Jota scores a brace, and Salah back in Liverpool victory over Leicester
Key takeaways:
- Diogo Jota has netted 17 goals for Liverpool this season.
- Diogo Jota scored a brace as Liverpool cut their insufficiency to Premier League heads Manchester City to nine points with an overall performance against Leicester at Anfield.
Liverpool earns their three points over Leicester:
Jurgen Klopp's team had many chances, and trustworthy Portuguese forward Jota scored in each half, lunging on Kasper Schmeichel's parry from Virgil van Dijk's header for the first, before stroking a second late on.
The Reds still have a match in hand on champions City, and another commanding show indicates the title race may not yet be a foregone decision.
Foxes goalkeeper Schmeichel was boosted and made vital saves to restrict Roberto Firmino and Luis Diaz twice on his full debut.
Mohamed Salah came off the bench in the second half after returning from Africa Cup of Nations duty, and he too was incapable of finding a way beyond Schmeichel. When he did, a sublime curling shot banged the crossbar.
Leicester will regret the missed chance from James Maddison at 0-0 as the Englishman saw space down the left edge of the area, but his rising attempt was driven over the bar by Alisson.
Leicester's flawed season sees them remain in 12th position in the table, 10 points afloat of a Europa Conference League mark.
Liverpool's season would be derailed once Salah and Sadio Mane headed off to the Africa Cup of Nations - well, that was the idea anyway. But it has not been set that way.
Klopp's team is developing in confidence and hit aside Leicester to extend their run to just one loss in their previous 19 matches in all contests - ironically a defeat at the Foxes on 28 December.