Liverpool defeat Chelsea to reclaim Premier League top spot

Liverpool moved to the top of the Premier League table by defeating Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield on Sunday.

Mohamed Salah’s penalty and Curtis Jones’ winner made it 10 wins in 11 games for the Reds since Arne Slot took charge.

Nicolas Jackson briefly levelled for Chelsea in the second half, but they slipped to a first league defeat since losing to Manchester City on the opening weekend of the season.

The victory takes Liverpool one point ahead of City and four clear of Arsenal, who they face at the Emirates next weekend.

Chelsea are now seven points off the top down in sixth, but there was plenty cause for optimism for the Blues from a performance that stretched Liverpool to their limits.

Liverpool’s only defeat under Slot came to Nottingham Forest following September’s international break.

The Dutchman responded by this time leaving all of his South American internationals – Alexis Mac Allister, Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez – on the bench after their exertions in recent days across the Atlantic.

10-man Arsenal suffer first Premier League defeat to Bournemouth

The decision to hand Jones just his second league start of the season proved an inspired one as the England international won Liverpool’s penalty and scored the decisive goal.

In the other Premier League game on Sunday, Manchester City snatched a controversial 2-1 win at Wolves as John Stones’ last-gasp goal was given after a VAR review, sparking accusations of “subconscious” bias from fuming boss Gary O’Neil.

Pep Guardiola’s side trailed to Jorgen Strand Larsen’s surprise opener for Wolves early in the first half.

Josko Gvardiol dragged City back on level terms before the interval and, with just seconds left in stoppage time, Stones headed the visitors to a dramatic sixth win in eight league games this season.

Bottom-of-the-table Wolves claimed Stones’ goal should have been disallowed for offside and interference by Bernardo Silva on goalkeeper Jose Sa.

But referee Chris Kavanagh ignored their protests after consulting the pitchside monitor.

City remain in second place, one point behind Liverpool after the leaders defeated Chelsea 2-1 at Anfield.

Chasing a fifth successive English title, Guardiola’s men have set a new club record as their unbeaten run in the league reached 31 games since their loss to Aston Villa in December.

In English top-flight history, only six times has a side gone more than 30 matches without losing, most recently Liverpool’s run of 44 games from 2019 to 2020.

The Star