Liverpool are just one win away from the Premier League title after Trent Alexander-Arnold relegated Leicester by scoring the game’s only goal on Sunday afternoon.
The full-back required just five minutes to have a profound impact on proceedings, with his left-footed strike – the first of his career – arriving 15 minutes from time after Liverpool had been shut out by a spirited Foxes team and their impressive goalkeeper.
Arne Slot’s men are 13 points clear with five games to play, while Leicester’s inevitable fate was sealed. They had to win to continue their fight against the drop, but they instead endured their ninth straight home defeat without scoring.
How the game unfolded
The afternoon kicked off with a show of discontent from the Leicester supporters, as a plane displaying a banner which read “KING POWER CLUELESS SACK THE BOARD” flew over the East Midlands. It’s been a miserable season for the Foxes, but Ruud van Nistelrooy’s side at least competed on Sunday afternoon against the champions-elect.
The hosts offered enough vigour out of possession to disrupt Liverpool, who continued to struggle in the build-up phase in Alexander-Arnold’s absence. Conor Bradley endured a tough start to the contest, with Stephy Mavididi flummoxing the Northern Irishman one-v-one to create Leicester’s best opening of the first half.
The winger, via some good fortune, picked out Wilfred Ndidi on the edge of the area, and his left-footed effort crashed against the post. That strike arrived after Mohamed Salah spurned a glorious opportunity to hand Liverpool an early lead, with his first attempt of the contest cruelly kissing both posts.
Salah was then denied by a strong Mads Hermansen save and would later fail to steer Kostas Tsimikas’ cross goal-bound in a goal-less first half during which the visitors came on strong. Leicester struggled to deal with the underlapping runs of Liverpool’s full-backs, while the bodies the visitors committed to the Foxes box created openings for Salah at the back post time-and-time again.
The Reds’ pressure ramped up at the start of the second half, with a Dominik Szoboszlai drive from distance forcing Hermansen to cover up at his near post, while Ricardo Pereira superbly denied Cody Gakpo from netting the opener with an excellent block. The Leicester goalkeeper also saved brilliantly from Tsimikas.
The hosts had been pinned back for much of the second half, but Van Nistelrooy’s double change on the hour lit a spark within Leicester, and they started to throw a few punches back at Liverpool. Conor Coady thought he’d opened the scoring against the run of play, but Stuart Attwell deemed Patson Daka to have fouled Alisson in the build-up.
Slot turned to the returning Alexander-Arnold off the bench in a bid to open up the contest, and lo and behold, the full-back delivered. Liverpool somehow didn’t score amid a melee in the Leicester box from a set-piece, with the ball eventually falling to the Englishman, who thumped a left-footed effort through Hermansen.
That proved to be the decisive moment, as Liverpool continued to waste chances in the aftermath. Their profligacy could’ve proven costly, but Facundo Buonanotte was similarly wasteful with the two moments Leicester created late on.
Check out player ratings from Leicester 0-1 Liverpool here.
Liverpool supporters will soon be celebrating their second Premier League title and have recently enjoyed the contract extensions of two leading protagonists. Oh, what they’d do for a third…
Alexander-Arnold may well be Real Madrid bound, but he left a fanbase with a lasting memory at the King Power. After news broke of the full-back’s reported intention to jump ship this summer, the Englishman was subject to scathing criticism from factions of Reds supporters. However, when his left-footed effort breached the previously stellar Hermansen and thrust Liverpool into the lead, any feeling of resentment towards their homegrown superstar escaped a jubilant away end.
Alexander-Arnold’s reaction was one of cathartic release. The shirt flew off and his arms stretched wide in front of the travelling Reds.
In the words of his pal and potential future club mate Jude Bellingham: “Who else?”
2024/25 will not be looked back on by any Leicester supporter with fondness. After losing Enzo Maresca to Chelsea, the board alienated much of the fanbase by appointing a man with Nottingham Forest roots, and Ruud van Nistelrooy’s reign has so far proven to be nothing short of disastrous.
The Dutchman may not have the personnel at his disposal to keep the Foxes up, but the manager struggled to exude the aura of a man who ever believed he was capable of retaining Leicester’s Premier League status.
In isolation, Sunsday’s performance against the league’s best was far from woeful. While Liverpool were deserving winners by virtue of the sheer volume of chances they created, the hosts remained in the game for its duration. Chances came few and far between after Ndidi struck the post, although Facundo Buonanotte had a couple of opportunties to rescue a point late on. Although that wouldn’t have been enough to avoid the inevitable.
Leicester’s fate has long been projected, and perhaps the official confirmation will prove liberating. However, it’s clear that this is not a content fanbase. It’s one concerned with the direction the club’s heading after suffering their second relegation in three years.
Liverpool were far from outstanding on Sunday, but they created enough to win the game handily. The tone was set by Salah within three minutes as the Egyptian hit both posts with a gilt-edge chance.
The Reds were seemingly out to create for their talisman, who last scored a Premier League goal on 8 March, but Salah had an outing to forget in front of goal. The winger was denied a couple of times by Hermansen, who was brilliant for the most part but should’ve kept Alexander-Arnold’s winner out.
While the Golden Boot leader was the primary culprit in Liverpool’s profligacy, he wasn’t the only one responsible for making this game far nervier than it should’ve been. The sequence leading up to the winning goal epitomised the Reds’ woes.
