National Post (National Edition)
Liverpool 6 points up on new Man City slip
Liverpool made it an unhappy return to Anfield for the club’s former coach Rafael Benitez by crushing his Newcastle side 4-0 to go six points clear at the top of the English Premier League on Wednesday.
Dejan Lovren, Mohamed Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri, and Fabinho scored as Liverpool gave its hopes of landing the top-flight title for the first time since 1990 a boost.
“They showed they are good enough to win the title,” Benitez said after watching his Newcastle side being dismantled. “They have a very good team. When you want to win a league title you need to be consistent and they can do it.”
Liverpool’s Juergen Klopp, however, played down the significance of his club’s table lead.
“That means nothing,” he said. “It’s good we have six more points, but that is pretty much all.”
Defending champion Manchester City suffered its second surprise loss in four days when it was beaten at Leicester 2-1. To add to Man City’s troubles, Fabian Delph was sent off for a straight red card near the end.
Tottenham followed up its 6-2 romp at Everton on Sunday with another big win in a 5-0 thrashing of Bournemouth that took the London club one point ahead of Manchester City in the standings.
Paul Pogba grabbed two goals to help interim coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer celebrate his first home match in charge of Manchester United with a 3-1 victory against bottom club Huddersfield.
Fulham climbed off the foot of the standings by drawing Wolverhampton at home 1-1, while a double from Lucas Digne led Everton to win at Burnley 5-1. Crystal Palace, which beat Manchester City on Saturday, drew with Cardiff 0-0.