5 talking points as Liverpool find perfect Salah replacement in Bournemouth win

21 January 2024 , 18:27

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5 talking points as Liverpool find perfect Salah replacement in Bournemouth win

Diogo Jota was the star as Liverpool produced a brilliant performance to beat Bournemouth and re-establish their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

Arsenal's 5-0 win over Crystal Palace on Saturday had fired a warning shot to Jurgen Klopp's side and they were more than ready to return fire. After a tricky first half, Darwin Nunez opened the scoring with a confident first-time finish into the bottom corner from Jota's pass.

The Portugal forward then took centre stage, rifling in via the near post to make it 2-0 and then inadvertently setting himself up for another with an air shot. Nunez capped things off by sliding in Joe Gomez's back-post cross in injury-time. Mohamed Salah may be injured - and at the Africa Cup of Nations - but on this evidence, Liverpool's title charge isn't slowing down. Here are the talking points from the game.

Mac Allister provides a spark

Alexis Mac Allister was a bright spark for Liverpool (John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

It's been a constant talking point for Liverpool fans this season: do we have a proper holding midfielder? The club lost Jordan Henderson and Fabinho over the summer and, on the face of it at least, did not find a replacement. It has therefore fallen upon Alexis Mac Allister - wearing the No10 shirt - to play at the base of midfield.

With Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott for company, he was the player with the responsibility to win back the ball and use it well. Mac Allister is not a natural in the position, that much is fairly obviously, but he did show plenty of promising signs in the first half, with Jamie Carragher correctly identifying him as Liverpool's best player at half-time on Sky Sports.

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The World Cup winner twice found Darwin Nunez with raking balls - one a cross-field spray, the second a pinpoint through ball after he evaded pressure - but neither came to anything. There was another great moment when the play appeared to be retreating backwards under the Bournemouth press, only for Mac Allister to fire a vertical pass straight through it to Elliott. He may not be Fabinho, but his passing range certainly gives Liverpool a threat from deep.

Kluivert escapes a red card

Justin Kluivert was fortunate to avoid a red card for this challenge on Luis Diaz

There was one moment which lit up an otherwise extremely tight first half. It came when Justin Kluivert caught Diaz with a late tackle which escaped any punishment from referee Andy Madley, but didn't escape the wrath of Jurgen Klopp, who went berserk on the touchline.

"I think Kluivert is a lucky boy," Carragher said at half-time. "As a former player, you never want to see the red card but I think Liverpool will be really frustrated that Curtis Jones was sent off for something similar against Tottenham before."

Liverpool fans did not need to be reminded of the Jones incident, which came in September. Their appeal was unsuccessful and Jones missed three games after VAR upgraded his yellow for a lunge on Yves Bissouma to a red. The grey areas of VAR remain.

Nunez hits the target

Darwin Nunez stroked in a first-time finish to make it 1-0 (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

No prizes for guessing which player is top of the charts for big chances missed in the Premier League this season. Coming into this game, Nunez had spurned 19 big chances, according to the official stats, more than Erling Haaland (17) and Ollie Watkins (13). Those misses haven't exactly gone under the radar, either, with the Uruguayan becoming an unwanted meme because he also tops the offside list (with 17, ahead of Son Heung-min and Anthony Elanga on 16).

So, it was perhaps surprising to see him bury the chance when it came. Ibrahima Konate's hopeful long ball went straight to Jones, who combined with Jota to provide Nunez with a clear sight of goal. He didn't think twice, calmly stroking the ball into the bottom corner with his first touch. His injury-time strike left the chants of “you’re just a s*** Andy Carroll” feeling pretty flat.

Those were his sixth and seventh Premier League goals this season, meaning he now have an impressive tally of 10 goals and 10 assists in 31 appearances across all competitions. Not bad for an apparent laughing stock.

The Salah replacement specialist

Diogo Jota meant Liverpool didn't miss Mo Salah (Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

The absence of Mohamed Salah loomed large for Liverpool, especially since their star forward picked up a back injury in Egypt's 2-2 draw against Ghana on Thursday. Win or lose, it was always going to be an obvious talking point, and thankfully for Liverpool it ended up being a positive about how well they coped without him.

It didn't look like that would be the case in the first half, as Bournemouth frustrated the away side with a rigid defensive structure and a clear game plan. And the Cherries didn't really give up many chances - they were simply undone by some clinical finishing, with Jota at the fore.

After setting up Nunez's opener, it was Jota who latched onto Cody Gakpo's pass to fire in at the fire post and make it 2-0. He made the game safe by rifling in a loose ball of his own making shortly after. The Portugal forward has previous in filling Salah's boots, having scored five goals while he was away at the Africa Cup of Nations two years ago. What a useful player he has been for Klopp.

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Cherries popped

Andoni Iraola's gameplan was undone in the second half (ADRIAN DENNIS/AFP via Getty Images)

Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola had done a fantastic job on Liverpool in the first half, with the xG at rock bottom. As he came out for the second half, he told Sky Sports that he believed the space would be there for his enterprising side to exploit.

In the end, it proved to be the exact opposite. Ironically, it was a hopeful hoof forward from Konate which provided the opening for Nunez's opener - and that goal changed the game completely. As the Cherries pushed forward in search of an equaliser, the space developed at the other end.

Jota's sharpness and Nunez's pace made them lethal on the break and Bournemouth couldn't cope. Their best chance came in the 90th minute when David Brooks chipped wide when through one-on-one with Alisson. They were well beaten, but won't be downheartened.

Felix Keith