LONDON (AP) – Only two points separate Chelsea, Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the Premier League. There is no doubt who are the protagonists with the greatest offensive power.
Liverpool scored four goals for the second straight game to beat Everton 4-1 on Wednesday and bring the team’s total to 43 touchdowns in 14 games, the most so far in any of Europe’s major leagues.
Jürgen Klopp’s side remained in third position, but with 24 games remaining, that’s nothing to worry about.
“The performance of all the guys was absolutely outstanding,” Klopp said.
On one of those rare occasions when the leaders all played at the same time, Manchester City beat Aston Villa 2-1 to stay one point ahead of Liverpool in second place. Chelsea, meanwhile, maintain the top by one unit after beating Watford by the same score.
“We had a very difficult first half of the league,” acknowledged City coach Pep Guardiola. “We are only one point down. The important thing is the way we are playing. It has been a high level ”.
The three leaders took off from fourth place, West Ham, which drew 1-1 against Brighton. Leicester and Southampton also drew 2-2, while Wolverhampton and Burnley were not hurt.
Mohamed Salah leads Liverpool’s offense and has already scored 19 goals in as many games in all competitions this year after signing a double on Wednesday at Goodison Park.
After captain Jordan Henderson opened the account with a shot on the edge of the area, Salah extended the score with a shot effective in the 19 th minute.
Everton had a chance to come back after Demarai Gray cut the deficit just before the break. But Salah capitalized on a Seamus Coleman error to score in the 64th minute.
“I think we know each other better now,” Salah said. “We have been together for five or six years. Last season we had a few injuries. Last season we were playing very well and we won some titles together ”.
Diogo Jota beat goalkeeper Jordan Pickford with a shot that hit the post for Liverpool’s fourth goal, while Everton extended their winless streak to eight, with just two points out of a possible 24.
Meanwhile, former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard was unable to help his former team in his third game as Aston Villa manager.
Ruben Dias opened the account for Manchester City in the first half and, with a volley, Bernardo Silva scored the second serve for Gabriel Jesús.
Ollie Watkins cut the margin to 47 with a first-time shot that hit the post, but City held on to the win thanks to the entry in the second half of Jack Grealish, who came from Aston Villa this season.
In another encounter, Hakim Ziyech scored his first league goal of the campaign to secure Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Watford in a game that was suspended for 32 minutes in the first half after a spectator suffered a heart attack.
Ziyech, who came in on the switch, sent Mason Mount’s serve into the back of the net in the 72nd minute. Mount had put Chelsea in the first half before Emmanuel Dennis made a provisional equalizer for Watford.
Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel said he was surprised by what he called “a very sloppy” performance.
“I have to enlist the team and obviously I did not prepare them for what was coming, for the first time we performed poorly as a team,” he said.
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