Liverpool's Boxing Day brilliance edges them closer to glory

They're gonna win it and they know it.

The Liverpool hubris reached its peak ahead of kick-off. Boxing Day had seen Manchester City fail to win again, Chelsea miss the chance to go within a point of Arne Slot's side as Fulham scored in the last minute to claim victory at Stamford Bridge, and Manchester United fall to their fifth defeat in ten games under their new manager in a result that makes no difference whatsoever to Liverpool's chances of winning their second Premier League title, but will have made for delightful pre-game viewing for the Anfield masses, who must all have been chuckling in disbelief at how wonderful the world can be. Bruno Fernandes even got a red card, FFS.

'Some tasty results in the Prem today' accompanied by the wide-eyes emoji was the thinly-veiled dig from one Liverpool-supporting pal in a WhatsApp group featuring very quiet fans of rival clubs. I can tell you now there wasn't a soul in that group that a) thought there was any point in watching this Liverpool game at Anfield against one of the Premier League's worst teams, and b) wasn't desperate for a Miracle On Easy Street so we could send him at least one put-down in a season of far too few opportunities to do so: 'None more tasty than that one, mate.' But no such luck.

The entirely rational arrogance of the fans made for a very strange atmosphere at Anfield after Leicester took an early lead. Stephy Mavididi found Jordan Ayew in the box after a fine run and cross, and the Leicester forward took a touch, swivelled and found the corner of Alisson's net via a slight but crucial Virgil van Dijk deflection. 'What the hell is this?' appeared to be the Anfield consensus. 'Do they not realise this is our day in our season?'

By the 35th minute Slot's side had put 27 crosses into the box but had had just one shot on target, and there was a mixture of frustration and amazement emanating from the stands that Liverpool weren't just swatting Leicester aside with the disdain the difference in their points tallies called for.

The Reds dominated the ball but Leicester held a threat, with Ruud van Nistelrooy's side a slightly more accurate or better-weighted pass away from a decent chance on at least three occasions in the 30 minutes after they opened the scoring, as Anfield groans provided the soundtrack.

Before Cody Gakpo drew them level with a beautiful curled shot into the far corner, and without the context of Liverpool being four points clear with a game in hand that obviously rules this out as a possibility, it felt like the sort of mood in a stadium that precedes a side being booed off at half-time. It was really very weird.

James Justin definitely shouldn't have let Gakpo cut inside him so easily but it was a lovely finish from the Netherlands international, who deservedly claimed the Man of the Match award after a game in which he was comfortably the best player on the pitch; no mean feat with Mohamed Salah playing on the opposite wing.

Salah did get his goal; a very Salah goal at that, cutting in and spinning the ball into the corner with his left foot. But it was made by Gakpo, who turned away from two Leicester players in midfield before drifting the ball out wide for the unstoppable winger.

Curtis Jones had already given Liverpool the lead by that point with a very neat first-time finish from a driven Alexis Mac Allister cross after Slot had apparently told his side to stop p*ssing about and win yet another game of football.

And it was never really in doubt. The Liverpool fans knew it. The Liverpool players knew it. Arne Slot knew it. The rest of us all f***ing knew it. They are a thoroughly well-oiled machine with so many brilliant footballers, particularly in those forward positions, that off-days for individuals make no difference to the outcome as at least one of them, Gakpo in this case, will put in a performance that makes anything other than victory very unlikely against teams like Leicester.

The wait for something to go wrong continues, but the more we see of Liverpool under Slot the more it feels as though they could cope with setbacks; even significant injuries to key players. Winning games of football is now ingrained to the point where anything else just feels wrong, with minor bumps in the road as was the case in the first half here against Leicester met with brief incredulity ahead of a swift return to the norm. They're gonna win it, aren't they?

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