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    Top at Christmas as stats suggest Liverpool and Mohamed Salah will be champions

    Liverpool sit top at Christmas having mauled Tottenham and fans are dreaming of more title glory.

    However, it remains to be seen whether they keep up their lightning start to finish top of the pile come May.

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    Arne Slot couldn’t have wished for a better start after succeeding Jurgen Klopp at AnfieldCredit: Getty

    The Reds’ 6-3 victory in north London extended their advantage over Chelsea to four points despite having played a match less.

    Arne Slot‘s side have suffered just one defeat in the league so far this term ahead of their home clash with Leicester on Boxing Day.

    Here, talkSPORT looks at the stats behind Liverpool‘s remarkable season so far and how history suggests the campaign may end.

    Top on Christmas Day

    Sunday’s result means Liverpool will be top of the Premier League on Christmas Day for the seventh time since the Premier League’s creation in 1992.

    However, despite being champions of England 18 times prior to that, the Reds have only won the trophy once, during the 2019/20 season.

    Overall, exactly half of sides to have topped the table at Christmas have become champions – 16 out of a possible 32.

    Of those, Chelsea, Manchester City and Blackburn have won the title every time they have been top on December 25.

    City’s task

    City also have the distinction of being one of the four sides to have won the league after being outside the top four at Christmas.

    Last season’s fourth title in a row came after they reached the big day in fifth place.

    The champions sat six points behind leaders Arsenal with a game in hand before going on to claim the title.

    Liverpool will need to snap some unwanted history on their seventh time atop

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    Liverpool will need to snap some unwanted history on their seventh time atop

    City are once again outside the Champions League places this year.

    After losing to Aston Villa on Saturday, Pep Guardiola’s side are down in seventh and 12 points adrift of Liverpool.

    The result also extended their poor run of form to just one win in 12 matches across all competitions.

    Record-breaking Salah

    Much of Liverpool’s success this season is thanks to the form of Mohamed Salah.

    The forward scored twice and provided a pair of assists against Spurs to make Premier League history.

    Salah has been in a league of his own so far this season

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    Salah has been in a league of his own so far this season

    Salah is the first player ever to record more than ten goals and assists in the Premier League before Christmas Day.

    Meanwhile, he has now scored 229 goals in 373 appearances for the club to surpass Billy Liddell in Liverpool’s all-time scoring charts.

    Now the Reds’ fourth highest scorer, Salah remains behind Gordon Hodgson (241), Roger Hunt (285) and Ian Rush (346).

    Unbeatable

    Liverpool have made it to Christmas with just one defeat from their opening 16 Premier League matches.

    Salah will go down as one of Liverpool's greatest players of all time

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    Salah will go down as one of Liverpool’s greatest players of all time
    Troy Deeney doubles down on ‘world-class’ Mohamed Salah claim and names Liverpool star’s one weakness

    Their 1-0 reverse against Nottingham Forest in September came at Anfield, with the Reds still unbeaten away from home this term.

    It is just the third time that feat has been achieved by the club since they were founded in 1892.

    However, fans may have to wait a while for a repeat, with each time so far coming in a different century.

    Liverpool were unbeaten on the road at Christmas in both the 1893/94 and 1987/88 seasons.

    Both of those campaigns ended with the club winning the league they were in.

    From their eight away matches so far this term, Slot has seen his team win six times and draw on two occasions.

    The Reds will have the chance to extend that record away to West Ham on Sunday evening.

    On Boxing Day, talkSPORT has ten commentaries from the Premier League, beginning with Manchester City vs Everton at 12:30pm

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