Trent Alexander-Arnold beat one of his rivals this weekend as the picture of Liverpool’s title race becomes clearer.
Aston Villa beat Tottenham to move level on points with Liverpool.
Aston Villa drew with Liverpool after losing. A much-anticipated meeting between two Premier League sides ended in stalemate on Saturday afternoon as Manchester City and Liverpool were held to a 1-1 draw.
Erling Haaland put the hosts ahead with 30 minutes to go, but Trent Alexander-Arnold equalized with 10 minutes to go.Although the Reds were pleased with their away result, they were outclassed by many of the teams around them despite falling behind for long periods.
For example, on Saturday Arsenal beat Brentford 1-0 thanks to Kai Havertz’s last-minute strike to move top of the table behind City and Liverpool.
Aston Villa beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 on Sunday to draw with Jurgen Klopp’s side. Manchester United beat Everton 3-0 to close the gap to 4 points.
Elsewhere, Newcastle United inflicted another defeat on Mauricio Pochettino with a 4-1 win at Chelsea, while there were also wins at Brighton, West Ham, Bournemouth and newly promoted Luton Town.
we recap some of the highlights of the competition as they return from the international break.
Amazing performance
Spurs were without many of their key players for the trip to Villa, including the injured James Maddison, Mickey van de Ven and Richarlison and the suspended Christian Romero and Yves Bissouma.
But this is an impressive win for Unai Emery against one of the ‘big six’.It’s a result that underlines Villa’s status as a genuine Champions League contender, refusing to give up even after more than a third of the season.
Since Emery took over in the autumn of 2022, his side have amassed an impressive 77 points from 38 games. This is the equivalent of a season and is bettered only by current champions Manchester City (86) and current leaders Arsenal (80).
Following Newcastle’s promotion last year, Liverpool have a new rival.
weekend shock
It might seem bold to call Newcastle’s win over Chelsea a shocker. In the end, the Egyptians finished seventh, three places above the Blues and eight places ahead of last season. But given the size of the injury list and the positive signs Chelsea showed in their 4-4 international draw with Manchester City, the manner in which they won 4-1 at St James’ Park was still impressive.
Eddie Howe’s men, who were without Callum Wilson, Sven Bothman, Harvey Barnes, Dan Burn and Shaun Longstaff, secured a clear and deserved victory over what Mauricio Pochettino called his side’s “worst” of the season (via TNT Sports).
To make matters worse, Chelsea will be without captain Reece James for next weekend’s match against Brighton after he was shown a red card for two fouls.
It was a tough day for the 23-year-old, who saw England rival Alexander-Arnold shine for Liverpool.
Purpose of the Tour
As painful as it may be for Liverpool fans to admit, it’s not a rivalry. The clear winner is Alejandro Garnacho’s incredible bicycle kick against Everton, which currently looks like the most likely goal of the season.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been to a stadium where I’ve seen such good cycling,” said legend Gary Neville on commentary. “I was with [Wayne] Rooney [when United beat City 2-1 in 2011]! Wow! It’s a magical, magical goal!’
Here’s what we learned from Liverpool’s approach:
The trip to Manchester City was surely Liverpool’s ultimate title test and the Reds pulled through with a superb performance that certainly deserved a point.
But City aren’t the only team to worry about as Arsenal claimed another Championship win over Brentford.
