Pursuit duel without a hit
Klopp wins and can celebrate a goalless draw
March 31, 2024, 8:45 p.m
Liverpool FC took the top spot in the Premier League with a narrow win against Brighton. The Reds benefit from the draw of their title rivals. Arsenal and Man City don’t score any goals in the top duel. The championship race remains exciting.
In the race for the English football championship, Liverpool FC has regained the top of the Premier League table. The Reds deservedly won 2-1 (1-1) at home against Brighton & Hove Albion after an early deficit and then benefited from the result of their title rivals. The top duel between Manchester City and Arsenal FC remained goalless.
The three-way battle in the Premier League remains exciting. After 29 games and with nine games remaining, league leaders Liverpool have 67 points, Arsenal in second place have 65 points and Man City remain in third place with 64 points.
Luis Diaz (27th minute) and Mohamed Salah (65th) scored for the hosts at Anfield Stadium. “I think we can all agree that we deserved to win the game,” said Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp, who was without injured strikers Diogo Jota and Darwin Núñez as well as goalkeeper Alisson. “So it was a really good afternoon.” His team had previously gotten off to a false start. After less than two minutes, Brighton took the lead through Danny Welbeck (2nd).
Heated duel, but no goals
Liverpool, with former Bundesliga professionals Dominik Szoboszlai (RB Leipzig) and Wataru Endo (VfB Stuttgart) in the starting line-up, was the better team overall and put the guests under pressure with constant attacks. However, the Reds were too imprecise in front of the goal and missed good chances. Salah alone fired around a dozen shots on goal. A supposed further goal by Luis Diaz did not count due to an offside position. So the Klopp team had to tremble until the final whistle.
Defending champions Manchester City with German keeper Stefan Ortega in goal and Arsenal FC with national player Kai Havertz fought a heated duel at the Etihad Stadium, in which City initially set the tone. Coach Pep Guardiola’s team, treble winners last season, put the low-lying Gunners under pressure, especially in the first half, but rarely had a shot on goal.
The victory over Brighton was Klopp’s 300th in 478 competitive games so far. After the season, the 56-year-old will leave the club after nine years. The second championship title is supposed to be our farewell.