Liverpool thrash Leicester to open up 13-point Premier League lead
Roberto Firmino scored twice from Trent
Alexander-Arnold crosses either side of James Milner's penalty before
the brilliant Alexander-Arnold rounded off the scoring himself.
Liverpool remain unbeaten in little short of a
year in the league and seem destined to finally end a 30-year wait to
win the title.
Fresh from winning the Club World Cup
for the first time in Qatar on Saturday, Jurgen Klopp's men showed no
sign of fatigue from a congested December schedule as they outclassed
Leicester from start to finish.
Alexander-Arnold stung Kasper Schmeichel's
palms inside the first minute before Klopp soon had his head in his
hands when Sadio Mane somehow spooned Mohamed Salah's dangerous cross
wide.
Salah has refound his scoring touch of late,
including an audacious finish from the narrowest of angles against
Salzburg earlier this month to secure Liverpool's place in the last 16
of the Champions League.
The Egyptian tried to recreate that goal after
rounding Schmeichel, but could only find the side-netting when picking
out a teammate in the middle would have been a better option.
An opener for the runaway league leaders was
only a matter of time and duly arrived just after the half hour mark
when Alexander-Arnold's cross was headed powerfully down
past Schmeichel.
The Danish goalkeeper had ensured
Leicester's 3-1 defeat at Manchester City on Saturday was not far more
comprehensive and needed to be at his best again to keep the Foxes in
the game as he saved one-on-one from Mane moments later.
Two heavy defeats in five days have proved to
be a reality check for Leicester's title ambitions with their focus now
on making sure they hold off a chasing pack including Chelsea, Tottenham
and Manchester United to secure a return to the Champions League.
Liverpool, by contrast, demonstrated why they are Champions League winners and Premier League champions in waiting.
Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson showed
boundless energy to continue bombing forward from full-back and
providing the ammunition for Mane, Salah and Firmino.
Robertson was the provider for the first big
chance of the second half when Firmino did not get a strong enough
connection to turn in the Scotland captain's cross.
Klopp's men finally had the breathing space
they desired via the arm of Caglar Soyuncu as he handled
Alexander-Arnold's corner 20 minutes from time.
Milner had only been on the field a matter of seconds and stroked home the penalty with his first touch.
Three minutes later, Firmino doubled his tally
of goals and Alexander-Arnold added a third assist with a driven low
cross that the Brazilian expertly cushioned before slotting into the top
corner.
Alexander-Arnold then capped a magnificent performance by blasting low and hard beyond Schmeichel into the bottom corner.
The Boxing Day card marks the halfway point of
the Premier League season, but even with half the season to play,
Liverpool's march towards the title looks unstoppable.
Liverpool thrash Leicester to open up 13-point Premier League lead
Reviewed by opeyemi
on
7:05:00 am
Rating: