League leader Liverpool will have a chance to build their advantage to nine points on Sunday when they visit a short-handed West Ham side that has seen improved results recently.
Arne Slot’s Reds (13-1-3, 42 points) came from a goal down early to beat Leicester City 3-1 at home on Boxing Day.
Mohamed Salah scored his team-leading 16th goal late off Cody Gakpo’s assist, after Gakpo scored the first just before halftime and Curtis Jones put Liverpool in front just after the half. Alexis Mac Allister set up the first two tallies.
It was a result that solidified Liverpool’s status as league-title front-runner, particularly with Chelsea beaten by Fulham at home earlier on Boxing Day to fall seven points behind and into third place. Arsenal defeated Ipswich 1-0 on Friday to move into second, six points back, and like Chelsea, will be idle on Sunday.
But first-year boss Slot insists the pressure to deliver a first league title for Liverpool since the 2019-20 season isn’t particularly noteworthy.
“If you work at a big club like Liverpool, there is always the pressure,” he said. “I think last season halfway through the season, were they also No. 1? I think they were last season. So it’s not so strange for a club like us to be on top of the league. But we know how many good teams there are in this league, and they’re able to win almost every game as well.”
West Ham (6-7-5, 23 points) has gone unbeaten in four consecutive league games to lift themselves out of the relegation fight for now, most recently earning a 1-0 Boxing Day win at Southampton on Jarrod Bowen’s second-half winner.
The result was fortunate after the Hammers wasted their first-half superiority, but first-year manager Julen Lopetegui chose to frame that as a positive.
“The thing I highlight is the strong mentality,” Lopetegui said. “If we were not with a strong mentality, a competitive mentality in this kind of match, we would lose the match, I am sure. So that is why to highlight the mentality of the team. We started very well but didn’t score in two very clear actions. After that, they had chances, too, and we had a lot of problems.”
Lucas Paqueta will return from suspension, but his central midfield compatriots Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek are banned after getting yellow cards at Southampton.
Goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski likely will be out following a scary first-half collision at Southampton that resulted in his departure on a stretcher. He was not taken to a hospital.
–Field Level Media
