Leeds vs Liverpool score, result, highlights as Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota hit doubles in 6-1 rout

Dom Farrell

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Leeds vs Liverpool score, result, highlights as Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota hit doubles in 6-1 rout image

Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota each scored twice as Liverpool demolished Leeds 6-1 at Elland Road.

The relegation-threatened hosts initially produced a robust reaction to last weekend's 5-1 thrashing against Crystal Palace in their previous game, restricting Liverpool to scraps in the opening half-hour, but errors were gleefully pounced upon from that point.

Jurgen Klopp's side went ahead from their first shot on target, with Cody Gakpo tapping home his fifth Premier League goal from Trent Alexander-Arnold's low cross. Handball claims against the England full-back in the build-up went unpunished.

Salah then made it two goals inside four minutes, rifling brilliantly past Illan Meslier at his near post after Weston McKennie ceded possession and Jota drove Liverpool forward on the counter-attack.

Leeds vs Liverpool final score

  final score
Leeds 1
Liverpool 6

Goals:
LIV — Cody Gakpo (Trent Alexander-Arnold) — 35th minute. 
LIV — Mohamed Salah (Diogo Jota) — 39th minute. 
LEE — Luis Sinisterra — 47th minute.
LIV — Diogo Jota (Curtis Jones) — 52nd minute.
LIV — Mohamed Salah (Cody Gakpo) — 63rd minute. 
LIV — Diogo Jota (Jordan Henderson) — 73rd minute.
LIV — Darwin Nunez (Trent Alexander-Arnold) — 90th minute.

Lineups:

Leeds (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1-Illan Meslier (GK) — 25-Rasmus Kristensen, 5-Robin Koch, 21-Pascal Struijk, 3-Junior Firpo — 28-Weston McKennie, 8-Marc Roca — 7-Brenden Aaronson (10-Crysencio Summerville), 23-Luis Sinisterra (4-Adam Forshaw), 11-Jack Harrison (29-Wilfried Gnonto) — 19-Rodrigo Moreno (24-Georginio Rutter)

Liverpool (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Alisson (GK) — 66-Trent Alexander-Arnold, 5-Ibrahima Konate, 4-Virgil van Dijk, 26-Andy Robertson — 3-Fabinho, 14-Jordan Henderson (7-James Milner), 17-Curtis Jones — 11-Mohamed Salah (27-Darwin Nunez), 18-Cody Gakpo (23-Luis Diaz), 20-Diogo Jota (9-Roberto Firmino)

MORE: Premier League top goal scorers 2022-2023: Updated golden boot rankings

Luis Sinisterra pounced on a dreadful mistake from Ibrahima Konate in the 47th minute but fresh hope was short-lived for Javi Gracia's side when Curtis Jones played in Jota to make it 3-1 with his first goal for a year.

Salah was then teed up by Gakpo for his 15th Premier League goal of the season after Andy Robertson stormed down the left flank and there were boos from the home faithful when Jota rammed home the fifth.

Substitute Darwin Nunez completed the rout when he sprung the Leeds offside trap to dispatch Alexander-Arnold's chipped pass 

Why wasn’t Liverpool’s first goal against Leeds disallowed for handball?

After Leeds’ latest display of defensive incompetence, it’s hard to argue the result would have been drastically different with any conviction. But the opening goal was a controversial moment. Junior Firpo, who endured another accident-prone outing at left-back for Leeds, kicked the ball into Alexander-Arnold. The Liverpool right-back could not really get out of the way, although his arm moved towards the ball.

It felt like the sort of incident that looks more blatant under the examination of slow-motion replays. VAR officials reviewed the incident but deemed that it came too far back in the move — Alexander-Arnold received possession back from Salah and then crossed for Gakpo to score — for it to be ruled as directly leading to a goal. For example, if Gakpo had scored directly from the ball hitting Alexander-Arnold’s hand, the decision might have been different.

As it was, the video assistants had to consider whether referee Simon Hooper had made a clear and obvious error or whether Alexander-Arnold had made a deliberate action. Neither of those stipulations were met.

Can Liverpool qualify for the Champions League?

Liverpool obliterated Manchester United 7-0 last month. They followed that with a five-game winless run in all competitions before taking Leeds apart tonight. They also hold a 9-0 win over Bournemouth in what has been an utterly bizarre season. From Jota being back among the goals, to Salah looking close to his peak clutch form in front of goal and Alexander-Arnold visibly enjoying himself on the pitch, there were plenty of long-overdue positives for Jurgen Klopp to take.

