Liverpool needed a late Nordi Mukiele own-goal to avoid another damaging defeat at home in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland, although the result did little to ease the pressure on Arne Slot.
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The champions were hoping to have turned a corner with a much-needed 2-0 victory at West Ham.
However, it was the same old story for Arne Slot’s men as the combination of defensive errors and a lack of attacking fluency cost them another two points.
Sunderland took the lead on 67 minutes when Chemsdine Talbi pounced on a sloppy pass by Virgil van Dijk to fire in from outside the box.
Florian Wirtz thought he had finally opened his Liverpool account after a £100 million move from Bayer Leverkusen to salvage a point, but his strike took a wicked deflection and was eventually credited as a Mukiele own-goal.
Sunderland should still have registered their first Anfield win since 1983 when Wilson Isidor raced clear in stoppage time but was denied by a goal-line clearance by Federico Chiesa.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher was scathing in his assessment of the performance on Sky Sports.
“It’s not even the draw, it’s the performance. It’s really worrying,” Carragher said.
“It feels like a real step back tonight to what you saw at West Ham at the weekend. They didn’t look like scoring a goal at any moment of the game tonight. Missing the energy, zip, pace power. Really worrying.”
Meanwhile, former Liverpool and Aston Villa defender Stephen Warnock said it “looks like under-six football when all of the kids go, ‘Let’s go up front’.”
“The basics just aren’t there for Liverpool and that’s why they are conceding so many opportunities,” he added.
“How are you getting it so wrong? They are switching off for the simplest of things.”
**SHAMBOLIC MOMENT AS BIG BLOW TO CHELSEA’S TITLE HOPES**
Chelsea’s Premier League title challenge suffered a huge setback as lowly Leeds swept to a shock 3-1 win at Elland Road.
Enzo Maresca’s side paid the price for a woeful first-half performance featuring Leeds goals from Jaka Bijol and Ao Tanaka.
Pedro Neto reduced the deficit after the interval but Chelsea conceded a farcical third goal to Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the closing stages.
Losing to a fourth-bottom Leeds side beaten in their previous four games was a major setback to Chelsea’s hopes of competing with leaders Arsenal for the title.
The Blues’ first defeat in eight games in all competitions left them nine points behind Arsenal in fourth place.
Chelsea were without influential midfielder Moises Caicedo after the Ecuador star was sent off in Sunday’s stormy 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
The Blues had recovered from Caicedo’s dismissal to take the lead through Trevoh Chalobah, but couldn’t hold on as Mikel Merino snatched Arsenal’s equaliser.
Spurs concede comical goal | 01:22
Maresca rested Neto, Reece James, and Wesley Fofana in a bid to freshen up his side.
But Chelsea still looked drained from facing Arsenal with 10 men for so long and Leeds took full advantage of their mental and physical fatigue.
Leeds struck after just six minutes when Anton Stach’s corner picked out Bijol and he rose above Liam Delap to power his header past Robert Sanchez.
Chelsea had won just 29 percent of their league matches when Caicedo was out of the starting line-up and they struggled again without their driving force.
Pascal Struijk glanced a header narrowly wide from another corner to underline Chelsea’s lethargy at the back.
Delap scuffed a good chance to haul Chelsea back into the game against the run of play.
Leeds’ sublime second goal in the 43rd minute was a rude awakening for Chelsea’s title prospects.
Japan midfielder Tanaka took possession just outside the Chelsea area and unleashed a ferocious shot that arrowed past Sanchez.
Leeds United claimed a big win. (Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP)Source: AFP
Chelsea have never come back to win a Premier League away game when trailing by two or more goals at half-time.
Neto came off the bench to give them hope of ending that dismal streak in the 50th minute.
Jamie Gittens clipped a cross into the six-yard box and Neto took a touch before drilling home for his fifth league goal this season.
Delap slammed his shot into the side-netting to Maresca’s frustration as Chelsea chased an equaliser.
