Liverpool go 10 clear
Liverpool tightened their grip on the Premier League title race thanks to two Mohamed Salah goals in a 2-0 win over Watford to extend their lead at the top to 10 points as second-placed Leicester were held 1-1 at home by Norwich.
Chelsea were also shocked 1-0 at home to Bournemouth to see their lead over the chasing pack in fourth further cut, while Sheffield United moved into fifth with a 2-0 win over Aston Villa.
At Anfield, Liverpool kept their first clean sheet at home this season but only thanks to Watford’s wastefulness in front of goal as the Hornets showed why they are the lowest scoring side in the league.
Abdoulaye Doucoure and Ismaila Sarr both failed to make a proper connection with the goal gaping in the first half and the 40-point difference between the sides in the table was shown only in the difference of quality in the finishing.
Salah struck twice as he rounded off a rapid Liverpool counter-attack from a Watford corner eight minutes before half-time. The Egyptian then settled nerves a minute from time when he cheekily flicked home Divock Origi’s mishit shot.
“In December and January especially, you need to show resilience - that’s the most important thing and we showed that,” said coach Jurgen Klopp. “We had to fight, that’s what we did and that’s why we won.”
Leicester will be Liverpool’s next opponents after the European champions’ quest to win the Club World Cup this week.
The Foxes had the chance to cut the gap at the top to just five points ahead of that meeting had they beaten Norwich and Manchester City next weekend.
However, a club record run of eight straight Premier League wins for Brendan Rodgers’s men came unstuck. Teemu Pukki broke clear and finished calmly for his ninth goal of the season to put the visitors in front. Leicester levelled before the break when Jamie Vardy’s header was turned into his own net by Norwich goalkeeper Tim Krul. But the home side could not make their dominance count.
Chelsea’s hold on the fourth Champions League place could be down to as little as two points should Manchester United beat Everton on Sunday as their poor run continued.
Frank Lampard’s men have now lost four of their last five Premier League games and had only themselves to blame as they had 18 shots on goal without finding a way past Aaron Ramsdale.
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