Jürgen Klopp’s devastating
Liverpool machine chewed up and spat out another innocent opponent as his side moved 11 points clear at the
Premier League summit and guaranteed they will be top on
Christmas Day. An irresistible performance by a reinvigorated and supercharged
Mohamed Salah provided the inspiration as Liverpool extended their unbeaten league record to 33 games. Naby Keïta doubled their advantage following a cool Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain opener, becoming the 16th different Liverpool player to find the net in the league this season, before Salah completed the scoring as they swept aside Bournemouth.
After giving Salah, Jordan Henderson and Roberto Firmino a breather against Everton in midweek, this time Klopp left Sadio Mané and Trent Alexander-Arnold on the bench, though the latter replaced the injured Dejan Lovren five minutes before half-time, by which point Liverpool had established a two-goal cushion after Bournemouth unravelled. Klopp, with one eye on Tuesday’s crucial match against RB Salzburg – when they must avoid defeat to guarantee qualification to the
Champions League knockout stages – again rotated and made seven changes but they dispatched Bournemouth with such ease that he was able to hand the teenager Curtis Jones his league debut.