Leicester 0-3 Liverpool: Jones pull Reds to Europe – 7 wins in a row!

A 3-0 victory at Leicester guaranteed European football for Liverpool next season, with two scousers coming from the academy for a seventh consecutive season.

Leicester 0-3 Liverpool

Goals

Jones 33′ (Assist – Salah)

Jones 36′ (Assist – Salah)

Alexander-Arnold 71′ (Submission – Salah)

Against a side on the brink of relegation, Liverpool played in front of a raucous and enthusiastic King Power crowd, also clearly influenced by referee Craig Pawson.

It took time for the Reds to find their rhythm and Leicester instead enjoyed an away ball while keeping a low profile and relying on the creativity of James Maddison.

However, Liverpool began to gain momentum as Trent Alexander-Arnold looked for a passing key, although Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz both squandered early chances.

The first goal came courtesy of a brilliant team move and an outside defense from Wout Faes – the defender who scored two own goals at Anfield in December – when Curtis Jones touched Mohamed Salah’s cross. Jones didn’t wait long for his second pass either, three minutes later another ball from Salah landed in Scouser’s box, giving him a clever turn and an emphatic finish.

HT: Leicester 0-2 Liverpool

Leicester’s confidence was badly shaken by that quick double and Liverpool remained in command at the start of the half of the season, with Alexander-Arnold dictating with ease.

However, Alisson had to parry with his fingertips to save the brilliant Harvey Barnes, while luckily Ibrahima Konaté had Jamie Vardy’s number in the right channel.

For more than ten minutes, the King Power played “Sim Senhor”, a poignant tribute to Roberto Firmino, who sat admiringly behind the bench.

The whole thing was only stopped by a superb shot from Alexander-Arnold, who saw Salah deflect a free-kick with his heel into the barrel and scored a powerful bending try past the unfortunate Daniel Iversen. The victory, which turned out to be a procession, guarantees at least sixth place in the Premier League, which is why Liverpool have already qualified for next season’s Europa League.

The hope now is that they can take it one step further and still finish in the top four.

TIA Man of the Match: Trent Alexander-Arnold

Referee: Craig Pawson

Leicester: Iversen; Ricardo (Thomas 68′), Faes, Evans (Souttar 89′), Chestnuts; Ndidi (Daka 61′), Tielemans, Soumare; Maddison, Barnes (Tete 61′), Vardy

Unused Substitutes: Smithies, Kristiansen, Amartey, Mendy, Praet

Liverpool: Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Van Dijk, Robertson; Fabinho, Henderson (Milner 74′), Jones (Carvalho 84′); Salah (Elliott 88′), Diaz (Jota 74′), Gakpo

Unused: Kelleher, Gomez, Matip, Tsimikas, Arthur

Next match: Aston Villa (C) – Premier League – Saturday 20 May, 3.00pm (BST)