Arsenal surprisingly loses
Outsiders give Klopp the New Year’s championship
December 31, 2023, 5:22 p.m
Jürgen Klopp goes into the new year as league leaders with Liverpool FC: pursuers Arsenal London surprisingly make a mistake at outsiders FC Fulham. The reds can score the next points as early as New Year’s Eve.
Liverpool FC and coach Jürgen Klopp are starting the new year as leaders of the English Premier League. Arsenal FC missed the jump to the top. The team led by German national soccer player Kai Havertz gave up an early lead at FC Fulham and deservedly lost the London city duel 1:2 (1:1).
In the table, the Gunners are in fourth place with 40 points at the turn of the year and have one point more than fifth-placed Tottenham Hotspur, who won 3-1 (1-0) against AFC Bournemouth. This means that Liverpool are leading the table, level on points with Aston Villa, ahead of their own game against Newcastle United on Monday evening. Manchester City is third with two points less. On Boxing Day, the traditional “Boxing Day”, Liverpool FC took the top spot in the table with a 2-0 win over relegation candidates FC Burnley.
Bukayo Saka fired Arsenal into the lead after just five minutes at Craven Cottage Stadium. The visitors initially dominated the game, but with Raul Jimenez’s somewhat surprising equalizer for Fulham (29th minute), Arsenal increasingly lost control. In the second half, Bobby De Cordova-Reid (59′) turned the game around for Fulham, putting another damper on the Gunners’ title hopes. The Londoners had lost at West Ham United three days earlier (0-2) and only got one point from their last three games in 2023.
The game was special for Fulham’s Bernd Leno: The German national goalkeeper moved from Arsenal FC to the newly promoted team in 2022 – and said goodbye to his previous employer with bitter words: “During the preparation, I realized that it wasn’t about performance, but rather “It’s just about politics. It was clear to me: I have to leave here,” said the goalkeeper, who moved from Bayer Leverkusen to London for 25 million euros and lost his regular place after a bitter false start in the summer of 2021. In Fulham, Leno’s contract was recently extended early for another two years until 2027.
Tottenham also celebrated a successful end to the year. In their own stadium, Spurs beat Bournemouth thanks to goals from Pape Sarr (9th), Heung-Min Son (71st) and Richarlison (80th). Alex Scott scored the goal for the guests (84th).