The Reds boss was keen to play down the top-four chase afterwards and with good reason. Liverpool are still eighth in the table, nine points behind fourth-placed Newcastle with eight games to play. This has to be the start of the sort of rampant run that has been their trademark over recent years, but you just can’t trust Liverpool to produce that this term.

Will Leeds get relegated?

They’re outside the bottom three for now and the poor form of those below them could still get Leeds out of jail, but it’s been a nightmare period for Javi Gracia’s side. The manner of their capitulation was hard to watch at times. Firpo was culpable for the first and third goals after McKennie erred on the second. Liverpool’s fourth saw Robin Koch breezed past by Robertson on the counter-attack. When the ball got into the box, Firpo was awful once again. Individual and collective defensive responsibility simply left the building.

Leeds have seven games left to dust themselves down and scrabble together the points required. Following these two disastrous home games, second-bottom Leicester are the next visitors to Elland Road. It could all come down to that one. After that, they face Manchester City, Newcastle and Tottenham in their final four games. These are bleak times in West Yorkshire.

Leeds vs Liverpool as it happened, highlights from the Premier League

Fulltime: End it does. That's very impressive from Liverpool, whose recent form now reads a 7-0 win over Manchester United, five games without a win and this 6-1 win. What a bizarre season they're having. Leeds would take bizarre right now, with this defeat following last weekend's 5-1 shellacking against Crystal Palace. Both those games happening on their own patch feels like an abysmal thing to happen to a team two points above the relegation zone in mid-April.

90th minute+4: Meslier darts out well to deny Firmino, Roca hacks clear. Now Kristensen blocks from Jones. Leeds need this to end.

90th minute+1: There'll be four more minutes of this for Leeds to endure.

90th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Darwin Nunez!!!

For reasons best know to those involved, Leeds step out to try and play a dicey offside trap. In the 90th minute, at 5-1 down. Substitute Nunez is onside and dispatches Alexander-Arnold's chipped pass.

88th minute: A stumbling Junior Firpo almost puts the ball through his own goal. That really would have been the cherry on the top of a custard pie in the face.

85th minute: Thiago Alcantara is trotting on to replace Fabinho. Leeds can be grateful that Liverpool pretty much appear to have declared at this point.

82nd minute: A quadruple substitution for Liverpool brings a first appearance in six months for Luis Diaz.

77th minute: Leeds' night continues to go swimmingly as goalscorer Sinisterra limps off to be replaced by Gnonto. Harrison also trudges off and Forshaw comes on to try and close the stable door after herd of horses have long left the paddock.

74th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Diogo Jota!!!

Boos from some in the home end as others head for their exits. Their team are an unsightly rabble at this point. Henderson picks out Jota in loads of room to curl in a fine finish, but there's a training ground simplicity to it all that's just not acceptable from a Leeds point of view.

72nd minute: It feels like Liverpool can score every time they break. Kristensen does well to belatedly apply some pressure to Jota, who rifles over. But, honestly, this could be any score. When the battle against relegation might come down to goal difference, that's certainly not ideal.

68th minute: Koch gets on the end of a corner from the right. Fabinho stoops to clear.

65th minute: Double change for Leeds, with Summerville and Rutter on for Aaronson and Rodrigo.

63rd minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Mohamed Salah!!!

Leeds are being ripped apart. That's fabulous break from Leeds, but it's all too easy. Robertson hares down the left flank and crosses to Gakpo, who has the presence of mind to tee up Salah for a chance he was never going to miss.

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61st minute: After a good, long check, VAR confirms Van Dijk was fractionally offside.

60th minute: Liverpool think they have a fourth as Alexander-Arnold clips a clever ball to the back post. Van Dijk knocks it across goal for Salah to finish but the offside flag is up.

59th minute: Firpo continues his fine body of work by tripping Gakpo to be booked. Oh, he isn't booked. Not really sure about that.

58th minute: Robertson makes a mess of a defensive header and Aaronson fires a swerving shot towards goal. It's just past the top corner. Alisson is furious with the defenders in front of him.

52nd minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Diogo Jota!!!

Leeds did not heed the warning and Liverpool slice through them. Jones picked a wonderful pass and Jota dispatches his first goal for a year. 

51st minute: Jota gets some room on the left-hand side of the area and drags wide. 

47th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Luis Sinisterra!!!

Well, then! Konate makes a horrible error and Sinisterra snaps in to win a challenge made possible by an awful first-touch. The Colombia international is in on goal and dinks coolly beyond Alisson.

46th minute: We're back underway, no changes for either side. Can Leeds salvage something or is this about to become as harrowing as their previous home game?

