Liverpool 3-1 Leicester: Premier League – as it happened

And with that, I’m off. Here’s Andy Hunter’s match report again. Bye!

Arne Slot has a chat:

It sounds weird, but I think we had a really good start. But then one moment where we underestimated the situation led to a chance and a goal. You have to work really hard to come back in the game, and it really helped to score the equaliser just before half-time.

The first games we also conceded one or two chances but those ones didn’t go in. The last few games almost every chance we concede goes in. This is quite normal during a season. Because we went 1-0 down for a long time it was a game, before we made it 3-1. Then you saw maybe how good we are.

On the title chase: “It’s a boring answer, but you go game by game. You know how many games you still have to play. Especially in the Premier League you see results where you are like, I didn’t expect this. If this happened in the Eredivisie you might think, OK, this is it.”

And on the contract situations with Van Dijk, Salah and Alexander-Arnold: “We don’t talk about contracts in public. This is something for the players. But it’s clear that Mo again had a good game. Virgil had a very good game. Trent for most parts was very good, with one or two exceptions.”

Heres’s Andy Hunter’s match report from Anfield:

Liverpool have kicked off at 8pm on a Boxing Day twice in their history. The first time was in 2019, when Jürgen Klopp’s team demolished Leicester en route to winning the Premier League title with ease. The second time ended with another convincing defeat of the Foxes. That may not be the only repeat.

Arne Slot’s soaring leaders moved seven points clear of their closest challengers for the title, with a game in hand, courtesy of a controlled comeback against Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side. Leicester took a shock early lead through Jordan Ayew and, while Liverpool never hit the heights of their 2019 performance at the King Power Stadium, goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah’s 19th of the season ensured the outcome remained the same.

Much more here:

Cody Gakpo is the player of the match:

We know the qualities we have. It’s not nice to go behind. We’re working on that, to maybe start more focused. We started very good but we had one or two moments where we were a little bit sloppy.

We cannot deny we are in a good place. But one of the strengths of our team is we approach each game as a new one, and that keeps us hungry and working very hard. We will give everything in each game, and hopefully we can go far in every competition.

Not an overwhelming display from Liverpool, then, but once the fog cleared (in multiple senses) plenty good enough to beat these opponents. Mo Salah has a chat:

It’s a good result. To be fair they were very tough first half, and second half they were very good. The way they were standing in front of the box was very hard for us, first half especially. [This season] feels different, but the most important thing is we need to stay humble. Hopefully we carry on with no injuries and we win it. This one is very special. Hopefully we win the Premier League, for this club it’s something I dream of.

The league table this evening looks like this, with Liverpool seven points clear at the top, precisely 20 (twenty!) points above Manchester United (with a game in hand), and Leicester stuck in the bottom three:

90+9 mins: To say Liverpool have had it all their own way since the third goal is to vastly understate how much of their own way they have had it.

90+8 mins: Tsimikas crosses beyond the far post, it’s headed back into the mixer, where Van Dijk is beaten to it.

90+7 mins: Gakpo wins a free-kick, just outside the penalty area, towards the left corner.

90+5 mins: Another substitution. Coady goes off, and Caleb Okoli comes on. James Justin rolls on the captain’s armband for the last few minutes.

90+3 mins: Liverpool are passing it around the back four again. They seem in no hurry.

90+2 mins: It feels like the referee has for some reason added some first-half stoppage time onto the end of this half. Liverpool bring Harvey Elliot on for Mac Allister, who set up their first two goals.

90+1 mins: Thanks largely to VAR’s interventions, there’ll be nine (nine!) minutes of second-half stoppage time.

89 mins: “‘Anyway, Denis Law had absolutely no memory of the game whatsoever’ – that’s quite an underwhelming punchline for so much carefully constructed narrative tension,” writes Oliver Driesen. I was also disappointed, if that helps. We still had a lovely chat, though. You know a player’s scored a lot of goals when they score six in an afternoon and forget about it. Meanwhile, Prime’s statistics suggest that Liverpool have had 53 touches in Leicester’s penalty area, and Leicester just five in theirs.

87 mins: Meanwhile Leicester take off Mavididi, and replace him with Decordova-Reid.

