City, Liverpool primed for premier battle again

Liverpool, February 1

Liverpool and Manchester City look primed and ready for another heavyweight clash for the Premier League title.

Liverpool routed Chelsea 4-1 on Wednesday to restore a five-point lead for Jurgen Klopp’s team atop the table before going to third-placed Arsenal this weekend.

City eased to a 3-1 win over Burnley and moved up again to second, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, and having played a game fewer than their two rivals.

With their fourth straight wins, the Premier League powers showcased deep squads, fast-improving young stars and, for City, the tentative return of feared forward Erling Haaland after nearly two months out injured. Haaland came off the bench with City comfortably in a three-goal lead as Julian Alvarez again stepped up to lead the attack with two goals. The second was created by Kevin De Bruyne making his first start in the Premier League since August.

For Liverpool, Diogo Jota again covered for the absence of Mohamed Salah and opened the scoring early against a poor Chelsea, taking a pass from the impressive Conor Bradley.

Bradley, an unheralded 20-year-old right-back filling in for Trent Alexander-Arnold, then scored his first goal for the club before assisting again for Dominik Szoboszlai to effectively seal the win in the 65th. Man City edged Liverpool in epic duels for the title in 2019 and 2022, and rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are also currently in this race.

Tottenham scored three goals in eight second-half minutes to beat Brentford 3-2 and rise to fourth, trailing Liverpool by eight points.

Barcelona edge Osasuna

Madrid: With coach Xavi Hernandez still in charge, Barcelona got back on track with a 1-0 win over Osasuna in the La Liga.

Young Brazil forward Vitor Roque on Wednesday scored his first goal since joining the club in Barcelona’s first match since Xavi announced he will leave at the end of the season. — AP

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