Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side’s opening goal through the English Premier League soccer match between Bournemouth and Liverpool on the Vitality stadium in Bournemouth, England, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Mohamed Salah’s double helped Liverpool pass an enormous test of its Premier League title credentials after winning at in-form Bournemouth 2-0 and establishing a nine-point lead on Saturday.
High-flying rival Nottingham Forest also made an announcement of its own in a record rout of Brighton by 7-0.
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Salah moved above Chelsea great Frank Lampard to sixth on the all-time Premier League scoring chart, on 178 goals, by converting a Thirtieth-minute penalty and curling in a wonderful second within the seventy fifth.
READ: Salah sets goal record by inspiring Liverpool win over Tottenham
The Egypt forward has 21 goals in what could possibly be his last Premier League campaign with Liverpool, with whom his contract is up at the tip of the season. It’s the fifth time he has netted 20 or more league goals in a single season for the club.
It ended Bournemouth’s 11-match unbeaten run within the league and left Liverpool with a commanding advantage over each second-placed Arsenal and third-placed Forest, which bounced back from a 5-0 loss last weekend — also at Bournemouth — by demolishing Brighton for its biggest victory within the Premier League era.
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Chris Wood scored a hat trick for Forest, which is heading in the right direction to qualify for a European competition next season — potentially even the Champions League by securing a finish in the highest 4 or five.
Arsenal hosts Manchester City on Sunday and can look to trim the gap to Liverpool back all the way down to six points.
Liverpool gets lucky but Alexander-Arnold injured
Liverpool might be tough to stop now, with just 15 games left of a campaign by which Arne Slot’s team has shown loads of resilience to lose just once.
The Dutch manager acknowledged Liverpool’s latest win got here with a touch of fortune, with Bournemouth twice hitting the post and seeing Justin Kluivert shooting wide in front of an open goal.
READ: Liverpool routs Spurs to take 4-point lead into Christmas
“If you desire to win here, perhaps you would like a little bit of luck since the margins are so small,” Slot said.
“It was an in depth call for us to win this game. We weren’t unlucky, let’s put it that way.”
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Liverpool right back Trent Alexander-Arnold went off within the seventieth with a suspected thigh injury and can undergo a scan. Slot said he would “be surprised” if Alexander-Arnold played against Tottenham within the second leg of the English League Cup semifinals on Thursday, when Liverpool will look to overturn a 1-0 deficit.
