Aiming to hit the 45-point mark before the end of the calendar year, relentless Premier League leaders Liverpool head to West Ham United on Sunday evening for their final match of 2024.
Both teams came up trumps in their Boxing Day battles, as the Reds fought back to sink Leicester City 3-1 after the Irons subjected Ivan Juric to a 1-0 beating on his Southampton managerial debut.
Match preview
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While Chelsea and Arsenal have sometimes failed to capitalise on the misfortunes of their fellow Premier League title rivals this season, the same was not said for Liverpool on Thursday evening, as Arne Slot's juggernaut made the most of the Blues' shock loss to Fulham earlier in the day.
Liverpool's mettle was tested more so than usual courtesy of a Jordan Ayew opener, but the Reds came streaming forward in the thick Merseyside fog and drew themselves level on the stroke of half time via a Cody Gakpo beauty, before Curtis Jones and Mohamed Salah completed the turnaround.
Still hitting new career zeniths well into his 30s, Salah's customary curler saw the Egyptian become the eighth man to score 100 Premier League home goals - and the fourth-fastest - as his side extended their unassailable lead at the summit of the top-flight table.
Slot's winning machine - who have now prevailed in 11 of their last 13 matches in all tournaments - will crucially still have another game in hand on the also-rans heading into 2025, and the former Feyenoord boss still has not a single blot on his road notebook since touching down at Anfield.
Indeed, Liverpool have avoided defeat in each of their first 13 away matches in the 2024-25 campaign - scoring in every single one of those games - although the hosts can be encouraged by the league leaders' recent defensive vulnerabilities on rival soil.
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Liverpool's engrossing 6-3 win over Tottenham Hotspur before Christmas marked the fourth Premier League away game in a row where they have conceded at least twice, having also failed to maintain their rearguard concentration at Arsenal, Southampton and Newcastle United.
Julen Lopetegui's West Ham will no doubt take any glimmer of hope that they can get before the irrepressible Reds come to visit, but the Irons are ending the year as they mean to start the new one, as Thursday's success at Southampton made it four Premier League games without defeat.
A praiseworthy total of eight points from the last 12 on offer in the top flight has lifted the Hammers above Manchester United and into 13th place in the standings, mathematically closer to the top five than the relegation places as the Lopetegui sack talk quietens down.
Establishing a consistent streak in the final third, Sunday's hosts have found the back of the net in each of their last seven Premier League matches and have only been bested in one of their last six top-flight games at the London Stadium, which was the location of Jurgen Klopp and Salah's memorable touchline spat last term.
West Ham held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw in that affair, but the Reds have triumphed in six of the other seven most recent meetings between the two clubs, including a 5-1 annihilation in September's EFL Cup opener after pummelling David Moyes's team by the same scoreline en route to Wembley glory last year.
Team News
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It is as you were on the fitness front for Liverpool, as Slot confirmed in his pre-match press conference that neither Ibrahima Konate (knee) nor Conor Bradley (hamstring) are available, but the defensive duo could return against Manchester United in the Reds' first game of 2025.
Konate and Bradley are two of three definite absentees for the visitors, who have also lost Dominik Szoboszlai to suspension after the Hungary international picked up his fifth Premier League yellow card of the season in the Leicester victory.
Szoboszlai was only a late substitute on Boxing Day anyway - Jones is sure to reprise his role with his teammate unavailable - but both Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz will endeavour to return to the attacking line at the expense of the misfiring Darwin Nunez.
Liverpool's squad may be in relatively good nick, but the same cannot be said for West Ham, who have been dealt no fewer than five new blows following their victory over Southampton.
The Irons' win was overshadowed by a serious-looking injury to Lukasz Fabianski, who was stretchered off after a bang to the head and is now following concussion protocol, and Max Kilman came off with a shoulder problem earlier in the first half.
Lopetegui also confirmed that Carlos Soler's surprising half-time withdrawal at St Mary's was injury-related - the Spaniard is nursing a knee problem - and the hosts' midfield has been further ravaged by Guido Rodriguez and Tomas Soucek's suspensions.
However, Lucas Paqueta is back from a ban of his own and can replace one of the duo, and a recall for Edson Alvarez also beckons. Michail Antonio, meanwhile, is still recovering from his road accident injuries.
West Ham United possible starting lineup:
Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Mavropanos, Todibo, Emerson; Alvarez; Bowen, Paqueta, Kudus, Summerville; Fullkrug
Liverpool possible starting lineup:
Alisson; Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, Van Dijk, Tsimikas; Mac Allister, Gravenberch; Salah, Jones, Diaz; Jota
We say: West Ham United 1-3 Liverpool
West Ham's midfield crisis may force Lopetegui into fielding more attack-minded players than he would have liked, which will certainly benefit the Irons' hopes of prolonging Liverpool's defensive misery and extending their stellar scoring sequence.
However, the newly-decimated Irons are at risk of being ruthlessly exposed by the league leaders, who can refresh their frontline with well-rested big-hitters such as Jota and Diaz and will surely end the year on a victorious note.
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Ben Knapton
