A review of Wednesday's action in the Premier League, where Liverpool hit Leeds for six and Burnley stunned Tottenham.
Liverpool 6-0 Leeds
- Infogol xG: 5.11 - 0.12
Liverpool closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to just three points after clinically dismantling Leeds 6-0 with a devastating first-half display which left Marcelo Bielsa’s free-falling side chasing shadows.
Mohamed Salah scored two penalties, either side of a rare Joel Matip goal from open play, to take his tally to 27 for the season in a 20-minute spell which provided an ideal warm-up for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Chelsea.
They could easily have doubled that score in the opening 45 minutes alone against the league’s worst defence which has now conceded 56 goals in 25 matches.
Sadio Mane’s double and Virgil Van Dijk’s header in the final 10 minutes put the gloss on a ninth successive victory and capped a miserable night for Bielsa’s side who, if they were not already, will be glancing anxiously towards the foot of the table.
Seven defeats in their last 10 matches, with 36 of their goals conceded coming since the start of December, and Burnley’s win over Tottenham, has brought the relegation zone alarmingly within three points.
There are no such worries for Liverpool who, with one eye on Wembley, were able to cruise through the second half avoiding unnecessary exertion or injury.
Burnley 1-0 Tottenham
- Infogol xG: 1.76 - 0.73
Ben Mee headed Burnley closer to safety as Sean Dyche’s side secured back-to-back wins for the first time in 13 months with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham.
The Clarets had won only one league match all season prior to Saturday’s 3-0 victory away to Brighton, but are now two points from safety after another hugely encouraging performance.
Mee made the difference in the 71st minute when he beat Cristian Romero to head home Josh Brownhill’s free-kick to a huge roar from the Turf Moor faithful, who witnessed only their second home league win since January 2021 – also the last time they won successive matches.
This fixture was originally due to take place on November 28 but was called off due to heavy snow. Instead, it was played out in incessant rain in East Lancashire.
Watford 1-4 Crystal Palace
- Infogol xG: 1.68 - 0.71
Crystal Palace further distanced themselves from the relegation zone with a convincing 4-1 win over struggling Watford at Vicarage Road.
The Eagles had gone into the game on the back of a long winless run, but took an early lead when Jean-Philippe Mateta’s shot took a fortunate deflection off a defender and into the back of the net.
Watford struck back almost immediately through Moussa Sissoko’s header, but Conor Gallagher’s clever strike just before the half-time whistle retook the lead for Palace.
Wilfried Zaha then wrapped up all three points for the visitors with a low drive past Ben Foster in the Watford goal, before capping it off with a curled 85th-minute strike.
Palace had been without a victory in their last six league games before the trip to Vicarage Road, a run extending back until December 28 which, coupled with Newcastle’s resurgence, saw the bottom four close the gap to the others in the lower half of the table.
However, Patrick Vieira’s side looked composed and clinical in the final third as the Eagles boss got the better of his immediate predecessor Roy Hodgson, and Palace climbed above Leicester into 11th place, nine points above 18th-placed Burnley.
The result leaves Watford four points from safety, and with just one win since the former England boss took the mantle following Claudio Ranieri’s departure.