Premier League Talking Points: Bournemouth Stuns Old Trafford Again As Salah Continues Liverpool Dominance

Mohamed Salah displayed his worth to Liverpool with a brilliant performance as the Premier League leaders dominated Tottenham.

Ruben Amorim got a painful reminder of the size of the task facing him to rebuild Manchester United, while Manchester City’s crisis is mounting.

Sportxparte looks at three talking points from the weekend’s action:

Liverpool must tie up Salah

Mohamed Salah was already winning the public relations battle in his contract dispute with Liverpool, and his spectacular performance in Sunday’s 6-3 victory over Tottenham further demonstrated his importance to the team.

This showing highlighted the potential backlash club officials could face from fans if they decide to let him go.

Salah scored twice and provided two assists in the goal-spree in north London as Liverpool moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The 32-year-old is the first Premier League player to achieve at least 10 goals and 10 assists before Christmas, and his two goals in the match also propelled him into fourth place on Liverpool’s all-time scoring list, with a total of 229 goals in all competitions.

Salah’s immense value to Arne Slot’s team is clear, but Liverpool have been unable to persuade the forward to sign a new contract as speculation mounts about his future.

With Salah’s current deal expiring at the end of this season, he will be free to sign a pre-contract agreement with a foreign club from January, leaving Liverpool fans hoping he is finally persuaded to extend his seven-year stay sooner rather than later.

Amorim takes the blame for United’s problems

Ruben Amorim takes responsibility for Manchester United’s humiliating 3-0 loss at home to Bournemouth, admitting that everything is “so hard” for his struggling club.

Just seven days after their memorable comeback win at Manchester City, Amorim’s side were booed off following a woeful performance that leaves them languishing in 13th place.

United will spend Christmas in the bottom half of the table for the first time since 1989, as Amorim grapples with his fourth defeat in nine matches across all competitions since taking over from the sacked Erik ten Hag.

Once again, set-pieces were United’s weakness, with Dean Huijsen scoring with a first-half header from a free-kick to start the shocking collapse.

“Without conceding nothing to the opponent and then one set-piece makes us more nervous, all the stadium,” Amorim said.

“I felt it since the first minute, there’s a lot of anxiety. That’s normal because of the context and it’s disappointing.”

Hampered by his leaky defense, Amorim knows United is in a “difficult moment” ahead of the Boxing Day trip to lowly Wolves.

So Amorim should have been in the middle of telling reporters that it was “my responsibility to coach the players” when his press conference was interrupted by a leak from the media room ceiling.

Slumping Man City must ‘stick together’

Manchester City defender Rico Lewis urged his crisis-torn side to “stick together” after their sixth Premier League defeat of the season against Aston Villa.

City’s 2-1 loss at Villa Park left the reeling champions with nine defeats in their last 12 matches in all competitions.

Pep Guardiola’s team has already lost twice as many league matches this season as they did during the entirety of last season, when they secured their fourth consecutive title.

City have only managed one clean sheet in their last 10 games in all competitions, exposing the root of their problems.

Lewis is optimistic that the experienced players in City’s squad can help reverse their fortunes, but he acknowledged the importance of preventing the current slump from creating rifts within the dressing room.

“There’s leaders in the dressing room. They can speak, everyone listens and everyone agrees,” he said.

“But when it comes down to it, it’s not what is said in the changing room, it’s what we’re doing on the pitch. That’s what needs to be solved.

“Nobody is going onto the pitch saying ‘I’m not doing that,’ or ‘I don’t want to win.’ It’s difficult right now but we have to stick together.”