Liverpool3 - 1Leicester

The 32-year-old came into the festive fixture aiming to score or assist for the 10th Premier League game on the spin, having continued to smash records in the weekend's 6-3 pummelling of Tottenham Hotspur.

However, things went pear-shaped for Salah and Liverpool early doors, as Jordan Ayew turned and fired in a low strike past Alisson Becker with the help of a deflection off of Virgil van Dijk.

The Reds initially did not have the answers to Ruud van Nistelrooy's resolute defence in a foggy first 45, but that was until Alexis Mac Allister laid off Cody Gakpo to curl in a wonderful leveller.

Salah had clipped the woodwork with an equally exquisite curler just before Gakpo restored parity, and the Egypt international was then heavily involved in Liverpool's second, as Curtis Jones completed the turnaround following a VAR check.

Salah scores 100th home goal in Premier League

Salah would not finish the game without his customary contribution, though, picking out the bottom corner from the right flank to rubber-stamp yet another Premier League win for the title favourites.

The winger's goal was a momentous one, as he has now struck 100 times at home in the Premier League, netting twice at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea and now sitting on 98 top-flight Anfield efforts.

Salah has become just the eighth Premier League player to notch a century of goals at home, following in the footsteps of Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Sergio Aguero, Andy Cole, Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Robbie Fowler.

Furthermore, the ex-Blues attacker has only taken 142 home matches to hit 100 goals in the Premier League, the fourth-quickest time after Shearer (91), Henry (113) and Aguero (125).

Salah's strike coupled with Erling Haaland's penalty miss in Manchester City's 1-1 draw with Everton also saw the Egyptian extend his lead in the race for the Golden Boot, now sitting on 16 goals for the Premier League season to go alongside his league-high 11 assists.

What does Liverpool's win over Leicester mean?

Thanks to Chelsea's shock 2-1 home loss to Fulham earlier on Boxing Day, Liverpool have opened up a seven-point lead over the Blues in the Premier League table, and they crucially still have a game in hand on Enzo Maresca's men.

The Reds would therefore open up a double-digit lead over the West London side should they win that outstanding match against Merseyside rivals Everton, which was postponed due to the devastation caused by Storm Darragh.

However, Liverpool's lead at the top will be reduced to six points if Arsenal get the better of Ipswich Town on Friday night, two days before the Reds head to West Ham United in their final game of 2024.

The second half of Thursday's tie was not completely flawless for Slot's side, though, as a key midfielder picked up his fifth yellow card of the season and will therefore miss the trip to West Ham.

Written by

Ben Knapton