Liverpool 2-1 Leicester City: Mohamed Salah Double Hauls Reds Past Resilient Foxes

Liverpool came back from a goal down to win 2-1 at Anfield against Leicester City, thanks to a second-half brace from Mohamed Salah.

Jamie Vardy initially gave the Foxes the lead in the opening minutes of the game, but two goals from Salah after half-time were enough to ensure Liverpool kept their place in the top four of the Premier League heading into 2018.

The Reds headed into the game fourth in the league, one point clear of both Tottenham and Arsenal. They were unbeaten in the league since the end of October and had won two out of their last three games, drawing the other 3-3 with Arsenal.

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The Foxes, on the other hand, began the match in eighth place in the league table, level on points with Everton, who were one spot below them. They hadn't won any of their last three league games, picking up just a single point against Manchester United in last weekend's 2-2 draw.

Jurgen Klopp made four changes for Liverpool from the team that beat Swansea 5-0 on Boxing Day; Loris Karius, Joe Gomez, James Milner and Sadio Mane coming in for Simon Mignolet, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Georginio Wijnaldum.

Claude Puel also made changes for Leicester, Daniel Amartey, Christian Fuchs, Vicente Iborra and Demarai Gray replacing Aleksandar Dragovic, Ben Chilwell, Andy King and Shinji Okazaki from the starting XI that lost to Watford 2-1 on Tuesday.

New Liverpool signing Virgil van Dijk was in the crowd to watch his new team play, but saw them suffer an early blow after Vardy gave the Foxes the lead in the third minute of the game, thanks to some lose play at the back from Liverpool. 

Joel Matip tried to play out at the back for the Reds, but gave the ball away. The ball was played through to Riyad Mahrez in the Liverpool penalty area, who then squared it to Vardy to strike it home and give the visitors a 1-0 advantage.

Salah had a good chance to level it for Liverpool a few minutes later but was denied. He broke clear on goal on the left side of the pitch, but the Liverpool star took too long to shoot, and as he eventually shot his effort was blocked by returning Leicester defender Harry Maguire. 

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Liverpool thought they had made it 1-1 in the 19th minute after a Andrew Robertson cross from the left side was finished by Mane, but he was ruled to be offside. The pressure continued to mount from the home side and about a minute later, Salah went clear on goal again, this time on the right side. 

He charged towards the Foxes' six-yard box and was one-on-one with Leicester goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel and his chip effort beat the stopper, only to drift wide of the goal. 

Besides their goal, the away side struggled to be much of an attacking threat, mostly because the Reds dominated possession in the opening half, with 62% of the ball, but both sides failed to create another clear opening as the game drifted towards half-time.

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It didn't take too long for the home side to equalise after the break thanks to Salah. Mane back-heeled the ball to the Egyptian in the penalty area, the Liverpool man then fought past a couple of Leicester players before slotting the ball home to make it 1-1.

Salah then almost gave Liverpool the lead in the 59th minute when he was put through against the Leicester goalkeeper again, but his lob effort went above the goal and hit the roof of the net. Mane then had another goal disallowed for the Reds, denied by the offside flag once again after slotting past Schmeichel. 

Leicester almost went in front themselves a few minutes later but Wilfred Ndidi's effort on the half-volley, from outside of the Liverpool penalty area, went just wide of the goal.

Both sides then made substitutions just after the 70th minute mark. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain came on in place of Mane for the home side while Mahrez and goalscorer Vardy were replaced by Islam Slimani and Shinji Okazaki for the Foxes.

Minutes later, Salah scored his second of the match to give Liverpool a 2-1 lead, turning Leicester defender Maguire and stroking the ball past Schmeichel.