86 mins: Tsimikas comes on for Robertson, and Endo for Gravenberch.

85 mins: Liverpool are going to bring on a couple more substitutes. Still no Chiesa, though.

81 mins: A hilarious dive by Mavididi on the edge of his area, in search of a free kick. The referee isn’t buying what he’s selling.

80 mins: Gakpo gives the ball away to Ayew. To stop the break he tries to bring the Leicester player down and misses; Szoboszlai tries next, succeeds and is booked. He’ll miss Liverpool’s next game, at West Ham on Sunday, as a result.

79 mins: Leicester give the ball away, Alexander-Arnold plays a lovely pass through to Salah, and he pokes a shot towards the near post that gives Stolarczyk an easy save.

77 mins: Those changes are made. Curtis Jones and Darwin Nunez go off, Szoboszlai and Jota come on.

77 mins: The game has slowed down a bit. Liverpool pass around their defence for a while, barely at walking pace, then back to the keeper, then back to the defence.

74 mins: Liverpool are readying a substitution or two. Szoboszlai is certainly getting ready to come on, and apparently Jota too.

71 mins: It’s a red line this time. Nunez was offside by the barest of margins, and the goal will not stand. The decision took three minutes and 14 seconds.

71 mins: Really, the time this is taking is ludicrous.

69 mins: VAR has to check it, of course. And eventually he works out that Salah was onside. What, then, of Nunez? Let’s draw some more lines!

68 mins: Liverpool have the ball in the net again, but the linesman’s flag goes up! Again it’s Salah in the build-up; he volleyed it infield, Nunez tried to backheel it in and missed, and Gakpo followed up to score.

67 mins: Robertson’s cross is on its way to Nunez, who would have had a back-post tap-in, but Stolarczyk dived out to push it away.

64 mins: Leicester take off Winks and El Khannous and bring on Oliver Skipp and Facundo Buonanotte.

62 mins: A lovely move from Liverpool ends with Salah passing infield from the right to Nunez, whose first-time shot is well saved.

60 mins: Half a chance for Salah, who miscontrols on the edge of the area. Then a chance for Leicester! Mavididi crosses low from the left, and Daka completely misses his kick at the near post!

60 mins: …Anyway, Denis Law had absolutely no memory of the game whatsoever.

58 mins: Vestergaard is booked, and Robertson is booked for asking for Vestergaard to be booked.

58 mins: So eventually I get Denis’s number and call him up, looking forward to hearing a great story from a great raconteur …

57 mins: Liverpool are looking very comfortable at the moment. Anyway, I spoke to Denis Law about that game once. First I had to get in touch with him: I called Manchester United’s press office and asked the woman who answered my call if she knew how to find Denis Law. “You mean dad?” she asked. It was Diana Law …

56 mins: “There can be some hard luck stories when matches are abandoned,” writes Gary Naylor, who won’t let the fact this game isn’t going to be abandoned get in the way of a good story. He suggests Luton v Manchester City in 1961 as the best example – Denis Law had scored six times and City led 6-2; they lost the replay 3-1. It’s a game I happen to know a little about …

53 mins: “You are correct about Barnes preferring to go on the outside and use his left foot,” fact-checks Andy Flintoff (not that one). “However, there was a famous goal in the 4-4 v Everton in 1991 (prior to Dalglish’s resignation) that was from cutting inside and curling with the right.”

52 mins: And eventually the goal is given!

51 mins: The issue is Salah, who was very close to offside when the ball was played to him in the build-up. But there were so many phases of play it takes an age to go through and clear them all.

48 mins: Before this game Liverpool were just fourth in the first-half-only league table. In the second-half-only table they are four points clear with two games in hand.

47 mins: The first chance of the half falls to Nunezs, who sidefoots over the bar from eight yards.

46 mins: Peeeeeep! The players are back out and the game is back on!

Matt Dony liked Gakpo’s goal. “Coutinho-esque from Gakpo there. Love to see it,” he writes. Nick Smith also writes approvingly. “Shades of John Barnes?” he suggests. Liverpool fans have had it good, have they not? Those are two great players to reminisce over (or they were great when they were there, one of them rather lost his way afterwards). It was more Coutinho than Barnes, I think: having been an actually left-footed left-winger Barnes was less likely to do that cut infield and shoot with the right thing.

