Chelsea pay the price as Liverpool end Manchester City’s invincible season bid

Chelsea have paid the price for back-to-back draws (and three in the last five) in the Premier League — the last of which on Saturday made it an historic three straight 0-0 results in all competitions — and have dropped to fourth place in the table. Chelsea had been at least third since the start of November, at one point even working our way up to second before the recent downturn in form.

The Blues entered the weekend two points ahead of Liverpool in third, but managed just one point against Leicester City at home. Meanwhile, Klopp’s men, as they tend to do, played their socks off against top class opposition, impressively defeating Manchester City at Anfield by a rather eye-popping 4-3 scoreline. Liverpool blew open what was looking like an even contest with three goals in ten second-half minutes as Pep Guardiola’s men were exposed repeatedly, thanks just as much to the hosts’ brilliance as to their own silliness. City pulled a couple back at the end to make things interesting, but they ran out of time for an equalizer.

Manchester United, who remain second on goal difference, host Stoke City on Monday. Anything but three points for José Mourinho’s men would be a massive shock, which could actually see them gain ground on their noisy neighbors.

That said, as impressive as Liverpool’s win today was, City’s title aspirations are in no danger and they remain 15 points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool and at worst, a dozen clear of United. City remain on course for a 100-point season, which would break Chelsea’s all-time record of 95 points. They won’t be finishing as “invincibles”, but they are still likely to break Chelsea’s records for most wins (30 — on pace for 33) and most goals (103 — on pace for 109). The margins are small enough however that a decent blip in form could preserve our accomplishments.

On the plus side, Liverpool’s goal bonanza ensures that Chelsea now have the best or at least joint-best defensive record in the league with just 16 goals conceded in 23 matches (unsurprisingly, Mourinho’s team is also on 16 goals conceded). Of course, our issues at the minutes are mostly about scoring goals at the moment...

On a rather more hilarious note, Arsenal lost to Bournemouth in Sunday’s early game. Well done, Nathan Aké and Asmir Begović!