Latest Liverpool title challenge 'feels different', says Salah

Mohamed Salah declared Liverpool's latest bid for Premier League glory "feels different" after maintaining his hot streak in their 3-1 Boxing Day victory over Leicester City.

Liverpool were on course for a damaging Anfield defeat when Jordan Ayew gave Leicester a sixth-minute lead, only for Cody Gakpo to equalise on the stroke of half-time.

Curtis Jones put the Reds 2-1 up early in the second half, then Salah drove into the area before curling home for his 16th league goal of the campaign.

It was Salah's 250th goal involvement in the Premier League for Liverpool, on his 250th start for them in the competition.

He is just the fourth player to reach that tally for a single club, after Wayne Rooney for Manchester United (276), Ryan Giggs for the same side (271) and Harry Kane for Tottenham (259). 

Meanwhile, no current Premier League player has been involved in more goals (seven) or provided more assists (four) on Boxing Day than Salah, whose late strike sealed a victory that took Liverpool seven points clear of Chelsea at the top of the table, though Arsenal could cut their lead to six points when they host Ipswich Town on Friday.

The Opta supercomputer now gives Liverpool an 88.1% chance of winning the title for the first time since 2019-20, and Salah acknowledges something special could be in the offing.

"The most important thing is the team winning – hopefully we win the Premier League," Salah told Amazon Prime Video.

"It is great, but we focus on each game and hopefully we carry on like that. It feels different, but the most important thing is we need to stay humble.

"This one is very special, hopefully we can win the Premier League and for this club it is something I dream of."

Salah's goal was also his 100th on home soil in the Premier League, with 98 coming for Liverpool and the other two for Chelsea. 

He is just the eighth player to reach that milestone and has done so in the fourth-fewest games, after Alan Shearer (91 appearances), Thierry Henry (113) and Sergio Aguero (125).

"It's something I am very proud of. We keep working hard and hopefully I can go a bit further," Salah said when asked about that achievement.

"It is a good result. They were very tough in the first half and in the second half, the way they prepared themselves was very good. We managed to score three goals and it's a great result."

Fellow goalscorer Jones, meanwhile, said Arne Slot's men will take each game as it comes amid the congested festive fixture list.

"We have still got a long, long way to go. There are plenty of games to come," Jones told BBC Sport. "We'll take each game as it comes and try and win all the games.

"It was a hard game. They sat back and defended well. Especially for me it was hard to find space inside. It was more of a patient game, with us trying not to play into their plan. 

"In the first half we were crossing the ball a lot and that is what they want. In the second half we changed it around, kept it more and that's where the goals came.

"We were a goal down when it was almost half-time but we don't stop, we score. In the second half we start strongly and score again. The thing is with us is we just want to win each game."