“Loved Tom Gould’s story of the pea-souper against Aldershot way back when,” writes Colum Fordham. “Haven’t the foggiest what the outcome of this match will be but that fabulous strike from Gakpo has shown a faint ray of light in the gloomy weather conditions of Anfield. Would be nice to see Federico Chiesa shine a light and ideally get the winner in the second half.” I too would like to see more of Chiesa. Unfortunately for the Italian his chances of nudging Salah out of the side don’t seem great.

A poor half from Liverpool, but they certainly don’t deserve to end it in arrears. If they improve in the second, they should be OK.

45+1 mins: The referee decides to give only two minutes of stoppage time, which doesn’t impress anyone involved with Liverpool.

45 mins: Liverpool hit the bar! Leicester make a rare foray forward, lose the ball and the home side roll forwards. It ends with Salah curling a left-footed shot towards the far post and very nearly, but not quite, getting it right.

44 mins: From the free kick, Robertson’s cross runs out of play. The crowd seems terribly quiet.

43 mins: A second yellow card, this one for Ayew who strolls in front of Gakpo as the Dutchman cuts infield, stopping his run.

42 mins: Alexander-Arnold, who’s had a poor game thus far, clumps a shot well wide and very high from 25 yards.

39 mins: Stolarczyk is pushing his luck on the restarts, I fear. For now the referee doesn’t seem bothered, but a yellow card would probably help the game.

38 mins: Liverpool have attempted 27 crosses so far, we’re told. Moments later, Alexander-Arnold sends in No28.

37 mins: The game’s first yellow card is waved at Joe Gomez, for tripping Daka.

36 mins: Leicester are defending very centrally, which explains why Liverpool are finding space wide and doing a lot of crossing. Leicester obviously trust their central defenders to win most of the headers, which for now they are doing – Liverpool are winning volleys beyond the far post.

34 mins: This time Liverpool go down the right, and Alexander-Arnold’s cross is volleyed goalwards by Robertson, but it’s a tight angle and Stolarczyk saves.

31 mins: Most of Liverpool’s best moments are coming through Gakpo on the left. This time his cross again finds Salah, but he’s stretching to hit his volley with the outside of his left foot and can’t control it.

30 mins: And they boo him again as he returns to the pitch, miraculously cured.

29 mins: The home crowd are already a bit miffed about Leicester’s time-wasting, with Stolarczyk’s goal-kicks proving particularly irritating. They boo Daka as he limps off the field for further treatment.

27 mins: Daka goes down after Van Dijk catches his foot in clearing the ball, but referee and opposition ignore him and the game goes on for a couple of minutes. But he stays down, and eventually the referee does stop play.

25 mins: So close for Liverpool! Alexander-Arnold’s rubbish corner is flukily returned to him, and this time a better cross is met by Robertson, whose header hits the post, rebounds into Stolarczyk, and rebounds again behind for a corner.

24 mins: Salah’s shot from 12 yards or so clips Kristiansen’s calf and looks for a moment like it might loop over the keeper and into the top corner. In the end it drops onto the roof of the net.

23 mins: Chance! Robertson lifts a killer through-ball over the entire Leicester team and into the run of Gakpo, who can’t control it before Stolarczyk grabs it. Gakpo was probably offside, but what a pass.

21 mins: More foggy memories, as Mavididi’s pass runs just beyond Daka, 10 yards or so from Liverpool’s goal. “I remember playing Anderlect in the fog in the 70s super cup, in the Anfield Road couldn’t see beyond the half way line,” writes Andrew Lea. “At one point the Kop all celebrated a goal, and when we chanted who scored all that came back was laughter - no goal just a wind up.”

18 mins: Robertson crosses, but the referee thinks Nunez fouled Vestergaard in attempting to win it. Meanwhile, it looks to me like the fog has thickened in the last few minutes.

16 mins: A wacky corner routine from Liverpool, who stick all their players on the far side of the penalty area until the very last moment, when they burst infield. It doesn’t help them.

