LONDON: Liverpool boss Arne Slot said it was “too early” to say his side were on course for the Premier League title after they secured a 3-1 comeback win over Leicester City to move seven points clear at the top of the table.
Leicester took a shock sixth-minute lead through Jordan Ayew on Thursday but goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah turned the tide at Anfield.
Liverpool are now firm title favourites with the victory extending their unbeaten league run to 13 games and putting them on 42 points from 17 games, seven points clear of second-placed Chelsea with a game in hand.
But Dutch manager Slot, in his first season in charge since succeeding Jurgen Klopp, remains cautious about the prospect of bringing the Premier League title to Anfield for the first time since 2020.
“If you are in this game for a long time like the players and I am, then 20 games before the end you don’t look at it as there are so many challenges ahead of you,” he said.
“Injuries and a bit of bad luck can happen to any team, it is far too early to be already celebrating — but it is nice for us to be where we are. We have to take it one game at a time. The league table is something of course we are aware of but we always understand how many games there are to go.”
Salah, who leads the league with 16 goals, said he senses something different about the way the club are performing as leaders this season, having faltered before from similar positions, most notably in the 2018/19 season when they had a sizeable lead but eventually finished behind Manchester City.
“It feels different but the important thing is we need to stay humble,” Salah told Amazon Prime.
“We had a few injuries when we were ahead [previously] and we lose it in the end. Hopefully we carry on like that with no injuries and we go on and win it. This one is very special. Hopefully we win the Premier League for this club — it’s something I dream of.”
Liverpool suffered an early shock at a foggy Anfield in the last of the Boxing Day kickoffs with Ayew giving Leicester a lead in the sixth minute.
Leicester hung on until the stroke of halftime but just after Salah struck the crossbar, Gakpo curled an effort beyond Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk.
Liverpool put Leicester under siege straight from the break and took just four minutes into the second half Jones converted a pass by Alexis Mac Allister.
Salah then grabbed his 19th goal this term with a trademark finish to wrap up Liverpool’s 11th win in their last 13 games in all competitions.
“We cannot deny we are in a good place, but still one of the strengths of the team is we approach each game as a new one,” Gakpo said. “That keeps us humble.”
UNITED CRASH AT WOLVES
Earlier, Manchester United suffered a third successive loss in all competitions to leave new boss Ruben Amorim with five defeats in his first 10 games, going down 2-0 at Wolverhampton Wanderers to sit in 14th place.
Amorim left Marcus Rashford out of his fourth successive squad and his side were undermined at Wolves as captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off just after halftime at Molineux for a second yellow card.
United’s 10 men cracked in the 58th minute when Matheus Cunha’s corner went straight in as goalkeeper Andre Onana flapped under pressure.
Hwang Hee-chan compounded Amorim’s misery when he tapped in with just seconds left.
Losing to fourth-bottom Wolves was another bitter blow for United, who endured a humiliating 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford last weekend after losing 4-3 in the League Cup at Tottenham.
With his team on 22 points — just eight points above the relegation zone, Amorim’s woes might not be over with United facing in-form Newcastle United on Monday before travelling to Liverpool in their first game of 2025.
“We have to work on a lot of things in our club, inside the pitch and outside of the pitch, in each game and use every minute of training and game to improve,” Amorim said, adding he had “no idea” how long it would take to turn things around“.
“I have to just take it day by day, try and see the videos, using every minute of training to try and [help] us win some points. The idea needs time. I said it before to you guys that this will be a tough moment and we are far from the end of this moment and that’s it.”
Things are very different for Amorim’s compatriot Vitor Pereira, with the new Wolves boss continuing his perfect start since succeeding the sacked Gary O’Neil following a commanding 3-0 win at Leicester as his side moved out of the relegation zone.
“Fantastic feeling,” said Pereira after his first home match in charge. “Special because of the spirit of the team. Now I think we can see that the players are ready to suffer together.”
Published in Dawn, December 28th, 2024
