Liverpool cruise to victory at West Ham as Mohamed Salah plan backfires - 5 talking points
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Liverpool hit the halfway mark of the Premier League season in compete control, swatting West Ham aside to move eight points clear at the top. Luis Diaz put the Reds in front around half an hour in, and they were given a let-off when Mohammed Kudus hit the post with Alisson beaten. Moments after that lucky escape, Cody Gakpo doubled the visitors' lead and left their opponents with a mountain to climb.
It was three before the break as Mohamed Salah got on the scoresheet, with Arne Slot's side ultimately going on to match the five they scored on their last meeting with the Hammers in the Carabao Cup. Trent Alexander-Arnold's deflected effort made it four, allowing Reds boss Arne Slot to ring the changes and protect his players, and Diogo Jota added a late fifth after coming off the bench. The win was secured by then, and the pressure will now be on Chelsea and Arsenal to close the gap in the coming days.
Next up for Liverpool is a match against Ruben Amorim's Manchester United on Sunday, while West Ham and Julen Lopetegui are off to the Etihad Stadium one day earlier to take on Manchester City. Here are Mirror Football's talking points from what ended up being a comprehensive Liverpool win.
Luis Diaz might have counted himself a little fortunate to have seen the ball break into his path for the opener, but it had been coming. The ball took a couple of ricochets to drop invitingly for the Colombian, and he wasn't in any mood to let West Ham off the hook.
