THINGS WE LEARNT IN THE PREM THIS WEEKEND
SAVVY MILNER DRIVING REDS ON TO TITLE GLORY
The shut-out against West Ham means Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal have kept three clean sheets in their past four league games, as many as they had in their previous 23.
Wolves are the bore-draw specialists, with five 0-0 results this season in all competitions – the most of any Premier League side.
Jose Mourinho has had plenty of criticism but only Liverpool (48) and Man City (32) have taken more points than Spurs since his first game in charge in November (27, tied with Wolves).
The Reds ended it by moving within two wins of the title, and vice-captain Milner saw it as a reminder of how tough it is to triumph in the top tier.
Milner, 34, returned to the side at left-back as they came from behind to beat Bournemouth thanks to strikes from Mo Salah and Sadio Mane.
There seemed a slight overreaction to Liverpool’s first league defeat of the campaign at Watford before they went out of the FA Cup at Chelsea.
But they got their 27th league win on Saturday to reach 82 points with nine games remaining. “There is going to be a point where it is very, very hard to win a game,” said Milner, who was in the Leeds side that went down in 2004.
“I have been relegated and you think it is just an impossible task to win a game of football. So you have to remember how hard it is and how competitive the Premier League is. Every time you are not at that level you are going to get found out.”
The Reds fell behind on nine minutes to Callum Wilson’s strike but a mistake by Jack Simpson resulted in Salah equalising and Mane got the winner after being put clear by Virgil van Dijk.
Milner later had to clear a Ryan Fraser lob off the line and his experience proved vital. While he has been relegated, the former Manchester City star has twice won the title and knows how to get the job done.
“When you have experienced things, it does help,” he said. “When you get a few poor performances, all hell breaks loose. It is about how you deal with poor displays and bad results while trying to get over the line mentally.” Manager Jurgen Klopp said:
“It’s important you keep your nerve but I was never worried.” Klopp also hailed Milner. “I hope I haven’t been short of praising Millie in the past! Why would we extend the contract of a 34-year-old by two years if he’s not incredibly important?
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Adrian 6; AlexanderArnold 7, Gomez 6, Van Dijk 8, Milner 8; OxladeChamberlain 7 (Lallana 84), Fabinho 6, Wijnaldum 7; Salah 8, Firmino 6 (Origi 90), Mane 8. Goals: Salah 24, Mane 33.
BOURNEMOUTH (4-3-3): Ramsdale 7; Stacey 7, S Cook 6 (Simpson 19, 5), Ake 7, Smith 7; Billing 8, Lerma 7 (Gosling 81), L Cook 6; Stanislas 7 (Solanke 68, 6), Wilson 7, Fraser 7. Goal: Wilson 9.
NATHAN AKE has warned his ❑
Bournemouth team-mates that they must start delivering points, not just performances.
The Cherries are in the drop zone after gifting Liverpool victory with bad defensive mistakes and a couple of missed chances. Centre-half Ake said: “You can talk about going toe to toe and stuff like that but, at this stage of the season, if you play like that you have to get something out of the game. “We gifted them the goals and if you get a chance here, you have to score.”