LOP-SIDED HAMMERING

Pressure mounts on boss Lopetegui as superb | Liverpool march irresistibly on towards the title

- IVAN SPECK

FESTIVE Sundays in London are becoming Liverpool's dream time.

After dismantling Tottenham with a six-goal show a week ago, their 5-0 demolition of West Ham was even more brutal.

The Premier League champions-elect extended their lead at the top to eight points and looked several classes apart from their opponents.

The Hammers continue to struggle for fluency under Julen Lopetegui and where they go from here is anybody's guess. But there seems little doubt that Liverpool are headed for the title under Arne Slot.

Even the most optimistic West Ham fan will not truly believe the outcome would have been different had Lucas Paqueta found the bottom corner after six minutes instead of dragging his effort just wide.

It might at least have delayed the inevitable onslaught that quickly built at the other end.

Predictably, Mo Salah was involved in most of it.

He scored one and made two, including a final clinching goal for Diogo Jota with a run of grace and pace that had even the home fans in awe of the Egyptian's talent. Salah was superbly denied by Hammers keeper Alphonse Areola, who flew off his line to throw himself in the way of his shot.