MANCHESTER, England – Liverpool’s mini-revival came to an end on Saturday with a 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
However, after a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea and Manchester United both advanced under corresponding managers Graham Potter & Erik ten Hag.
In the meantime, Erling Haaland placed last week’s blank against Liverpool past him as Manchester City beat Brighton 3-1 to move within a point of league leader Arsenal.
After such an unsatisfying start to the season, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp may have presumed his team’s confidence-boosting victory over City last weekend would be a turning point, particularly after it was followed with another 3 points against West Ham in midweek.
However, the defeat at Forest casts new doubts on Liverpool’s capacity to put up a credible title challenge.
Taiwo Awoniyi, who managed to spend six years at Anfield but never made the first team, scored in the second half to relieve the pressure on Forest manager Steve Cooper, who’d been previously on Liverpool’s coaching staff.
The victory lifted Forest off the bottom of the table, and Klopp lamented the latest setback.
′′(It starts to feel) as low as possible,” Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said. “A huge blow because, to be honest, I don’t see how we can lose this one. We didn’t play particularly well, nor did I expect us to, however it would have been nice.”
Liverpool were void of Darwin Nunez, who was injured, as well as Thiago Alcantara, who was ill.
After having shared the points in the late kick off, Chelsea and United did not fully capitalize on Liverpool’s latest blunder.
Once Jorginho scored an 87th-minute penalty, Casemiro equalized in injury time.
Whereas the draw wasn’t really ideal for either team, it indicates that Potter and Ten Hag are persisting to assert their dominance over their respective squads.
Potter is unbeaten in eight games since taking over for Thomas Tuchel last month, while Ten Hag has 10 points from games against top four adversaries Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, as well as Chelsea.
“I have to pay tribute to my team,” Ten Hag told BBC Sport. “You can see the enthusiasm and how they deal with mishaps by fighting back with a fourth game in 10 days.” Very good.”
With Haaland back on the scoreboard, City bounced back from their loss at Anfield.
The Norwegian striker’s inability to score against Liverpool marked the first time he had gone without a goal since the season’s second game.
Haaland made amends against Brighton by scoring twice, bringing his count since joining City to 22 goals in 15 manifestations in all competitions. This season, he has 17 Premier League goals to his name.
He appeared to be on his way to his 4th hat trick of the season, but he could not really add a third, with Kevin De Bruyne securing the win with a remarkable strike after Leandro Trossard managed to pull one back.
Notwithstanding his goal, Pep Guardiola, City’s manager, was pivotal of De Bruyne’s form.
“He’s not playing at his best yet,” Guardiola said. “He scored a brilliant goal, but he isn’t at his best.”
I don’t have to tell him anything. I spoke with him, and his dynamic is still not ideal.”
Guardiola also wasn’t dissatisfied with the goal. “The goal is fantastic,” he said. “We didn’t suffer in the last 15-20 minutes because of him.”
FEAR OF THE VARANE WORLD CUP
Raphael Varane left the field in grief after suffering an injury that could jeopardize his World Cup hopes.
The French defender appeared to be in pain as he left the field upon 60 minutes of United’s 0-0 draw with Chelsea.
Ten Hag was unable to provide any details about the severity of the injury.
“It’s hard to describe how it is now as it is so soon after the game,” he said after the game to BBC Sport. “We ought to wait 24 hours to find out what it is.”
CALVERT-LEWIN HURTS THE PALACE YET AGAIN.
Everton defeated Crystal Palace 3-0, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring for the fifth time.
The win snaps a three-game losing streak for Frank Lampard’s side and moves them 4 points clear of the relegation zone.
Dwight McNeil and Anthony Gordon as well scored.
