Chelsea on Saturday failed to take advantage of another Liverpool stumble in the race to qualify for next season’s UEFA Champions League, hammered 3-0 by Everton to remain outside the top five.
Champions Liverpool had slipped to a 2-1 defeat at Brighton & Hove Albion in the early kickoff — their 10th loss of a dismal English Premier League title defense.
However, Chelsea’s thumping reverse at the Hill Dickinson Stadium gives renewed hope to a clutch of clubs below them, including Everton themselves, Brentford and Fulham, who beat relegation-bound Burnley 3-1.
Photo: AFP
The top five teams in the Premier League are almost guaranteed to play Champions League football next season due to the strong showing of English clubs in Europe.
Arsenal are hot favorites to land the Premier League title for the first time since 2004, with second-placed Manchester City well clear of city rivals Manchester United. United, who on Friday drew 2-2 at AFC Bournemouth, are four points ahead of fourth-placed Aston Villa, who were to host struggling West Ham United yesterday.
Liverpool arrived on the sunny south coast after completing a morale-boosting 4-1 aggregate win over Galatasaray at Anfield in midweek to reach the Champions League quarter-finals.
However, they were well beaten by Fabian Hurzeler’s hungry Brighton, for whom evergreen forward Danny Welbeck scored twice, either side of Milos Kerkez’s well-taken goal for the visitors.
Liverpool coach Arne Slot pointed to key injury absentees and a swift turnaround from Champions League commitments to explain the damaging defeat.
The Dutchman was without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and forward Mohamed Salah at the Amex Stadium, while top-scorer Hugo Ekitike limped off early.
Defeat left the reigning champions with only one point from the past nine after they conceded late goals in a 2-1 loss at bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers and last weekend’s 1-1 draw at home to relegation-threatened Tottenham Hotspur.
“Brighton away, that’s a difficult game for any team, especially if you miss out on a few very influential players,” Slot said. “Of course, now, looking at the league table, this loss hurts a lot, and it should hurt us a lot.”
Liverpool are still alive in the Champions League and the FA Cup, but face the prospect of ending the season trophyless, with daunting quarter-finals to come against Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City.
Chelsea collapsed to their fourth straight defeat in all competitions against Everton, giving new coach Liam Rosenior a headache as he tries to salvage their season.
The Blues had the chance to go fourth, four points behind United, but they blew it in spectacular style after being out-performed and out-worked by David Moyes’ men.
Everton’s win, courtesy of two goals from Beto and a stunning curler from Iliman Ndiaye, lifted them within three points of neighbors Liverpool with a home Merseyside derby to come next month.
Rosenior, who in January replaced Enzo Maresca, must find a way to lift his expensively assembled squad, who won the Club World Cup and the UEFA Conference League last season.
Chelsea are still in the FA Cup, but are licking their wounds after a humiliating 8-2 aggregate defeat by PSG in the last 16 of the Champions League.
“There’s been a lot of noise, a lot of negative noise, rightfully so, about our performances in the last week,” Rosenior told Sky Sports. “So we have to forget the noise. We have to keep our confidence and our composure. The international break has probably come at a good time for us to re-stock, re-energize ourselves and go again for a really important run-in.”
Brentford edged ahead of Everton on goal difference after a 0-0 draw at Leeds United.
A point took the home side four points above the relegation zone, but that gap could be narrowed by West Ham last night, while Tottenham were to host Nottingham Forest in a huge clash in the battle to avoid the drop.
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