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Jordan Ayew opened the scoring after just six minutes as Leicester, which dropped into the relegation zone earlier on Boxing Day, threatened a monumental upset.

He swivelled on Stephy Mavididi's cross while holding off Andrew Robertson before squeezing his finish inside the near post, giving Leicester a timely boost after Wolverhampton Wanderers' win over Manchester United dropped it into the bottom three.

Robertson and Mohamed Salah both struck the woodwork before Liverpool finally broke through with an outstanding strike from Cody Gakpo, and it was one-way traffic from then on.

Curtis Jones put the Reds 2-1 up early in the second half, sweeping Alexis Mac Allister's cross home from six yards out, before Salah made the points safe in the 82nd minute.

The Egyptian advanced into the area before tucking a neat finish inside the far post to score his 100th home Premier League goal, and his 16th overall in the competition this term.

Liverpool's lead at the summit could be cut to six points when Arsenal hosts Ipswich Town on Saturday (AEDT), while Leicester is now 18th, one point behind Vitor Pereira's resurgent Wolves.

Making his 250th Premier League start for Liverpool, Salah registered his 250th goal involvement for the Reds in the competition.

He is just the fourth player to achieve that feat for a single club, after Wayne Rooney for Manchester United (276), Ryan Giggs for the Red Devils (271) and Harry Kane for Tottenham (259). 

Salah also has 100 home Premier League goals, with 98 of those coming for Liverpool and two for Chelsea. 

He is just the eighth player to reach that milestone and has done so in the fourth-fewest games, after Alan Shearer (91 appearances), Thierry Henry (113) and Sergio Aguero (125).

Liverpool boss Arne Slot remains cautious, despite his side's promising position at the top of the table as 2024 draws to a close.

When asked if he and his side were aware of how the table looked, Slot replied: "Of course we do look at the table, it would be a bit weird to look at the other side."

But the Dutchman pointed to Manchester City's plight – Pep Guardiola's side began the season as league leader but jas dropped to seventh after a wretched run – as a warning to his players against complacency.

"We know how hard this league is," he said.

"It was just two months ago that we were one point behind City. We know what this league can do if you get injuries or suspensions. This can happen to any team and, if that happens, then this league is too good to pick up points, so we have to stay on top of our game."

Slot also highlighted the importance of Gakpo's goal in getting his side back on level terms before half-time after dominating the majority of the match up to that point.

He said: "I think during the first 45 minutes we were many times in around their 18-yard box and created enough to score a goal, but if you then don't do it, you never know what the end result would have been like if you don't score just before half-time."