Liverpool’s title hopes take big hit
Draw with Spurs makes quest tougher for Reds
Frustration but no moaning from Jurgen Klopp, even after a title setback for Liverpool. Klopp’s side being held 1-1 by tactically disciplined and defensively robust Tottenham yesterday handed Manchester City an even greater initiative in the Premier League title race. The damage would have been greater had Luis Diaz’s deflected strike not canceled out Son Heungmin’s tap-in for the fifth-placed visitors.
“I’m really proud of the performance,” Klopp said. “The mentality we showed.”
It’s the mentality that might yet propel the Champions League and FA Cup finalists, who have already collected the League Cup, to a treble.
A quadruple of trophies could soon be out of reach.
Liverpool are back in first place in the league but City can pull three points clear with three games remaining by beating Newcastle this morning.
“I would love to sit here and say City will drop points,” Klopp said. “The only problem is I can’t see it.”
It’s a testament to Liverpool’s recovery this season that the title race is going this close to the wire. Being held by Tottenham was only the second time in 14 matches that Liverpool have dropped points, and the other time was against City.
Drawing at Anfield also hurts Spurs’ bid to qualify for the Champions League.
Arsenal in fourth place can pull four points ahead of Tottenham by beating Leeds overnight ahead of a north London derby meeting on Friday. But the performance against the 2020 champions will galvanise Tottenham for the run-in.
“This was perfect in our game plan, good team play,” Son said. “But we should have got more.”
The moment to take the lead was seized with a flowing attack in the 56th minute when Harry Kane laid the ball off to the left flank where Ryan Sessegnon squared for Son to finish simply into an unprotected net.
Chances to double the lead were minimal before Diaz’s shot in the 74th deflected off Rodrigo Bentancur and beat goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. It was one of only three shots on target from 22 attempts — the same number Tottenham managed from eight.
Falling away from the top four are Manchester United, who have now suffered five straight away losses — with 16 goals conceded in that run — after a 4-0 loss to Brighton.
Trailing 1-0 at halftime after Moises Caicedo’s long-range strike, United conceded three goals in 11 minutes from the 49th as Marc Cucurella, Pascal Gross and Leandro Trossard scored for a rampant Brighton team with little to play for at the end of the season.
The best United can realistically hope for is a sixth-place finish and a spot in the Europa League.
The season will end with United’s fewest points since 1991, before the Premier League era launched. It’s a challenging situation for incoming manager Erik ten Hag to inherit.
In the race for third, Todd Boehly got drama after taking his seat at Chelsea as a prospective part-owner, just not what he was hoping for as the west London club collapsed to draw against Wolverhampton 2-2.
Boehly appeared to live the emotional rollercoaster of the match — from the early VAR calls disallowing two Chelsea goals, to the double from Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, to the equaliser by Wolves defender Conor Coady in the seventh minute of secondhalf stoppage time.
“We are disappointed not to give the first win for him,” Chelsea captain Cesar Azpilicueta said of Boehly.
A consortium fronted by the Los Angeles Dodgers’ part-owner agreed on terms for the $4.8 billion purchase of Chelsea. The takeover needs Premier League and government approval.
Third-placed Chelsea are still not certain of securing Champions League qualification for the first full season of Boehly’s reign, sitting just four points ahead of Arsenal.
At the bottom of the ladder, Roy Hodgson couldn’t keep Watford up in perhaps the final job of his long coaching career.
Watford’s immediate return to the Championship was sealed by a 1-0 loss at Crystal Palace, for whom Wilfried Zaha scored a penalty.
When Hodgson — the 74-year-old former England manager — was hired in January, Watford were in next-tolast place and the team are still there with three games remaining. Time has run out, though, with Watford on 22 points — 12 from safety.
Burnley might join Watford and already-relegated Norwich in the Championship after losing to Aston Villa 3-1 for their first defeat under interim manager Mike Jackson.
It left Burnley two points clear of third-to-last Everton, who have two games in hand — the first at Leicester overnight.
Brentford, though, can start preparing for another season in the Premier League in their first top-flight campaign since 1947, after a 3-0 win over Southampton.