As the weeks go by, Liverpool is showing the quality and resilience to be Manchester City’s chief title rival in the Premier League this season.
Liverpool twice came from behind to draw 2-2 at Arsenal on Sunday, with Mohamed Salah scoring the second equalizer in the 81st minute at Emirates Stadium.
It’s just one loss in 13 games in all competitions for Liverpool under new manager Arne Slot this season. A testing past week has seen the Reds beat Chelsea 2-1 in the league, eke out a 1-0 win in Leipzig in the Champions League, and now battle back for a draw at Arsenal — the other likely challenger for City’s crown.
If Liverpool’s inner belief is growing, then doubts might be increasing about Arsenal’s durability in the title race after finishing runner-up to City for the past two seasons.
The biggest concern might be the list of injuries, to which defenders Gabriel and Jurrien Timber were added after they came off in the second half. With defensive linchpin William Saliba missing through suspension, Arsenal finished the game with a makeshift back four and paid the price as a long ball forward from Trent Alexander-Arnold found Darwin Nunez, who crossed for Salah to sidefoot home.
It left Liverpool in second place, a point behind City, and Arsenal five points off the pace after nine games.
Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka said his teammates were a “bit disappointed.”
“We just felt we didn’t show our best selves for the 90 minutes,” said Saka, who opened the scoring in the ninth minute on his return from a hamstring injury.
Virgil van Dijk equalized with a header from a corner, only for Spain midfielder Mikel Merino to head in Declan Rice's free kick to put Arsenal back in front.
Salah's equalizer meant he has scored against Arsenal in eight straight seasons and remains Liverpool's man for the big occasion.
As for Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, he was left to bemoan his team's lack of “courage” in the second half as the attacking intent faded and defensive injuries told.
By the end, a midfielder, Thomas Partey, was playing at right back and 18-year-old rookie Myles Lewis-Skelly was at left back.
Arteta said Gabriel, who went down with a left knee injury, “can't run” and would be assessed.
TEN HAG FRUSTRATED
If seeing a player miss an open goal wasn't bad enough for Erik ten Hag, the Manchester United manager then had to endure the VAR overturning an on-field decision to give a stoppage-time penalty that plunged his team to a 2-1 defeat at West Ham.
Jarrod Bowen converted a highly disputed penalty in the second minute of added-on time after a foul by Matthijs de Ligt as United counted the cost of a string of wasted chances, notably when Diogo Dalot sidefooted over when faced with an empty net in the first half.
“We have to score, we created so many chances," said Ten Hag, whose United team has lost four of its nine games and is languishing in 14th place in the 20-team standings.
Crysencio Summerville put West Ham ahead against the run of play in the 74th before Casemiro equalized for United at Olympic Stadium.
PALMER SHINES
With an exquisite pass and the winning goal, Cole Palmer shone again for Chelsea in a 2-1 victory over Newcastle.
It was the England playmaker's curling 50-meter pass behind Newcastle's defense that sent away Pedro Neto down the left to set up Nicolas Jackson for Chelsea's 18th-minute opener.
Alexander Isak equalized but Palmer drove home his seventh goal of the season in the 47th to secure the victory for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. With five assists, too, Palmer has a league-leading 12 goals involvements this campaign.
“It is the reason why people pay (to come), they want to see that kind of player,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said of Palmer.
PALACE FINALLY WINS
Crystal Palace finally claimed its first league win of the season by beating Tottenham 1-0 thanks to Jean-Philippe Mateta's goal to climb out of the bottom three.
It lifted the pressure on manager Oliver Glasner, whose arrival in February inspired Palace to a strong finish to last season but who struggled to get the best out of the team in the first two months of this campaign.
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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Steve Douglas, The Associated Press
