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Leicester City welcomed Liverpool to a thrilling encounter at the King Power Stadium on Boxing Day, with the Reds convincingly beating the hosts. With their loss against Manchester City last time out, the Foxes would have hoped for a different outcome against the Premier League leaders.
From the onset, Liverpool took charge of the game as Leicester looked poor on and off the ball, playing without any fire or drive. It showed as the first 20 minutes saw the visitors creating chances and the hosts making silly defensive errors.
31 minutes into the game, Liverpool were eventually rewarded for their consistency in the final third. A poorly cleared corner saw Trent Alexander-Arnold send a whipped cross into the far post where Roberto Firmino was waiting to head the ball past Leciester goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel.
By the time the first half came to an end, Leicester had showcased a sub-par performance, unable to put Liverpool to test in any way. Surprisingly, even though they had a prolific striker in Jamie Vardy, the Foxes were unable to put a single shot at goal throughout the first half.
The second half began in the same manner and 70 minutes into the game, a Caglar Soyuncu handball inside the box resulted in Liverpool winning a penalty. Substitute James Milner deftly scored from the resultant spot-kick to double the Reds' lead.
Barely four minutes later, a squared ball from Alexander-Arnold into Leicester's box found Firmino, and the Brazilian curled a shot into the top corner of the net. The Reds' fourth goal came in the 78th minute when a Liverpool counter-attack saw Sadio Mane send a pass into Alexander-Arnold, who put a piledriver past Schmeichel.
Liverpool are currently 13 points clear of second-placed Leicester City, having played a game less than the Foxes.
Without further ado, let's take a look at three players who impressed and two who didn't at the King Power Stadium.
#5 Naby Keita played well for Liverpool
Naby Keita excelled in his role as the Reds midfielder engineered the entire game from the middle of the park. He troubled the Leicester midfield and defence throughout his time on the pitch with his dribbling, agility, and passing.
Notably, some 40 minutes into the game, he nimbly dribbled past Harvey Barnes, WIlifred Ndidi, and Ricardo Pereira to get into the penalty area before Soyoncu cleared the ball. Keita made six dribbles in the 69 minutes he played, more than any other player on the field, and he kept Liverpool's passing going with a 92% pass accuracy.
The 24-year-old hardly put a foot wrong throughout the game and helped Liverpool maintain the fast-paced and driven tempo they began with.
#4 Mohamed Salah had a quiet game for Liverpool
While this is a very rare occurrence, Liverpool icon Mohamed Salah had a sub-par game and was substituted in the 69th minute. And interestingly, Liverpool scored three goals within 10 minutes from the time Salah went out of the pitch.
The Egytian international played his part in troubling the defence, but his stats were notably poor this time out. He unexpectedly had a 53% passing accuracy, worse than everyone else except Marc Albrighton, who finished the game with a 50% pass accuracy. Apart from this, Salah played just 15 passes throughout his time on the pitch, and only Vardy and Albrighton had fewer.
His attacking quality didn't come out either, as he took four shots with none being on target, and was dispossessed and caught offiside twice each.
#3 Roberto Firmino had a great game for Liverpool
Firmino would be glad to have put a brace past Schmeichel in a game that saw the Brazilian international take only three shots.
His first goal came from a well-taken header, following Alexander-Arnold's pinpoint cross, while his second came, yet again, from the young right-back's quick pass into the box. Firmino may have looked quiet at times, but he certainly stepped up for Liverpool when the ball came to him, successfully making two key passes, two dribbles, and scoring two goals.
Being in the right place at the right time was certainly a part of Firmino's flair, and he had a great game atthe King Power Stadium.
#2 Dennis Praet was poor for Leicester
Dennis Praet was arguably one of the worst players on the field last night - if not the worst. He was part of a three-man centre midfield that totally failed in their bid to control the proceedings, and he seemed trumped, without passion, and unable to pick out a good pass.
None of his long balls or crosses met their intended target, he failed to give a single key pass during the game, and his pass accuracy was just 78%.
Defensively, he offered no aid to his team whatsoever as he failed to get in a tackle or clear the ball at any point. Also, he managed to make only one interception throughout the game.
#1 Trent Alexander-Arnold was exceptional for Liverpool
The 21-year-old has shown his class time and time again so far this season, and he currently looks like the best right-back in the Premier League at the moment. While his defensive output was average at best, he was the best attacking player for Liverpool last night.
When he took the first shot of the game early on, Alexander-Arnold was only showing signs of things to come. Totally commandeering the right wing, he marauded into Leicester's final third to lay up two assists for Firmino to score. During a quick counter attack, he was on point to put a shot past the goalkeeper and increase Liverpool's tally to four.
Interestingly, the young star had 105 touches on the ball, more than any other player on the pitch today. It seems rather unrealistic to run a game from the right wing, but Alexander-Arnold showed everyone exactly how to do it.
