Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri after scoring a goal
Manchester City just cannot shrug off Liverpool in what is looking increasingly like a two-horse race for the Premier League title.
Three days after scoring a winner six minutes into injury time in the local derby against Everton, Liverpool needed rested stars Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah to come off the bench and help rally the team to a 3-1 win at Burnley yesterday [Macau time].
Liverpool moved back to within two points of City, the defending champions, and the top two remain unbeaten after 15 of 38 games.
Fewer and fewer sides look capable of keeping touch with them
Chelsea lost for the second time in three matches, squandering an early lead in a surprise 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The London club’s 10-point gap to City could grow further at the weekend, with the leaders visiting Stamford Bridge.
Defeat for Chelsea allowed Tottenham to climb into third place — six points behind Liverpool — after a 3-1 win over Southampton.
Manchester United dropped Paul Pogba and was held to a 2-2 draw with Arsenal in a bruising match at Old Trafford, leaving Jose Mourinho’s team 18 points behind City. Even the bare minimum of Champions League qualification could be beyond United, which is in eighth spot and eight points adrift of fourth-place Chelsea.
BURNLEY FC 1, LIVERPOOL 3
Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp gambled by changing his entire forward line at Burnley, with Salah and Firmino dropped to the bench and Sadio Mane out injured.
It looked like that decision might backfire when Burnley took the lead in the 54th minute through Jack Cork.
Klopp sent on Salah and Firmino soon after James Milner equalized in the 62nd, and they made an immediate impression.
Firmino scored with his first touch to put Liverpool in front before Salah set up Xherdan Shaqiri for the third goal in injury time.
The one negative for Liverpool was the sight of Joe Gomez leaving the field on a stretcher because of an ankle injury. Klopp was later critical of Burnley’s physical approach.
WOLVES 2, CHELSEA 1
Outplayed by Tottenham two weeks ago and now outfought by Wolves, these are worrying times for Chelsea. And the coach knows it.
“Suddenly we conceded a goal and we weren’t the same team,” Maurizio Sarri said. “It’s very difficult for me to understand why.”
Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota scored in a four-minute span around the hour mark to complete Wolves’ fightback and condemn Chelsea to a second loss of the campaign.
MAN UNITED 2, ARSENAL 2
Mourinho fielded a patched-up Manchester United side against Arsenal, but there was still no room for French World Cup winner Paul Pogba.
Citing “tactical and technical reasons,” Mourinho dropped Pogba and Romelu Lukaku to the bench. It was Pogba’s absence that stood out, coming at a time when his relationship with the coach appears strained. Steve Douglas, AP
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