What Liverpool boss Arne Slot realized as Reds smash West Ham to increase Premier League lead

Liverpool produced a rampant performance to beat West Ham United 5-0 at the London Stadium.

Goals from Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota saw Liverpool dismantle Julen Lopetegui’s side, who were abysmal. In beating the Hammers, Liverpool moved eight points clear of Nottingham Forest, nine points clear of Arsenal and 10 points clear of Chelsea, who sit second, third and fourth respectively.

The Reds are in irresistible form right now and look to be the Premier League champions elect this term having lost to just Forest back in September.

And with that in mind, here is what Liverpool boss Arne Slot learnt from the 5-0 win over the Hammers…

What more can you say about Mohamed Salah?

What else is there to say about Mohamed Salah? The Egyptian is in inevitable form right now. Against the Hammers, Salah scored his 17th Premier League goal of the season in just 18 games.

Collecting a pass inside the box from Curtis Jones, Salah fired home past Alphonse Areola in the West Ham net to make it 3-0 to Liverpool at the time, effectively killing the game before the break. He also produced a glorious assist when he nutmegged Konstantinos Mavropanos prior to Cody Gakpo’s goal too.

Put simply, the Reds head into every game at the moment knowing Salah will likely find the back of the net. And right now, with Salah in this form, you’d be hard pushed to find a better player in world football right now.

The majority of footballers decline with age, but Salah, who is out of contract in the summer, seems to be aging like fine wine. At 32, he is playing his best football and Liverpool must do everything they can to tie him down to a new deal sooner rather than later.

Moving Luis Diaz to striker might win Liverpool the Premier League

It was such a simply tweak but it could be one that wins Liverpool the league. In the big games the Reds have played this term, Arne Slot has trusted Luis Diaz to lead Liverpool’s attack, with Salah on the right flank and Cody Gakpo on the left.

Under Jurgen Klopp, it was Diaz who played off the left with Gakpo through the middle (either as a centre-forward, or as an eight in a three-man midfield). However, over the course of the last few weeks, Diaz has started centrally more and more – and it’s a decision by Slot which could lead to Liverpool winning the Premier League.

The Reds look so fluid in attack with Diaz, who scored Liverpool’s opener against West Ham, now having bagged 12 goals in 24 appearances in all competitions this term. With Diogo Jota having just recently come back from injury, it will be interesting to see where he fits into the attacking equation once back up to speed.

But right now, Liverpool look unstoppable in attack with Diaz and Salah in irresistible form.

A need for defensive reinforcements

One negative from the win over West Ham could be that Liverpool may be forced into the transfer market after Joe Gomez went off injured clutching his hamstring. Thankfully, Liverpool had an adept back-up for Gomez in the form of Jarell Quansah, but the injury to the former could leave him sidelined for a number of weeks.

Liverpool were already depleted at centre-back with Ibrahima Konate injured following the Reds Champions League win against Real Madrid back in November. If Gomez is injured for weeks, and Konate remains sidelined, then Liverpool will almost certainly need to look for a defender in the January transfer window to provide cover.

Heaped pressure on Arsenal and Chelsea

Before this round of Premier League fixtures, Arsenal and Chelsea sat behind Liverpool in second and third. However, after Nottingham Forest’s win over Everton, and Liverpool’s rampant win over West Ham, Chelsea now sit 10 points behind the Reds, while Arsenal are nine behind.

Liverpool are in such good form and winning at such an impressive rate that it’s forcing Arsenal and Chelsea to have to be perfect. The Reds have lost just once in the Premier League this term. They do not look to be capable of a slip-up right now and as a result, they have now heaped pressure onto Arsenal and Chelsea as they try to catch Liverpool.