Liverpool is now just one victory away from clinching the Premier League title, following Trent Alexander-Arnold’s decisive goal that led to Leicester’s relegation on Sunday afternoon.
The full-back made an immediate impact, scoring with his left foot just five minutes into the match, marking the first goal of his career.
This crucial strike came 15 minutes before the end of the game, after Liverpool had struggled to break through a determined Leicester side and their outstanding goalkeeper.
Arne Slot’s team holds a commanding 13-point lead with five matches remaining, while Leicester’s fate has been sealed.
They needed a win to keep their hopes of avoiding relegation alive, but instead, they faced their ninth consecutive home defeat without finding the back of the net.
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.