Liverpool head into Christmas because the Premier League’s clear title favourite, holding a four-point lead and a recreation in hand after an exhilarating 6-3 victory at Tottenham.
Meanwhile, Manchester United, beneath new supervisor Ruben Amorim, limps into the festive season in thirteenth place – its lowest place at Christmas because the 1989-90 season – going through a rising sense of disaster.
A 3-0 residence defeat to Bournemouth, marking its second straight loss to the Cherries, is the most recent reminder of how far the once-mighty membership has fallen, leaving Amorim with a tricky activity forward. To make issues worse, it appears Liverpool’s dominance is unstoppable.
Make that 21 video games in all competitions with out defeat after the Reds’ greatest league win of the season, with Mohamed Salah netting two targets to maneuver above Manchester City’s Erling Haaland to the highest of the scoring charts.
Liverpool has 39 factors from 16 video games and stretched its lead over second-place Chelsea, which might solely draw 0-0 at Everton, to finish a five-match profitable streak within the league.
Salah now has 15 targets within the Premier League, breaking a tie with Haaland – and can go away London considering he ought to have had extra.
In an end-to-end contest resembling a basketball match, Liverpool scored greater than 5 targets for the primary time this season, with Luis Diaz (two), Alexis Mac Allister, and Dominik Szoboszlai additionally getting on the scoresheet.
“You can see quality players with top discipline,” Tottenham captain Son Heung-min said. “There’s a cause they’re prime. If you give them a mistake, they punish you.”
Tottenham’s injury-hit protection was open on the again, however its assault triggered Liverpool’s issues all through, with James Maddison, Dejan Kulusevski, and Dominic Solanke all discovering the online.
Spurs are one other large staff within the backside half, having slipped to eleventh place.
The optimism generated by a last-gasp 2-1 derby win at Manchester City final weekend has disappeared for United, which misplaced 4-3 at Tottenham within the English League Cup quarterfinals on Thursday earlier than being handed a defeat to Bournemouth by the identical scoreline as 12 months in the past.
“We had been a bit nervous, I felt it within the stadium,” mentioned Amorim, who has gained 4 and misplaced 4 in all competitions since beginning his United tenure with a draw at Ipswich on Nov. 24.
Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert – from the penalty spot – and Antoine Semenyo scored for Bournemouth, which climbed to fifth place within the standings and has now crushed Man City, Arsenal, Tottenham, and United this season. Indeed, City has dropped to seventh place, an unthinkable unraveling for the winner of the final 4 Premier League titles.
United overlooked Marcus Rashford for the third straight match.
At one level throughout Amorim’s post-match press convention, water appeared to drip slowly from a ceiling mild becoming onto reporters sitting within the entrance row of the Old Trafford media room.
After all the cash spent on gamers – $1.3 billion and counting – and the large turnover of managers, Chelsea’s American possession might have seen the membership atop the Premier League with a win at Everton – for a few hours, no less than.
However, a 0-0 draw ended Chelsea’s eight-match profitable run in all competitions and gave Liverpool the chance to push 4 factors clear.
Nicolas Jackson headed in opposition to the publish within the first half for Chelsea, whereas Everton had the clearer probabilities within the second half.
Everton additionally held Arsenal 0-0 final weekend.
“Sometimes you have to play a different game, and we are learning to play a different game,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said. “They (Everton) are among the best groups in Europe when it comes to clear sheets.”
Vitor Pereira obtained off to a terrific begin as Wolverhampton supervisor, along with his new staff beating Leicester 3-0 in his first match in cost.
Pereira took cost Thursday because the substitute for Gary O’Neil and instantly ended Wolves’ four-game dropping run as Gonçalo Guedes, Rodrigo Gomes, and Matheus Cunha scored first-half targets at King Power Stadium.
Wolves stayed within the relegation zone however moved two factors behind Leicester, which is a spot above the underside three. Pereira mentioned, “I believe that we will stay in the Premier League and we will play at a better level than we saw today.”
It handed Leicester supervisor Ruud van Nistelrooy a second straight large loss early in his reign, after a 4-0 defeat at Newcastle final weekend.
Another not too long ago employed Premier League supervisor, Ivan Juric, started life at Southampton with a 0-0 draw at Fulham.
Juric wasn’t answerable for the staff as a result of he doesn’t have a piece allow. He sat within the stands for the match as an alternative.
Source: www.dailysabah.com