14 mins: Alexander-Arnold’s cross is headed behind by Justin at the far post, with Gakpo lurking behind him unmarked and preparing to turn it in.

12 mins: Another chance for Liverpool! Again it comes from a left-wing cross. Nunez meets it on the edge of the six-yard box, but his header bounces wide.

10 mins: From the corner Justin wins the header but sends it straight into a defender. It looks to the edge of the area, from where it’s volleyed way over the bar.

10 mins: Now Leicester have a corner. Have they not read the script?

6 mins: Actually it’s Stolarczyk who stops Jones from scoring, diving to his right and throwing out a glove to push the ball off his toe and between his legs. So a very impressive and important first intervention for the Polish debutant.

5 mins: Then it looked like Curtis Jones would turn in the rebound but the ball got stuck between his legs, and Leicester survive for now.

4 mins: Chance! A crossfield pass from Trent, a fine cross from Gakpo, and Salah’s far-post volley is saved by Stolarczyk!

2 mins: Liverpool instantly take control. Eventually they lose possession and Leicester launch the ball upfield towards Patson Daka, who is beaten to it by a defender. There might be a lot of forlorn running to come for the visitors’ lone striker.

1 min: Peeeeeeep! Liverpool get the game going.

The coin is tossed, and Leicester obviously win because the players proceed to switch sides, with Liverpool thus shooting towards the Kop end in the first half.

The players are out! We are just a couple of minutes away from football o’clock.

Curiously the Guardian’s report on the match against Aldershot mentioned by Tom Gould does not at any stage mention fog or visibility issues. It does criticise “a pitch that did no service to football and … defied all attempts at elegant play”, though.

It’s still very foggy at Anfield. No suggestion the game might be in doubt, but you never know.

Meanwhile, an email! “I attended the FA Cup game against Aldershot in 1971,” writes Tom Gould. “The fog was so thick that from my position on The Kop it was impossible to see beyond the six-yard line. Inevitably the only goal of the game was scored at the Anfield Road end, it was possible to hear a roar coming through the fog but without any idea of what inspired it. The fans at the other end started singing 1-0, The Kop responded with ‘who scored’, the reply ‘John McLaughlin’ .Cue wild celebrations in The Kop. Was it a good goal? Don’t know, you’ll have to ask someone who was in the Anfield Road end.”

Hearty recommend for this here Jonathan Wilson Liverpool-focused piece, published t’other day:

Wolves have beaten 10-man Manchester United 2-0, and as a result they move up to 17th, and Leicester drop into the bottom three.

Andy Hunter listened to what Arne Slot had to say ahead of this fixture. And this is what he heard:

Arne Slot has said his experience of facing Ruud van Nistelrooy in the Netherlands, plus Liverpool’s brief drop-off against Tottenham, ensures Leicester will not be underestimated at Anfield on Boxing Day.

The Liverpool head coach was unable to beat Van Nistelrooy’s PSV when guiding Feyenoord to the Eredivisie title in 2022-23, drawing 2-2 at home and losing 4-3 away. PSV were one of only two teams to defeat Feyenoord in a season when Slot’s side won the league by seven points from their closest challengers from Eindhoven.

Much more here:

It’s been a bit foggy on Merseyside today, but visibility is just good enough for the game to go ahead.

The same was not true when Tranmere were supposed to play Accrington Stanley a little earlier:

Do they know it’s Christmas, part II. Ruud van Nistelrooy agrees with Slot: “As a manager, you’re busy working and sometimes you forget that it’s Christmas,” he sniffs.

Meanwhile, asked about the decision to throw Jakub Stolarczyk into the team, after Danny Ward was booed by his own fans during the defeat to Wolves, he says: “It’s not ideal, but the circumstances with Wardy were intense, we all felt it, and it puts you in a position where you have to make decisions.”

Do they know it’s Christmas? Not if they’re football managers they don’t. “You don’t know it’s Christmas, as a manager,” Arne Slot says. “If you told me it was October I probably would believe you.”

Also from Slot, this word of caution: “We play really well at the moment but City, two months ago they were playing so well and look where they are now.”