The leader Liverpool marched on Chelsea (4-1) at Anfield on Wednesday to keep their runner-up, Manchester City, easy winner of the penultimate Burnley (3-1) at five points thanks to a double from Julian Alvarez on the day of his 24th birthday.
The suspense remains high in the Premier League where the Citizens (2nd, 46 pts), three-time reigning champions, are closely followed by Arsenal (3rd, also 46 pts) and Tottenham (4th, 43 pts), back in the top 4 thanks to a stunning 3-2 success against Brentford.
Nkunku scores for Chelsea
At Anfield, woe to the visitors… Chelsea were completely asphyxiated and overtaken by Liverpool, like Norwich City (5-2) on Sunday in the FA Cup, proof that the announced departure of Jürgen Klopp at the end of the season did not not destabilized his Reds. The German coach could say goodbye to a quadruple, if his armada maintains the pace in the league, continues the adventure in the Cup and the Europa League, and lifts the League Cup on February 25 in the final against Chelsea.
Diogo Jota started the hostilities (23rd, 1-0) then Conor Bradley, named man of the match, entered the scene: the 20-year-old right back scored his first professional goal with the Reds (39th, 2-0) before finding the head of Dominik Szoboszlai (65th, 3-0).
Darwin Nunez, unbearable, consoled himself for his clumsiness (four shots on the uprights, including a penalty in the 45th + 2) by also making an “assist” for Luis Diaz (79th, 4-1), much more lively as Benoît Badiashile, whose evening turned into an ordeal. Christopher Nkunku, returning from injury (hip), brought the only brightening of the evening for Chelsea by scoring (71st, 3-1) for his first appearance of the year 2024.
Chelsea, tenth with 31 points, could move down another notch in the standings in the event of a victory on Thursday for Wolverhampton (11th, 29 pts) against Manchester United (9th, 32 pts).
Alvarez blows out his candles
Manchester City also played against Burnley, with three events to celebrate. Julian Alvarez, 24 years old on Wednesday, blew hard against the “Clarets” with a double (16th, 22nd) even before the 24th minute. No double scorer had experienced such a celebration in the English championship since James Ward-Prowse in November 2020 with Southampton against Aston Villa (4-3).
On the second goal, he took advantage of a free kick intelligently taken to the ground by Kevin De Bruyne, starting for the first time in the league since his serious thigh injury in August. The Belgian also recorded his third assist in four appearances in 2024, in all competitions.
The icing on the cake, the Skyblues found their attacking star, Erling Haaland, in the infirmary for two months and came off the bench in the second half. Manchester City, second, finds itself in an enviable situation before the Arsenal-Liverpool clash on Sunday which will inevitably leave one disappointed (defeat) or two unhappy (draw). The three-time defending champion also has a match in hand to play at the end of February against Brentford.
Tottenham at the Angels
Trailing 1-0, Ange Postecoglou made several offensive changes at half-time to restore some energy to his Tottenham team. The Australian coach’s winning coaching resulted in a furious 3-2 victory that saw them move up the rankings. Spurs regain fourth place, qualifying at the end of the season for the Champions League, right under the nose of Aston Villa, beaten the day before by Newcastle.
Brentford, however, got off to a better start with an orbit from Neal Maupay (15th, 0-1), already scorer of the winning goal against Nottingham Forest (3-2) the previous day. But the “Bees” were stung by Destiny Udogie (48th, 1-1), Brennan Johnson (49th, 2-1) and Richarlison (56th, 3-1), before responding in vain by Ivan Toney (67th, 3 -2). Tottenham play their next match on Saturday at Everton, first in relegation.
Mathieu Idiart with AFP Journalist RMC Sport