Another game, another win as Liverpool stay top of the Premier League table.
On Saturday, the Reds travelled to Bournemouth and romped to a 3-0 win over their hosts. Liverpool have now won by a combined score of 11-0 on their last three visits to the Vitality Stadium.
Easy Win Sees Liverpool Stay Top of Premier League Table
Recovery After a Slow Start
After a sluggish start, Jurgen Klopp’s men eased ahead with a lovely goal by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on 35 minutes. The Reds were unstoppable after that goal. Naby Keita doubled their lead just before half-time after some brilliant play by Mo Salah. The Egyptian then finished the game as a contest with the third goal on 54 minutes.
Liverpool could have scored more, but Klopp revealed the players were celebrating another aspect.
“For the boys, the most-used word in the dressing room was ‘clean sheet, clean sheet, clean sheet,’” the German told reporters after the game.
To make things even better for Reds fans, Manchester City slumped to a defeat to Manchester United. It may seem counterintuitive, but Liverpool supporters will be celebrating a United victory tonight. Their bitter rivals’ win means that City are 14 points behind the league leaders and no team has ever made up this type of deficit in the Premier League era.
Their closest competition is Leicester City. The Foxes are 11 points behind the Reds with a game in hand, but Jurgen Klopp will be reminding his team that Leicester did win the league in 2016 and are not to be underestimated.
The Egyptian King
Bournemouth must be sick of the sight of Mo Salah.
His potential return dominated the pre-match coverage and it’s easy to see why.
The Egyptian was absolutely brilliant in Liverpool’s comfortable win. His all-around play was fantastic as he had a passing accuracy of 85%.
His assist for the second goal was a moment of footballing genius. Three Bournemouth defenders surrounded Salah. While a lesser player might have panicked, he calmly backheeled the ball through a tiny gap that had opened up between two of the defenders. This pass perfectly set up Keita who calmly slotted the ball into the net.
Salah once again showed his quality with the third goal. This time, Keita returned the favour with a brilliant slide-rule pass that Salah calmly rolled past the Bournemouth goalkeeper. This was his seventh goal against the Cherries in the Premier League.
A performance like this had Klopp believing that Salah had finally shaken off a troublesome ankle injury.
“Mo was absolutely strong,” Klopp said. “It’s long ago he picked up that knock.”
“You carry things like this with you when you have game after game after game. He now looks 100 per cent.”
This means that Reds supporters can expect more performances like this in the future. Opponents will not be looking forward to that.
Squad Goals
Liverpool are entering into the busiest part of their season and Klopp has shown that he has the squad to compete on all fronts.
Seven changes were made by the German. Naby Keita, one of the players brought in from the cold, was in inspired form. Not only did he record a goal and an assist, but he also won five out of eight duals and had a passing accuracy of 94%.
Klopp also gave a rare start to Joe Gomez. He was a defensive rock making one clearance and two interceptions.
Klopp praised his team after the win.
“We had so many games now we had to chase until the last second,” he said.
“When you have this really rare comfortable situation when you’re 3-0 up you really should control the game.”
Looking Forward
With Mo Salah rounding into form, the Reds look like a dangerous proposition. They also have the squad to be able to compete on all fronts. Liverpool supporters will be dreaming of a double or even a treble, but for now, they can enjoy a comfortable lead on top of the table.
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