MANCHESTER, England — Liverpool’s mini-revival came to a halt on Saturday after a shock 1-0 defeat to relegation-threatened Premier League side Nottingham Forest.
However, Chelsea and Manchester United continued to make progress under the respective managers of Graham Potter and Eric Ten Hag after ending in a 1–1 draw at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, Erling Haaland put Manchester City to a 3-1 win over league leaders Arsenal and a 3-1 victory over Brighton after last week’s Liverpool blank.
Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp may have thought his side’s confidence-boosting victory over City last weekend was a turning point after such an unconvincing start to the season. Hmm.
But the loss at Forest has cast new questions on Liverpool’s ability to face a credible title challenge.
Taiwo Awoniyi, who has not played for the first team in six years at Anfield, hit a second-half winner to relieve pressure on Forest manager Steve Cooper, who was previously part of Liverpool’s coaching staff.
The win took Forest off the bottom of the table and Klopp lamented his recent setbacks.
“(It) feels as low as possible,” said the Liverpool manager. , I don’t think it will, but it would have been nice.”
Liverpool were without the injured Darwin Nunez and the unwell Thiago Alcantara.
Chelsea and United failed to capitalize on Liverpool’s recent stumbling block after sharing points on the second-half kick-off.
Casemiro equalized in stoppage time after Jorginho scored a penalty in the 87th minute.
A draw wasn’t ideal for either team, but it does suggest that Potter and Ten Hag continue to carve their authority on their respective teams.
Potter has gone unbeaten in eight matches since replacing Thomas Tuchel last month, while Ten Hag has picked up 10 points from the top four sides of Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham and Chelsea.
Ten Hag told BBC Sport: “I have to give my team a big compliment.” Fighting back in the fourth game in 10 days is the spirit and see how they deal with setbacks. It was really good.”
Defending champions City cleaned up a defeat at Anfield with Haaland back on the scoresheet.
The Norwegian striker failed to score against Liverpool for the first time since the second game of the season.
Haaland made up for it against Brighton, scoring twice to score 22 goals in 15 appearances in all competitions since joining City. He has scored 17 goals in the Premier League so far this season.
He looked poised to score his fourth hat-trick of the season, but after Leandro Trossard scored one, Kevin De Bruyne sealed the win with an impressive strike, leaving him to three points. Failed to add eyes.
Despite his goals, City manager Pep Guardiola was critical of De Bruyne’s form.
“He hasn’t played at the top level yet,” Guardiola said. “He scored great goals, but he didn’t play his best. He knows. His dynamics are not perfect yet, I spoke with him.”
It’s not that Guardiola wasn’t happy with the goal.
“It’s a great goal,” he said. “Thanks to him, the last 15-20 minutes were painless.”
Balang World Cup Fear
Rafael Varane left the field in tears after an injury that could jeopardize his World Cup hopes.
The French defender was in visible discomfort when he left the field 60 minutes into United’s draw with Chelsea.
Ten Hag was unable to clarify the extent of his injuries.
“It’s hard to say what the situation is now as the game has just finished,” he told BBC Sport after the final whistle. “We have to wait 24 hours, then we’ll find out what it is.”
CALVERT-LEWIN DAINS THE PALACE AGAIN
Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his fifth goal in Everton’s 3-0 victory over Crystal Palace.
The win saw Frank Lampard’s team lose three straight and sit four points clear of the relegation zone.
Anthony Gordon and Dwight McNeill also scored.
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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/world-cup and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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