Premier League leaders Leicester City have failed to score and been beaten away from home for the first time this season by going down 1-0 to Liverpool at Anfield.

Liverpool were out of the blocks quickly at Anfield and threatened inside three minutes when Philippe Coutinho's effort from distance curled wide.

Jurgen Klopp started with a 4-4-2 formation to match Leicester and it appeared to be working as Coutinho and Lallana both missed the target with decent chances.

The Premier League's top scorer Jamie Vardy was being kept quiet at the other end, but the other Leicester striker, Shinji Okazaki, had a shout for a penalty when Mamadou Sakho appeared to trip the Japanese player in the area.

Leicester keeper Kasper Schmeichel was called into action for the first time midway through the first half. First he pushed away Roberto Firmino's curler from 20 yards before Divock Origi's near-post effort was just about kept out by the Dane.

Origi had been lively in the early stages, but he was forced off in the 38th minute after picking up an injury and replaced by fellow countryman Christian Benteke.

Leicester went close to snatching the lead shortly before half time when star-man Riyad Mahrez beat two defenders on the edge of the area before firing at goal, with Simon Mignolet equal to it.

Liverpool continued to see more of the ball after the interval and Leicester did not appear to be as dangerous on the counter-attack.

The winning goal arrived in the 63rd minute, and it was Benteke who struck with a well-controlled finish from Firmino's cross.

Vardy appeared to pick up a knock in the second half and he was taken off shortly after the goal, meaning that he has failed to score in back-to-back games for the first time since August.

In the closing stages Mignolet kept out both Nathan Dyer and Robert Huth's close-range efforts, while at the other end Coutinho almost settled it with a rasping drive that flew just over.

Deep in added time Schmeichel went forward as the Foxes desperately searched for an equaliser and Liverpool should have scored on the break, but somehow Benteke fluffed his lines with only one defender to beat.

Still, Liverpool, who have never lost at home in the Premier League on Boxing Day, won for the first time in five games to move up to eighth in the table, five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Leicester are still top, but Arsenal will go above them if they beat Southampton in tonight's late kickoff.