Players scored to help Liverpool crush hosts West Ham in round 19, thereby widening the gap with second place in the Premier League.

There were no surprises as the London Olympic Stadium provided Liverpool with a stage to continue their dominance. Throughout the 90 minutes, the visitors had 55% possession, 22 shots with 13 on target, while West Ham only had seven shots off target.

Liverpool players celebrate Mohamed Salah’s goal in the 5-0 win at West Ham on December 29. Photo: AP

After close-range shots from Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz were blocked, Liverpool finally opened the scoring in the 30th minute. Diaz’s through ball to Curtis Jones was blocked by centre-back Vladimír Coufal, but the ball bounced just in time for the Colombian striker to run up and finish with a one-touch finish into the near corner past Alphonse Areola.

Diaz has scored eight goals in 17 Premier League appearances this season, equalling his tally for the whole of last season. Six of the striker’s last nine goals have been for Liverpool.

In the 40th minute, Salah eliminated center-back Konstantinos Mavropanos and passed the ball to Cody Gakpo to finish into the empty goal to double the gap. Before the first half ended, the Egyptian star himself scored with a left-footed shot to the near corner.

Salah has been involved in 51 goals in all competitions in 2024, with 29 goals and 22 assists – a tally that no player in Europe’s top five leagues has matched. Salah also became the first player to both score and assist in eight Premier League games in a single season.

Early in the second half, it was Trent Alexander-Arnold’s turn to score with a shot from outside the box that hit defender Max Kilman’s head and changed direction, missing Areola. This was the English defender’s first goal in the Premier League this season.

Diogo Jota scored the final goal to make it 5-0. Photo: Reuters

Liverpool ended the day with a bang in the 84th minute. In a counter-attack, Salah dribbled the ball to the edge of the penalty area and then assisted Diogo Jota to curl the ball into the far corner with his right foot, sealing the 5-0 scoreline. Liverpool are unbeaten in their last 11 away matches in the Premier League, winning seven of nine this season.

With just 18 games played, Liverpool have an eight-point lead over Nottingham Forest, who surprisingly rose to second place, with 45 points. However, Chelsea and Arsenal, who are currently fourth and third but have yet to play Round 19, could overtake Forest if they beat Ipswich and Brentford respectively in this round.

In the first match of 2025, Arne Slot and his team returned home to meet Man Utd in round 20 of the Premier League on January 5.