Salah strikes send Reds 15 points clear

Liverpool’s Darwin Nunez and Mohamed Salah struck within three minutes in the second half in a 3-1 win over bottom-placed Southampton that gave the Premier League leaders 16 provisional points of breathing room at the top of the table.

Arne Slot’s men have 70 points after 29 games, while second-placed Arsenal have 55 but one game in hand. The Gunners drew 1-1 at Manchester United on Sunday.

Will Smallbone stunned the crowd at a sun-drenched Anfield with a goal for the visitors in first-half injury time, when a mix-up between Reds goalkeeper Alisson and centre-back Virgil van Dijk saw the ball fall invitingly to Smallbone, who scored from an angle. The television cameras caught Slot, who was serving his second of a two-game suspension, in the stands holding his head in his hands in frustration.

The frustration was short-lived, as the league leaders thoroughly dominated after the break and Nunez levelled in the 51st minute after Luis Diaz had worked the ball past two Southampton defenders before teeing up the Uruguayan who slotted home from close range.

Nunez’s goal ended a drought of 10 games without one, prompting fans to chant his name. He drew a penalty three minutes later when Smallbone caught him on the back of the ankle in the box, and Salah unleashed a blistering shot from the spot past Aaron Ramsdale into the inside side netting for his first of two penalties.

Chelsea returned to the top-four but made heavy weather of their 1-0 victory over struggling Leicester City, squeezing through with a 60th-minute goal from Spain defender Marc Cucurella. The home side had been dominant in possession but toothless before Enzo Fernandez squared a pass to the onrushing Cucurella.