Brighton slowed down Arsenal (1-1) in their title race on Saturday, to the delight of Liverpool, comfortable leader with five points ahead and two more matches to play.
The “Reds” with 45 units no longer have to worry too much about Manchester City (6th, 34 pts), even if the reigning four-time English champions regained color on Saturday against West Ham (4-1) .
And they see the Chelsea threat (4th, 36 pts) evaporate further after the 1-1 draw conceded by the “Blues” at Crystal Palace.
They could relegate Arsenal eight lengths in the event of a victory on Sunday against Manchester United. And they have one more cartridge left with the derby against Everton, scheduled for December but postponed because of the Darragh storm.
In the rain in Brighton, Arsenal slipped despite a good start, materialized by the goal of Ethan Nwaneri (16th), young 17-year-old striker started in place of the long-term injured Bukayo Saka.
The “Seagulls” raised the tone in the second half and were rewarded with a penalty from Joao Pedro (61st). William Saliba tried to clear a ball with his head but hit that of the Brazilian striker, which led the referee to call a foul.
“I’ve never seen that in my life – and Saliba touches the ball. (It wasn’t a penalty) for me, no,” criticized coach Mikel Arteta, glowering, in front of the Sky Sports camera .
– Savinho brille –
Manchester City, for its part, scored a second consecutive victory, against a West Ham team that was too limited, six days after taking advantage of another opponent that was too soft, Leicester (2-0).
At the Etihad, the spotlight mainly came from Savinho and Erling Haaland, an increasingly complementary attacking duo, and already behind the success last weekend.
The 20-year-old Brazilian winger provoked a “csc” from Vladimir Coufal (10th, 1-0), delivered an offering for the head of Haaland (42nd, 2-0) and slipped a new decisive ball for the Norwegian (55th , 3-0).
Phil Foden added to the score (58th, 4-0), before Niclas Füllkrug reduced the gap (71st, 4-1).
“There were moments when we played well, others less so. There is a little improvement, but we are aware that we still have to do better,” summarized Kevin De Bruyne speaking to Sky Sports.
In the meantime, the “Citizens” have pocketed six points in two Premier League matches, more than in the previous nine (one victory, two draws and six defeats).
– Chelsea in slow motion –
The “Blues” had invited themselves to the heights of the championship after a great start to the season, to the point of being presented as potential candidates for the title. But in two weeks and four matches without a victory, their credit and confidence have vanished.
Their last opponents, however, were not big names: Everton (0-0), Fulham and Ipswich (2-1 then 2-0 defeats), and finally Crystal Palace, modest fifteenth.
Chelsea opened the scoring with Cole Palmer (14th, 1-0) then was content to manage their advantage until the deserved equalizer from Jean-Philippe Mateta (82nd, 1-1).
“It’s a shame because I think we deserved to win, we had so many chances. We know we have to be clinical, otherwise the match remains open, and we conceded a goal”, reacted the coach Enzo Maresca with the BBC.
You will have to quickly recover, otherwise you will be caught by the cavalry. All of Chelsea’s pursuers won on Saturday: Newcastle (5th, 35 pts) at Tottenham, Manchester City, Bournemouth (7th, 33 pts) against Everton and Aston Villa (8th, 32 pts) against Leicester.
Among these teams, Newcastle is the one with the best dynamics. The “Magpies” have been walking on water for three weeks, with fifteen points taken out of fifteen possible, a series embellished by fifteen goals scored and only one conceded, this Saturday at Tottenham (2-1).
The “Spurs”, diminished by a multitude of absences in defense (Vicario, Romero, van de Ven, Udogie), have won only one of their last eight league matches.
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