EPL: Hull hold Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as Liverpool fail to beat Fulham

Hull City held Chelsea 2-2 at Stamford Bridge to go third in the Premier League as Liverpool failed to find a way past struggling Fulham in a 0-0 draw at Anfield on Saturday.

It was a familiar tale for Chelsea as the front three of Morgan Rogers, Joao Pedro, and Cole Palmer dazzled, but the Blues were undone by an inability to defend.

In five games against top-flight opposition since Xabi Alonso took charge, Chelsea have scored 16 times and conceded 12.

Hull were the last side in the Premier League to concede, but after three clean sheets they were finally breached when Rogers drilled in at the near post on seven minutes.

Mohamed Belloumi took advantage of Chelsea’s slackness at the back to blast home on the volley after Jorrel Hato got caught under a cross to the back post.

The Algerian winger then put Hull in front with a deflected strike after Emi Martinez failed to deal with a corner.

Pedro drilled a Palmer cross into the top corner to bring Chelsea level just after the hour mark.

However, the home side could not find a winner as Hull’s honeymoon back in the Premier League goes on with only defending champions Arsenal and Manchester City above them in the table.

Meanwhile, Liverpool remain unbeaten under Andoni Iraola but there were boos at Anfield after Fulham picked up their first point under Alvaro Arbeloa.

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A Liverpool forward line featuring three £100 million ($135 million) players in Bradley Barcola, Florian Wirtz, and Alexander Isak failed to click against the Cottagers’ leaky defence.

It was Fulham who had the better chances to take all three points as Gonzalo Garcia missed a glorious opportunity in the first half and Alisson Becker produced a brilliant save to deny Josh King the winner.

Liverpool climb to sixth but could find themselves already six points off the top should Arsenal win at Sunderland later on Saturday.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa are rooted in the relegation zone after Nottingham Forest exacted revenge with a 2-1 win at Villa Park, while Crystal Palace’s poor start to the campaign continued with a 3-2 home defeat to Ipswich.

Brentford remain unbeaten thanks to Kevin Schade’s double in a 2-2 draw at Bournemouth.