Halftime: A smattering of boos accompany the whistle and Leeds boss Javi Gracia is likely to be spitting at what's unfolded. For 35 minutes, his team were exemplary in how they held Liverpool at arm's length with a disciplined performance. Then two mistakes from Junior Firpo and Weston McKennie led to goals from Cody Gakpo and Mohamed Salah respectively.

45th minute: There'll be two minutes of added time. Someone seems to have sucked all the air out of Elland Road. Well, it's probably Gakpo and Salah who've done that, when you think about it.

39th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Mohamed Salah!!!

McKennie coughs up possession in midfield and Jota streams forward. The Portugal forward feeds Salah, who adjusts his body to fire a brilliant finish into the near top corner.

36th minute: The ball definitely struck Alexander-Arnold's arm in the build-up there but it is deemed too far back in the move for VAR to review it and rule out the goal.

35th minute: GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!! Cody Gakpo!!!

Firpo boos the ball against Alexander-Arnold. He's claiming handball but the referee waves play on. It's rubbish from Firpo and Alexander-Arnold runs on to a Salah pass, sending in a low cross for Gakpo to tap into an unguarded net. Just like that, all of Leeds' hard work goes up in smoke.

33rd minute: Everything happening in front of the massed ranks of Leeds defenders. Liverpool really need to inject some tempo and variety into their play. If it remains this way after halftime, Thiago Alcantara probably has a role to play from the bench.

30th minute: A bit of pinball in the Liverpool box gets Leeds hopes up before Roca balloons a shot into orbit from 25 yards.

28th minute: Rodrigo goes in robustly on Fabinho, who needs some treatment. It's a Leeds free-kick, which is an intriguing decision to have arrived at, but there we are.

25th minute: Gakpo cuts back to Jota, whose shot is blocked by Koch. Liverpool keep the attack alive before Harrison eventually clears.

22nd minute: That's a wretched pass into midfield from Konate and Leeds quickly shift the attack to Sinisterra down the left channel. The Liverpool centre-back atones for his mistake, though, getting back to apply pressure as the Leeds winger fires a hopeful shot over the near post.

21st minute: Particularly considering the manner in which they were cut to ribbons by Crystal Palace last weekend, this has been an impressively compact defensive display from Leeds so far, with Liverpool creating very little. There's obviously a long way to go and playing like this can catch up with a team in terms of fatigue down the stretch.

17th minute: Van Dijk and Jota deal with the danger out-numbering Rodrigo at the back post.

16th minute: McKennie battles to keep a Leeds attack alive. Sinisterra sizes up Alexander-Arnold and wins a croner.

15th minute: Salah gets down the right flank and sets the ball back for Henderson to cross. Gakpo can't quite direct his header goalwards under pressure from Koch, who defended that situation well.

10th minute: A far less clear-cut chance for Rodrigo, who drags wide from 25 yards. Still, the past few minutes have given the home crowd some much-needed encouragement.

7th minute: Oh, Rodrigo should do better. Harrison whips in an out-swinging delivery and the Spain forward is allowed to dart to the near post unmarked. However, he doesn't make clean enough contact and glances wide.

6th minute: Leeds pass through the Liverpool press to put together their first attack of note. Jones brings down Rodrigo and this is a free-kick in a pretty handy position on the left.

3rd minute: Liverpool dictating play so far, without creating any real chances of note. Alexander-Arnold is tucking into midfield to help build attacks.

1st minute: Off we go!

5 mins from kickoff: The atmosphere is ramping up now, with Leeds fans singing their Marching On Together anthem. Liverpool are entering a cauldron. Here come the teams. Prior to kickoff, there will be tributes paid to the 97 people who were killed in the Hillsborough Disaster, marking the 34th anniversary of the tragedy.

30 mins from kickoff: Rodrigo's return could be huge for Leeds in their fight for survival. They have struggled for a regular source of goals since he suffered his ankle injury. In the six Premier League games he missed, Leeds won one and lost four, failing to find the net in any of the defeats. Since then, Rodrigo has been on a diet of five consecutive substitute cameos. The Spain international was also on target when Leeds won 2-1 at Anfield earlier in the season.

55 mins from kickoff: This is how the hosts line up. Rasmus Kristensen and Rodrigo Moreno return. It is the 11-goal Spain forward's first Premier League start since January. Max Wober is fit enough to return to the bench following his hamstring injury but there is no place in the squad for Patrick Bamford

1 hour from kickoff: The teams are in. Alisson and Konate are okay to feature for Liverpool. Curtis Jones gets the chance to continue his recent impressive run in midfield, while Luiz Diaz is back in the mix on the bench. He's been sidelined by a knee injury since last October.

