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Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai combined to take Liverpool 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League on Sunday, producing a 2-0 win against Manchester City and continuing what has been a remarkable season for Salah.
His goal to open the scoring took him to 50 goal contributions for the season in all competitions, made up of 30 goals and 20 assists.
He added another assist for Szoboszlai’s goal to further increase his tally, which in the Premier League alone now stands at 25 goals and 16 assists and puts him top of both charts in the English top flight and also across Europe’s big five leagues.
It was one of Liverpool’s easier, more convincing wins from a though run of games that has also included two draws. The fact it came against a usual, perennial title rival Manchester City, showed how much Pep Guardiola’s team has declined.
Liverpool’s win, combined with Arsenal’s defeat at home to West Ham on Saturday, gives Arne Slot’s side some breathing space and a clear advantage in this season’s title race.
The lineup fielded by Liverpool manager Slot showed how his team is able to adapt to different setups.
Both teams played with midfielders in the forward line but it was more pronounced on the Liverpool side as both Curtis Jones and Szoboszlai operated in attack through the middle. Usual center forward options Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez weren’t fit enough to start and sat on the bench, where they remained for the whole game.
For City, Phil Foden lined up alongside Omar Marmoush in the central attacking positions. Marmoush, signed in January from Eintracht Frankfurt for $75 million, thought he’d leveled the score at 1-1 for City in the first half but replays showed he was offside.
For both teams, the wingers provided the main attacking outlets. Salah and Luis Diaz for Liverpool, and Jeremy Doku and Savinho for City. Guardiola described his wingers as “exceptional” despite defeat.
Doku had completed six dribbles within the first 20 minutes of the match and by the end of the game he had attempted 18, completing 13. He constantly ran at Trent Alexander-Arnold, but the resulting field position from that came to little, as did most of City’s attacks.
Liverpool’s first goal was a well-worked corner routine, played in low by Alexis Mac Allister to Szoboszlai who diverted it subtly in Salah’s direction. The Egyptian did the rest with a little help from a deflection off Nathan Ake.
The second goal came in open play as Salah returned the favor, setting up Szoboszlai who fired the ball past Ederson with his left foot. A lofted, curling ball over the City defence from Alexander-Arnold set Salah through and played a big part in the goal.
Though Doku had plenty of joy against the Liverpool right-back, it didn’t really affect the game as Liverpool defended well as a unit.
Alexander-Arnold was certainly able to affect it himself going in the other direction, though, with a number of outstanding long passes.
In his post-match press conference, Guardiola described the Liverpool full-back as “one of the best midfield players in the world.”
Liverpool fans sang songs about winning leagues and championships in May, but Slot is not taking anything for granted.
The Dutchman commented on the strength of the Premier League and English football saying: “In every other league having a lead like this would be very comfortable, but in this league, every team gives you challenges, even Plymouth Argyle gave us challenges [in the FA Cup].”
While Slot is not resting on his laurels, this weekend has put Liverpool in a convincing position at the top of the table, and in Salah they have a player who looks like he will make a clean sweep of every individual award for which he’s eligible.
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