Arne Slot was full of praise for Mohamed Salah's defensive diligence in Liverpool's 4-1 win over Ipswich Town on Saturday - admitting it was refreshing to talk about something other than the forward's current contract stand-off.

Salah, 32, scored the second of Liverpool's four goals at Anfield on Saturday afternoon as he helped his side maintain their six-point lead over title rivals Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

But after Cody Gakpo (2) added to earlier strikes from Dominik Szoboszlai and Salah to put Liverpool in cruise control, there was one moment from the Egyptian, who is out of contract at the end of the season, that caught the eye of many inside Anfield.

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After seeing his pass in the final third intercepted by Jaden Philogene, Salah raced back to the halfway line to win the ball back and regain possession for his side.

When asked about that particular passage of play after the game, Slot said: "It's also nice that you [journalists] come up with it because mostly with Mo [Salah], it is about his contract or his goals and now it is about his defensive work rate.

"That stood out because it was a moment which we could all see. But I think if you look at almost all the times we lost the ball, I saw a reaction from many players like that.

"Playing against a team with fast wingers and a good number nine - that goes to such a low block - it is so difficult to control the counter-attack. The only way to do so is to do what Mo did in this moment and so many other players did in different moments. That's why I was pleased with our performance."

On the 4-1 win, Slot added: "I think today is the way you want to start the game, we were aggressive, dominant. For 85 minutes, they hardly came into our half, I think. It is a counter-attack threat with the wingers they have and [Liam] Delap, but we managed to control that so, so well because of the amount of work we have put in.

"In the end, of course, we were all a bit disappointed to concede from a corner - the first one this season. But for 85 minutes, it was an almost perfect performance, against a team that goes to such a low block. That is not always easy. But the way we did it for 85 minutes was really good."