Caoimhín Kelleher plays his part as Liverpool take back Premier League top spot

Liverpool 3 Burnley 1

Liverpool responded to Manchester City’s brief return to the top of the Premier League table with a 3-1 win over Burnley which tested their mettle even more than their stretched resources.

Pep Guardiola’s side had overtaken their northwest rivals to reach the summit for the first time since November with victory in the lunchtime kick-off against Everton.

And while the three points re-established their two-point advantage the less-than-convincing nature of victory against the league’s next-bottom side was not quite befitting the occasion of Liverpool’s biggest league crowd of 59,896 after the full opening of the Anfield Road stand.

For a time it appeared the hosts, who due to flu in the camp were without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and Joe Gomez, were still suffering a hangover from the defeat at Arsenal last week.

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It took the familiar right boot of Trent Alexander-Arnold, setting a new mark of 58 for Premier League assists by a defender, and the equally reliable head of Diogo Jota to get them out of first gear but even then it was far from a return to normality.

The sloppy concession of an equaliser to Republic of Ireland defender Dara O’Shea on the stroke of half-time posed further problems as did the withdrawal of Alexander-Arnold, only recently returned from a knee injury, at half-time.

But it was the England international’s replacement Harvey Elliott who set up goals for Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez to ease the pressure.

However, had on-loan Chelsea forward David Fofana been as clinical as he was scoring twice last weekend then not only would Liverpool still be looking up at City but questions would have started to be asked about their ability to match their long-time rivals blow-for-blow.

They do have Mohamed Salah and Dominic Szoboszlai to return from injury in the next couple of weeks but having negotiated January without the pair it was imperative they regained their momentum after their Emirates setback.

For 25 minutes it looked a struggle with Caoimhín Kelleher required to be out quickly to block Zeki Amdouni’s shot as early as the 10th minute as Klopp’s side struggled to find any rhythm.

Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones both fired rising shots over until, just past the half-hour, the breakthrough came when Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford misjudged the flight of a corner and Jota headed in his fifth goal in six games.

But O’Shea produced a better header from 12 yards from Josh Brownhill’s corner, outjumping Wataru Endo, now back from the Asian Cup, to power the ball past his international team-mate Kelleher.

Jones moved to right back to fill in for Alexander-Arnold at the start of the second half but within seven minutes Elliott had made his first significant contribution when his low cross took a deflection off Maxime Esteve and allowing a stooping Diaz to nod in at the near post.

But although playing better they still looked far from secure and Kelleher made a huge save in the 64th minute in a one-on-one against Fofana, with Wilson Odobert blazing over the rebound, before the Burnley forward steered a shot wide of the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat.

Visiting sides rarely get the chance to squander such chances and after Jota had a shot tipped around the post, Jarell Quansah volleyed wide and Virgil van Dijk headed at Trafford it was left to Nunez to apply the finishing touch when he flicked a header inside the far post from Elliott’s cross.

The Uruguay international had a chance to make the scoreline more flattering in added time but, typically, shot straight at Trafford.

Manchester City 2 Everton 0

Erling Haaland scored his first goals since November as champions Manchester City finally wore down Everton to claim a hard-fought win.

The prolific Norwegian, who recently returned to action after a foot injury, broke the deadlock after 70 minutes of a drab lunchtime encounter at the Etihad Stadium and wrapped up victory five minutes from time.

It was City’s 10th successive win in all competitions and fired out another warning to their title rivals that their momentum is growing.

City’s superior quality warranted the result, and ultimately it was not a surprise, but it was nevertheless a bitter blow for relegation-threatened Everton after a dogged display.

[ Premier League table ]

Tottenham Hotspur 2 Brighton 1

Brennan Johnson struck the winner in the sixth minute of stoppage time to fire Tottenham into the top four after a dramatic 2-1 victory over Brighton.

Spurs looked to have lost more ground after they dropped points at Everton last weekend but Ange Postecoglou’s second-half substitutes did the trick.

Pascal Gross’s 17th-minute penalty had given Brighton a half-time lead in the absence of boss Roberto De Zerbi, who was recovering at home after invasive dental surgery this week.

The points looked set to be shared after Pape Sarr levelled for Tottenham in the 61st minute only for Son Heung-min, back again after Asian Cup duty, to tee up fellow substitute Johnson deep into stoppage-time to earn a vital victory.

Nottingham Forest 2 Newcastle United 3

Brazilian Bruno Guimaraes scored in each half as Newcastle United held off a spirited comeback from Nottingham Forest to win 3-2 at the City Ground in Saturday’s late game.

Both Newcastle’s first-half goals, scored by Guimaraes and Fabian Schar, came from set pieces, but the visitors struggled to deal with the pace of Forest’s counterattack.

Swedish winger Anthony Elanga claimed the hosts’ first goal on the break in the 26th minute to level and Callum Hudson-Odoi netted deep into first-half stoppage time to make it 2-2.

Guimaraes put the visitors in front for the third time in the 67th minute with a brilliant solo goal, snapping up the ball on the edge of the box and rifling it into the bottom corner for a win that lifted Newcastle to seventh in the table.

Luton 1 Sheffield United 3

Sheffield United cut the gap to safety to seven points as they claimed only their third Premier League win of the season with a 3-1 victory against Luton at Kenilworth Road.

Rob Edwards’s side were the form team in the relegation fight but here they were undone by the Blades, in part due to a lacklustre first half in which Cameron Archer and James McAtee, from the penalty spot, scored to open a two-goal gap.

Luton had taken 11 points from their last six games, with Sheffield United just two in the equivalent period, yet despite dominating possession the hosts were tripped up by a dogged display by the league’s bottom side.

They rallied after the break, halving the deficit with a penalty of their own from Carlton Morris.

Yet in pushing for an equaliser they were left exposed on the break, and on just such an attack Vinicius Souza rattled one past Thomas Kaminski to seal a first win on the road for Chris Wilder’s side and shine a glimmer of hope over their survival bid.

Wolves 0 Brentford 2

In-form Ivan Toney struck again as Brentford earned a deserved win at Wolves. A third goal in four games since the striker’s return from his ban for breaching betting regulations clinched a 2-0 victory at Molineux after Christian Norgaard’s first-half header.

The Bees earned just their third win in 12 Premier League games and gained revenge for Wolves’ 4-1 victory in December and dumping them out of the FA Cup last month.

Pedro Neto twice hit the post and Craig Dawson had a goal disallowed for offside but Wolves failed to score at Molineux in the league for the first time in a year.

Brentford climbed to 14th following a first away win since October, with Wolves 10th, after a victory which should have been greater.

Fulham 3 Bournemouth 1

Rodrigo Muniz scored a brace as Fulham claimed their first Premier League win of the year with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth at Craven Cottage.

Muniz was given the nod over January loan signing Armando Broja and scored twice, while Bobby De Cordova-Reid and Cherries defender Marcos Senesi also got in on the act. Senesi pulled one back for the visitors.