Arne Slot praised the 'extraordinary' Mohamed Salah after he took his goal tally to 20 for the eighth season in a row.
Salah, who said a new contract was 'far away', scored one and assisted another as five-star Liverpool beat West Ham to end 2024 on a high and extend their lead at the top of the Premier League.
Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota also scored in the 5-0 defeat to pile the pressure on Hammers boss Julen Lopetegui.
And Slot said: 'Mo and the word extraordinary is something I've heard a lot over the last six months – he really deserves this.
'We know what a player he is and what he can do. But besides that, he works very hard for the team, even when the other team has the ball, and yes, we can only hope that he can continue to deliver these performances.
'But I would add that if he scores, there is also a build-up to a goal. So there are other players who put him in these positions, but when you put Mo in these positions, he is extraordinary. Certainly.'
Salah is obviously out of contract at the end of the season and when asked about it he said: 'We are a long way from that. I don't want to put something in the media and people will say things.'
Meanwhile, Hammers boss Lopetegui was left frustrated after his side succumbed to the leaders and ended a decent run of results over the Christmas period.
The Spaniard said: 'We did not fight as we thought today or as opponent Liverpool demanded. Today was a tough day for us.”
The only downside for Liverpool was when defender Joe Gomez went down injured and had to be substituted in the first half.
Gomez told reporters after the match that it was a hamstring injury and Liverpool will wait with scans over the next 24 hours for news on the severity of the blow. Fellow defender Ibrahima Konate is also injured and hopes to speed up his recovery in the coming week.
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