Maresca sent on Cole Palmer for the England forward’s first appearance in two months after an injury-plagued spell that included fracturing his toe after stubbing it on a door.
Palmer’s introduction alongside Argentine winger Alejandro Garnacho almost conjured an immediate equaliser.
Garnacho’s run and cross teed up Palmer for a low strike that fizzed just wide from 10 yards.
But Chelsea shot themselves in the foot to gift Leeds the decisive third goal in the 72nd minute.
It was a shambolic moment as Malo Gusto’s pass inside his own area put Tosin Adarabioyo under pressure.
Adarabioyo’s panicked pass towards Sanchez was intercepted by Noah Okafor and when the Chelsea keeper blocked the shot, Calvert-Lewin was on hand to tap into the empty net as Maresca looked on in disbelief.
**ARSENAL EXTEND TITLE LEAD**
Meanwhile, Mikel Merino maintained his emergence as Arsenal’s unlikely goal king as the makeshift striker inspired the Premier League leaders’ 2-0 win against Brentford.
Merino has been converted from a central midfielder to the fulcrum of Arsenal’s attack due to injuries to Viktor Gyokores, Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus.
The Spain international has risen to the challenge with five goals this season, including the first-half header that opened the scoring at the Emirates Stadium.
It was the second successive game that Merino delivered a vital contribution to Arsenal’s title challenge after his equaliser at title rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
Thanks to Merino, and Bukayo Saka’s strike in the closing moments, Mikel Arteta’s side moved five points clear of second-placed Manchester City, who won 5-4 at Fulham on Tuesday.
Arsenal are unbeaten in their last 18 games in all competitions as they chase a first English title since 2004.
After finishing as Premier League runners-up for the last three seasons, the Gunners are showing the priceless ability to grind out results when they are not at their best.
After coming from behind to avoid defeat at 10-man Chelsea, Arteta was concerned about the potential for an emotional and physical hangover from his players against Brentford.
Arteta called for Arsenal fans to turn up “like animals” at the Emirates Stadium to help roar his team to victory.
In the end, the atmosphere was more nervous than Arteta would have liked as Arsenal clung to their lead, but far more raucous days lie ahead if his team retain pole position in the title race.
Martin Odegaard of Arsenal applauds the fans. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Dropping Saka, Eberechi Eze and Jurrien Timber to the bench to keep them fresh ahead of the hectic Christmas schedule, Arteta brought in Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke and Ben White, who made his first league start since August.
Arsenal were without injured centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes, but Brentford boss Keith Andrews did Arteta a favour by benching prolific Brazilian forward Igor Thiago and the Gunners kept their first clean-sheet in five matches.
Andrews deployed a back five in a bid to frustrate Arsenal but it took Merino just 11 minutes to breach the visitors’ defence.
Madueke’s clever back-heel allowed White to whip a cross towards Merino and the Spaniard timed his run perfectly to guide a header past Caoimhin Kelleher from six yards.
Arsenal pressed hard for a second and Madueke’s low drive was repelled by Kelleher before White fired into the side-netting.
Brentford nearly snatched an equaliser completely against the run of play when Kevin Schade’s thumping header from a corner was superbly tipped onto the crossbar by David Raya.
Chelsea and Gunners fight out tense draw | 01:05
Arsenal have conceded just two goals at home in the league this season, but their defensive injury problems mounted just before half-time when Cristhian Mosquera limped off.
Mosquera’s departure knocked Arsenal out of their stride and the second half became a war of attrition as the Gunners tried in vain to recapture their first half swagger.
Arteta responded by introducing Saka and Eze, a move that immediately revived Arsenal as Riccardo Calafiori’s blast was well saved by Kelleher.
Declan Rice tested Kelleher with a 20-yard rocket that the goalkeeper pushed out to Merino, who poked wide from close range.
Rice was forced off in the closing stages in a worrying sight for Arteta. Saka ensured Arsenal wouldn’t miss the England midfielder as he raced clear to wrap up the points with a stinging strike that Kelleher could only parry into the net.