1 hr 20 mins from kickoff: Leeds have a huge opportunity tonight. They lie 16th in the table, two points above the relegation zone, and all four sides below them lost this weekend. A five-point cushion with seven games remaining would be very handy indeed. But to do that, Javi Gracia will have to summon a response from a team that were humbled 5-1 on this ground by Crystal Palace eight days ago.

1 hr 40 mins from kickoff: Remember when Liverpool walloped Manchester United 7-0 last month, a victory that was sure to herald a march towards Champions League qualification and one that also, quite possibly, gave a hint over what Jurgen Klopp's next great team might look like? Since then, the Reds have played five games in all competitions. They've won none. Zero. Nada. Zilch. If their fading top-four hopes are to linger any longer at all, they simply have to end that slump at Elland Road tonight.

2 hours from kickoff: Hello and welcome to The Sporting News' live coverage of Liverpool's Premier League visit to Leeds — a clash that could have ramifications at either end of the table.

Leeds vs Liverpool lineups

Rodrigo Moreno will lead the Leeds attack on his first start since January, while Rasmus Kristensen is in for Luke Ayling at right-back, Centre-back Max Wober is back on the bench after missing three matches with a hamstring injury. Leeds remain without midfielder Tyler Adams and fullback Stuart Dallas

Leeds starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): 1-Illan Meslier (GK) — 25-Rasmus Kristensen, 5-Robin Koch, 21-Pascal Struijk, 3-Junior Firpo — 28-Weston McKennie, 8-Marc Roca — 7-Brenden Aaronson, 23-Luis Sinisterra, 11-Jack Harrison — 19-Rodrigo Moreno

Leeds subs (9): 22-Joel Robles (GK), 2-Luke Ayling, 6-Liam Cooper, 39-Max Wober, 4-Adam Forshaw, 42-Sam Greenwood, 10-Crysencio Summerville, 24-Georginio Rutter, 29-Wilfried Gnonto

Luis Diaz is available again after his lengthy knee injury layoff so he could take a place on the bench. Goalkeeper Alisson and centre-back Ibrahima Konate are set to feature despite missing a couple of days of training.

Liverpool starting lineup (4-3-3, right to left): 1-Alisson (GK) — 66-Trent Alexander-Arnold, 5-Ibrahima Konate, 4-Virgil van Dijk, 26-Andy Robertson — 3-Fabinho, 14-Jordan Henderson, 17-Curtis Jones — 11-Mohamed Salah, 18-Cody Gakpo, 20-Diogo Jota

Liverpool subs (9): 62-Caoimhin Kelleher (GK), 6-Thiago Alcantara, 7-James Milner, 9-Roberto Firmino, 19-Harvey Elliott, 21-Kostas Tsimikas, 23-Luis Diaz, 27-Darwin Nunez, 32-Joel Matip

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Leeds vs Liverpool live stream, TV channel

  Date Time TV channel Streaming
Australia April 18 05:00 AEST — Optus Sport
Canada April 17 15:00 EDT — FuboTV Canada
Hong Kong April 18 03:00 HKT Now Premier League
(Ch. 620-621)		 Now Player
India  April 18 00:30 IST — Jio TV, Hotstar VIP
Malaysia April 18 03:00 MYT — Astro GO, sooka
New Zealand April 18 05:00 NZST Sky Sport Premier League Sky Sport NOW
Singapore April 18 03:00 SGT Hub Premier
(Ch. 221-222)		 StarHub TV+
UK April 17 20:00 BST Sky Sports Main Event,
Sky Sports Premier League		 Sky Go,
Sky Sports site
USA April 17 15:00 EDT USA Network,
Universo		 Fubo, Telemundo Dep.
Universo Now,
NBCSports.com

UK: The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Main Event and on Sky Sports Football. Subscribers can stream on the Sky Go app and via the Sky Sports website.

USA: The match will be televised on USA Network (English) and Universo (Spanish), which are both streamed on Fubo, which offers a free trial for new users. 

Canada: Every Premier League game streams live on Fubo Canada.

Australia: Fans in Australia can stream every match live and on demand on Optus Sport. 

Dom Farrell

Dom Farrell Photo

Dom is the senior content producer for Sporting News UK. He previously worked as fan brands editor for Manchester City at Reach Plc. Prior to that, he built more than a decade of experience in the sports journalism industry, primarily for the Stats Perform and Press Association news agencies. Dom has covered major football events on location, including the entirety of Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup in Paris and St Petersburg respectively, along with numerous high-profile Premier League, Champions League and England international matches. Cricket and boxing are his other major sporting passions and he has covered the likes of Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury, Wladimir Klitschko, Gennadiy Golovkin and Vasyl Lomachenko live from ringside.