8 duels won: 44-pass Liverpool maestro put in a ‘very accomplished display’ v Leicester

Liverpool took full advantage of Chelsea’s earlier slip-up as they came from behind to beat Leicester 3-1 at Anfield on Boxing Day, thus stretching their lead at the Premier League summit to seven points with a game in hand.

Jordan Ayew stunned the home supporters with a sixth-minute opener, but Cody Gakpo levelled for the Reds on the stroke of half-time, and further goals from Curtis Jones and Mo Salah completed the turnaround and sent Kopites home with broad smiles on their faces.

The three goalscorers will naturally have their names in the headlines, but there was one other player in particular who contributed plenty to his team’s 13th league victory of the season.

Mac Allister stars for Liverpool against Leicester

Alexis Mac Allister missed Liverpool’s previous home fixture (against Fulham on 14 December) due to suspension, but he made up for that enforced absence with a tremendous performance tonight as he recorded assists to set up Gakpo and Jones to score.

As per Sofascore, the Argentine midfielder – who turne 26 on Christmas Eve – won the joint-most duels for the Reds (eight), along with four tackles. He was also astute in his use of possession, completing 44 of his 50 passes (88%) and executing two key passes before his late withdrawal for Harvey Elliott.

In addition to his impressive statistics, our number 10 also passed the eye test. Liverpool Echo journalist Ian Doyle awarded him 8/10 in his post-match player ratings, hailing his persistent efforts to link the play before he was ‘rewarded’ with a pair of assists in a ‘very accomplished display’.

Mac Allister now has three goal contributions over his past two appearances, having found the net in the 6-3 win over Tottenham last weekend, more than doubling his G/A output for the season in the past five days alone (Transfermarkt).

The Reds have a quick turnaround to the visit to West Ham on Sunday evening, but the Argentine seems quite likely to start once more off the back of a tremendous performance to help his team see off Leicester and seize firmer control of the Premier League title race.

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