After failing to find the net against Manchester United last weekend, Liverpool drew another blank away from home as Merseyside rivals Everton put a further dent in the Reds’ title hopes.
The result leaves Jurgen Klopp’s team a point behind Manchester City with nine matches remaining.
Here, Press Association Sport takes a look at what we learned from the latest round of top-flight fixtures.
Liverpool held again
Although it was another game without a goal for Liverpool, this was not Old Trafford all over again. Klopp’s team created four clear-cut chances – they were just wasteful with them. They mainly fell to the right man, but Mohamed Salah’s afternoon was poor. Will his misses prove costly at the end of the season? Four draws in the last six Premier League games have seen Liverpool surrender top spot and the title is now out of their hands.
Arrizabalaga saga behind Blues now
Dropped against Tottenham following those extraordinary scenes at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final last week, Kepa Arrizabalaga was back in goal at Craven Cottage on Sunday. After almost presenting Fulham with a goal by dropping a straightforward cross, the Spaniard went on to justify his selection by making a string of fine saves to help Chelsea to a 2-1 victory over their neighbours and keep the Blues in the hunt for a top-four finish.
Rodgers stung by Hornets
New Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers received an early reminder of how competitive the Premier League can be when his first match at the helm ended in defeat at Watford. Rodgers, who left Celtic in pole position to claim an eighth successive Scottish League title last week – much to the consternation of many of a green and white persuasion – saw Andre Gray snatch a 2-1 win for the home side in stoppage time to leave the 2016 champions significantly closer to the bottom three than the top six.
The trapdoor is ajar
It’s starting to look bleak at the foot of the table with the bottom three in danger of being cast adrift. Huddersfield appear to be all but down as they face the prospect of having to close a 13-point gap with just nine games remaining and Fulham are not much better off, while Cardiff have lost three on the trot since giving themselves hope with back-to-back victories over Bournemouth and Southampton.
Saints alive?
Southampton may only be two points better off than Cardiff heading into the run-in, but if they continue to play as they did in defeat at Manchester United on Saturday, they will be confident of avoiding the drop. They took the lead courtesy of Yan Valery’s stunning strike and, despite seeing a couple of penalty decisions go against them, responded to goals from Andreas Pereira and Romelu Lukaku to level through James Ward-Prowse’s fine free-kick before Lukaku dashed their hopes at the death.
