +13 | 47 |
| 4 |
Man City
MCI
|
23 | +17 | 41 |
| 5 |
Newcastle
NEW
|
24 | +13 | 41 |
Salah burnishing his credentials as an all-time great
This performance won’t be remembered as one of Salah’s finest for Liverpool but his expertly dispatched penalty and wonderful curling finish took him to 21 Premier League goals for the season. It's the fifth time he has scored 20 or more in a single campaign since moving to Anfield in the summer of 2017.
The brace takes him past Chelsea legend Frank Lampard’s 177 goals in the Premier League, and moves him three clear in the race for this season's Golden Boot. The Egyptian once again proved to be the catalyst in edging his team towards the title and, with his contract negotiations at Liverpool ongoing, Salah is without doubt the club's most important player.
With his two goals, Salah has now scored 301 in his European club career in all competitions, with a massive 235 of those coming for Liverpool.
Slot: We needed luck to win this game
Iraola will wonder how his side lost this match. Maybe they didn’t deserve to, with Antoine Semenyo striking a post in the first half and Marcus Tavernier in the second. Add to that a disallowed goal for David Brooks and a shocking miss from Justin Kluivert and it wouldn’t be difficult to argue that Bournemouth were the better team, certainly until Salah’s wonderful second goal deflated them and afforded Slot a comfortable end to the game.
“They are so intense, they just keep running and keep fighting every second,” said the Liverpool manager. “I didn’t think we controlled the game. We needed a bit of luck to win this game.”
One of the many fascinating individual duels in this fixture was Salah against Milos Kerkez. Bournemouth’s left-back, signed from AZ Alkmaar 18 months ago, has been linked with a string of clubs, including Liverpool. The Hungarian kept Salah reasonably quiet in open play and offered plenty going forwards. It was his gut-busting overlap which set up Brooks to score in the first half, before a VAR check showed Kerkez was just offside as he fired in his cross.
One of the key reasons for Bournemouth’s extraordinary form this season has been the partnership between Illia Zabarnyi and Dean Huijsen. The Cherries have the fourth-best defensive record in the Premier League and 19-year-old Spain centre-back Huijsen bears resemblances with Virgil van Dijk, the Liverpool captain whose future at the club remains uncertain. Huijsen caught the eye again in this match but was powerless to stop Salah.
Merseyside derby next for Liverpool
Having overcome this big test, Liverpool have another one in their next Premier League match, their rescheduled trip across Stanley Park to their Merseyside rivals, Everton.
Liverpool lost the corresponding fixture last season and drew 0-0 there the season before that, and they travel to Goodison Park on 12 February to face an Everton side who are resurgent under David Moyes.
Since Moyes returned to Everton as manager, his team have won three of their four matches, beating Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Leicester City in consecutive games since a narrow loss to Aston Villa in his first fixture.
With it being the last Merseyside derby at Goodison Park before Everton's move to their new stadium, expect them to give Liverpool a tough night.
It is a possibility that Liverpool will play that match without right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold, who was substituted in the second half at Bournemouth with an injury. Slot has all but ruled him out of Thursday's EFL Cup semi-final second-leg match against Spurs. Liverpool then travel to Plymouth Argyle in the FA Cup fourth round three days before the Merseyside derby.
"The situation was that he said to me, 'You have to take me off' and he sat on the floor and we took him off," Slot said on Alexander-Arnold.
“He felt something, I can’t tell you exactly what and how bad it is of course because we are one hour after the game, but it is never a good sign if a player is asking for a substitution. This is not a fact but I would be surprised if he plays on Thursday, but let’s hope he is back with us as soon as possible.”
All eyes now on Arsenal v Man City
All eyes now turn to Emirates Stadium for tomorrow’s match between second-placed Arsenal and fourth-placed Man City.
Salah smiled after the game and said he will be able to “relax and enjoy it” with the pressure off Liverpool. Premier League pundit Steve McManaman agrees, saying Sunday's match has now become a must-win for Arsenal, who would fall 12 points behind Liverpool if they lose to Man City and then the leaders beat Everton.
“Arsenal have to win, the pressure suddenly jumps on them. They can’t afford to lose more points," McManaman said.
We'll see how Arsenal deal with that pressure. Liverpool will be watching on with great interest and in a strange position of possibly cheering on Man City, the team with whom they have had so many great battles with in recent seasons.
