West Ham 0-5 Liverpool: Salah-inspired league leaders go eight points clear

Liverpool stretched their lead at the top of the Premier League to eight points as they stormed to a 5-0 win over West Ham.

The Reds produced another goal-laden display of dominance on Sunday, ensuring a winning end to 2024 for Arne Slot.

Strikes from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and the marvellous Mohamed Salah left the Hammers on the canvas by the break at London Stadium.

Matters might have been different had Mohammed Kudus’ strike just before Gakpo made it 2-0 not hit the woodwork.

But West Ham were by far second best, and Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected long-range drive and Diogo Jota’s finish completed the rout for Liverpool after the break.

While Liverpool’s title rivals must now hope for the Reds to slip up after the turn of the year, 13th-place West Ham’s 2025 resolution will be to aim for a top-half finish.

Ending 2024 with a win in the capital #WHULIV pic.twitter.com/rIBrfWon7v

— Liverpool FC (@LFC) December 29, 2024

Data Debrief: Sublime Salah leading title tilt

Salah looks to be on a one-man mission to ensure Liverpool win all before them in 2024-25 despite the swirling speculation over his future at Anfield. The Egypt international ends 2024 as the leader in both Premier League goals scored so far this season (17) and assists provided (13).

As Reds fans keep their fingers crossed over a deal to keep their number 11 flying down the wing for a few more years, the 32-year-old continues to tear defences apart, and break new personal ground.

This latest showing featured a slew of new benchmarks, as Salah reached 52 goals in all competitions in 2024 (29 goals, 23 assists), more than any other player in Europe’s big five leagues.

His first-half strike means he has now scored 20+ goals in all competitions in each of his eight seasons at Liverpool.

8 – Today is the eighth Premier League game this season in which Mo Salah has registered both a goal and an assist – a new seasonal record by any player in the competition’s history. Sensational. pic.twitter.com/GOQ9iuyLkI

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) December 29, 2024

Liverpool finished with 2.9 expected goals from their 22 shots, 13 of which were on target, in another glittering performance from the Premier League’s leading lights.