LONDON — Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah said he senses something different about the way the club is performing as English Premier League leaders this season after they secured a 3-1 comeback win over Leicester City to move seven points clear.
“It feels different but the important thing is we need to stay humble,” Salah, who leads the league with 16 goals, said according to Reuters.
“We had a few injuries when we were ahead (previously) and we lose it in the end. Hopefully we carry on like that with no injuries and we go on and win it.
“This one is very special. Hopefully we win the Premier League for this club – it’s something I dream of,” Salah added.
Liverpool next will travel to face West Ham United on Sunday before hosting Manchester United on Jan. 5.
Leicester took a shock sixth-minute lead through Jordan Ayew but goals from Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Salah turned the tide at Anfield.
Liverpool is now firm title favourites but have faltered before from similar positions, most notably in the 2018–19 season when they had a sizeable lead but eventually finished behind Manchester City.
Liverpool came back after conceding early to beat Leicester City 3-1 at Anfield and open a seven-point lead at the top of the English Premier League.
Struggling Leicester took a shock sixth minute lead through Jordan Ayew but lived a charmed life until Cody Gakpo equalised on the stroke of halftime.
Liverpool then put Leicester under siege straight from the break and took just four minutes into the second half to go ahead through Curtis Jones before Mohamed Salah made sure of the points with a superb 82nd-minute finish.
The victory extended their unbeaten league run to 13 games and advanced Liverpool to 42 points at the top of the standings.
They also have a game in hand over second-placed Chelsea, who are on 35, as well as third-placed Nottingham Forest on 34.
On a misty night in Liverpool, Leicester silenced the Anfield crowd with their early goal, as Stephy Mavididi´s run down the left culminated in a square cross into the penalty area that found Ayew, who used his strength to see off the challenge of Andy Robertson and then turn to slot home.
Robertson came close to atoning when his header hit the upright in the 25th minute and a curling left footed shot from Salah struck the crossbar in the 45th minute.
Seconds later Gakpo cut in from the left and struck a superb curling effort beyond Leicester goalkeeper Jakub Stolarczyk for a deserved equaliser.
Jones´ goal came after Liverpool moved the ball around in tight spaces before Alexis Mac Allister´s square pass was steered in by the Englishman.
There was a lengthy VAR check before the goal was confirmed and a similarly long wait for a check when Gakpo found the net again in the 67th minute. That was eventually ruled offside.
Salah´s strike was another classy finish as he marked his 100th home Premier League goal with a characteristic cut inside off the right flank, followed by an expertly placed finish across the face of the goal.
Liverpool could have won by a larger margin such was their dominance.
Leicester dropped into the relegation zone before kickoff after Wolverhampton Wanderers went above them earlier on Boxing Day after their 2-0 home win over Manchester United.
Leicester remained on 14 points after a third successive league loss, two points above second from bottom Ipswich Town.
Liverpool is away at West Ham United next on Sunday while Leicester host champions Manchester City the same day.
Erling Haaland´s failure from the penalty spot and Bruno Fernandes’ latest red card compounded the woes of Manchester City and Manchester United on another tough day for the two Premier League giants.
There were no such problems for Liverpool, which rallied to a 3-1 win over Leicester and moved seven points clear atop the standings approaching the halfway point of the campaign.
City dropped more points in its improbably poor run of form by drawing 1-1 at home to Everton, with Haaland having a spot kick saved by England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in the 53rd minute.
The four-time defending champions have only won one of their last 13 games in all competitions and manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged he needs to spend in the January transfer window to reverse City’s slide.
“The transfer window in the winter is not easy, but even the players know that we have to add some new players,” said Guardiola, who has had to cope without a host of key players, including Ballon d’Or winner Rodri, through injury this season.
While City is languishing in seventh place, United is even further adrift in 14th place after a 2-0 loss at lowly Wolverhampton.
United played almost the entire second half with 10 men after Fernandes collected his second yellow card in the 47th minute. It was the United captain’s third sending-off of the season, though one was rescinded.
After seeing second-place Chelsea also drop points after conceding in the fifth minute of stoppage time to lose 2-1 at home to Fulham, Liverpool recovered from conceding in the sixth minute against Leicester to extend its lead. Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah scored Liverpool’s goals.
City secured only its fifth point in the league since the end of October but that will be scant consolation to Guardiola, whose beleaguered team squandered a winning position after going ahead through Bernardo Silva´s deflected shot in the 14th. Iliman Ndiaye equalized in the 36th.
Haaland´s penalty failure means the Norway international has only scored once in his last seven games. He headed in from the rebound after his spot kick, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
