Liverpool vs West Ham: Five things you missed as Mo Salah breaks more records and Trent hits BACK at critics

Liverpool were at their fluid best in dispatching West Ham United on the team's visit to the London Stadium, coming away with a 5-0 win to ensure the club had a winning end to 2024.

The win extended Arne Slot's Reds run of form to 23 consecutive games unbeaten for the season, a run which extends across all competitions back to September.

West Ham vs Liverpool full-time ratings: Dominant Reds get a PERFECT 10 as injury strikes again

Luis Diaz opened the scoring, before Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah quickly joined in the party, to ensure Liverpool had firm control of the game, leading 3-0 by halftime. It was one of the most dominant halves of football in the Premier League this season, as the team notched eight shots on target in the 45 minutes, more than any other team has managed.

The team now sits eight points clear of Nottingham Forest in second place, and the Reds still have a game in hand to play, although Arsenal and Chelsea are still to play this weekend.

Here's what you might have missed from the game.

Alexis Mac Allister the new corner taker

After Liverpool's recent poor form with set pieces, Arne Slot has decided to change things up a bit and give Mac Allister the nod.

Regardless of which side of the pitch the corner came from, both Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold were nowhere to be seen.

And as it happens, Mac Allister ensured that almost every ball into the box he delivered made it past the first man, to allow Liverpool's tall players to have an opportunity to get on the end of it.

This is not the first time Slot has made such a change either, with it first happening at the start of December when Manchester City visited Anfield. That occasion was the first time the Argentinian had been involved in a deadball situation since his days at Brighton.

Diaz backs up his Tottenham performance

After starting the Premier League season in a fine vein of form, scoring five goals before the end of September, Diaz quickly entered a rut in front of goal.

It wasn't until his hattrick in the Champions League against Leverkusen in November that he next made a real difference in terms of notching crucial goal contributions.

The Colombian then went through yet another cooling-off period before securing a brace against Tottenham Hotspur in the Reds' last game before Christmas.

However, he did not feature at all against Leicester on Boxing Day, and upon his return to the pitch tonight, he was able to make it three goals in two appearances, making it clear to the club that although his form is in coughs and spurts, he can be a valuable attacking asset.

His goal means he has matched his best-ever Premier League goal tally of eight - per Lewis Bower - and we still have so much of the season to play.

Salah's record-breaking form continues

In notching a goal and an assist in the first half, Mo Salah etched his name in yet more football history, reaching 50 goal contributions in a calendar year for the second time, per Michael Reid.

He has now officially surpassed his efforts in the Premier League last season - 28 goal contributions - now sitting on 30 for the season, as the team remains still one game away from the official halfway mark of the campaign.

He's now registered 36 goal contributions for the season - 20 goals and 16 assists - in just 25 games across all competitions, with 15 of those goal contributions coming in his last seven outings. This is now also the eighth consecutive season where he has scored 20 goals, all of them coming for Liverpool.

in addition, he has now made it eight games this season where he has returned a goal and an assist - a Premier League record, per Squawka.

While Salah's goal doesn't take him any further up the all-time goal rankings, he has now officially registered more assists than David Beckham in the Premier League - 82.

Gakpo's run of form continues

While Luis Diaz has had an up-and-down season at left wing so far, Cody Gakpo has been able to safely supplement the Colombian's misfortune with a sparkling run of form.

His goal to make it 2-0 against West Ham was his fifth goal contribution in five games - three goals and two assists - across all competitions.

Overall, he is now sitting on 10 goals and four assists for the Reds, and he is well on his way to making this campaign his best yet for Liverpool - the 16 goals and eight assists he recorded in the 2023/24 season.

Trent celebration hints at contract speculation

Once Liverpool came out for the second half, Trent Alexander-Arnold was gifted a chance to have a shot at goal and he took it, with the ball deflecting in to make it 4-0 to the Reds.

He ran over to the crowd in celebration and made a gesture that implied there were a lot of people talking in his ear - perhaps a message to dismiss the recent speculation about his contract situation.

Spanish reports claimed this week that Trent has a 'desire' to play for Real Madrid, claiming that the only reason he hadn't reached an agreement with Los Blancos on a move for next season was because the club is waiting for January 1 to begin formal talks with him.

The English media is clear that Liverpool are still trying to negotiate with Trent to extend his contract, and it appears that Trent is keen to not let outside noise be taken as fact until the official news of his decision is released.

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