Liverpool’s stumble and the victories of its pursuers ignite the competition for the top of the English Premier League

Before referee Andrew Madley’s whistle blew to announce the start of the match Newcastle andLiverpool At St. James Park in the 14th round of the tournament English Premier League Premier League Football Everyone was aware of how difficult this confrontation was for the visiting team, which leads the competition with 34 points, but few observers expected the Liverpool team, which has become described as the best team in the world, to falter.

Liverpool entered the Newcastle match ecstatic with a series of successive victories in seven matches in all tournaments, the last of which was against real madrid Spanish in UEFA Champions League With a result of (2 – 0), and with the same result on Manchester City Holder of the English Premier League title, the world is unable to find an appropriate description of the strength of the team currently led by the Dutch coach Arnie Slott He replaced German Jurgen Klopp, who left his position last summer.

Liverpool’s victories in the past weeks were matched by a continuous fall from its rivals, bringing the difference before the 14th round matches to nine points with Chelsea and Arsenal, who ranked second and third – respectively – and 11 points with Manchester City, which seemed to have lost its compass for victories after falling in the last four matches. In the league.

Talks began in English and European newspapers and media outlets about Liverpool being close to lifting the English League Cup for the 20th time in its history, making it equal to the record holder Manchester United, knowing that this has only happened three times in the history of the English Premier League when a team like Liverpool, ahead of its closest rivals by nine, failed. Points or more to win the title in the end.

In the 1992-1993 season, when Norwich City was 12 points ahead of Manchester United, albeit after 18 matches played compared to 17 for United, and in the 1995-1996 season, when Newcastle United was 12 points ahead of Manchester United after 23. match, and in the 1997-1998 season when Manchester United was 13 points ahead of Arsenal, albeit after 20 matches for the leaders, compared to 19 matches for the followers.

But suddenly Liverpool seemed more fragile against the strong and surprising Newcastle, which took the lead in the 35th minute with a missile shot by its Swedish striker Alexander Isak, then regained the lead again in the 62nd minute through its English winger Anthony Gordon after Liverpool equalized through its midfielder Curtis Jones in the 50th minute.

Newcastle maintained its cohesion despite the two earth-shattering goals by Liverpool star Mohamed Salah in the 68th and 83rd minutes, and the MacBayes were able to snatch a late equalizer through their defender Fabian Schar, snatching a point from the leaders of the standings and wasting two points on them, bringing Liverpool’s tally to 35 points and rising. Newcastle has 20 points in 10th place.

On the other hand, Manchester City achieved a 3-0 victory over its guest Nottingham Forest, raising its score to 26 points in fourth place and reducing the gap with Liverpool to nine points. Chelsea also swept its host Southampton with a score of 5-1, raising its score to 28 points in place. Second, seven points behind Liverpool, which is the same score reached by Arsenal, which won one of the most important El Clásico matches in the English Premier League by winning (2-0) over Manchester United.

After the competition for the English Premier League title heated up again with 24 rounds remaining, it seems that Chelsea, which returned from afar, has become Liverpool’s biggest competitor.

Chelsea, led by coach Enzo Maresca, achieved impressive results following the defeat by Liverpool (1-2) in the eighth round, where it won against Newcastle, then drew with Manchester United and Arsenal, then achieved three consecutive victories against Leicester City, Aston Villa and Southampton.

Maresca enjoyed the voices of the fans who chanted his name during the big victory yesterday, and he said in the press conference, “It was a very good feeling. You can see that they are happy and this is our goal. We work every day to keep them happy.”

“It was a very good feeling for those who were able to see Chelsea back and that is important.”

Marisca took over as coach of Chelsea, which finished in sixth place last season under the leadership of coach Mauricio Pochettino, and the team performed wonderfully, making it nine points ahead of the same stage in the previous season.

“I think this is a good feeling, not only for the owners but also for the players, the club and the fans, a good feeling for all of us,” Maresca said.

“The results will definitely help us a lot in reducing the noise around the club.”

As for Arsenal’s Spanish coach, Mikel Arteta, he was happy with the victory with two goals from two set pieces, as Jorn Temper and William Saliba scored two goals from two corner kicks.

Arteta, who laughed briefly after being asked again about his team’s efficiency in dealing with set pieces, said that this element in Arsenal’s style aims to make the team more integrated.

He told reporters, “We want to be very dangerous and effective in every aspect, at every stage of the game, and we are working on all of that.”

“We could score from open play, as we did against West Ham and against Sporting (Lisbon), so the team has a real belief that we have the necessary mentality to threaten the opponent in all aspects and try to score.”

Arteta insisted that he did not allow the change in the result of the Liverpool match to influence his approach to the United match, but said that his team’s response to setbacks earlier in the season showed a positive mentality.

He said, “The desire to win is there. We did our best to achieve that. It is true that we went through a lot during that period, (because of) the match schedule and our position in the standings. There are a lot of things and we have to react to them.”

“It’s about trying to win again next time. After we’ve won four games in a row, it doesn’t matter anymore, we have to go to Fulham and be better.”

As for Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, he said that the return of his team’s star, Kevin De Bruyne, to brilliance was the key to the heavenly team’s victory. Guardiola told reporters, “We will see how he recovers after a long period of injury. The truth is that he participated in a small number of matches last season and this season.”

The exhausting schedule of matches this December increases concerns, as City will host Crystal Palace the day after tomorrow, Saturday.

Guardiola added, “Three days. (We have) three days. We will see how (De Bruyne) feels during this period.”

Guardiola added, “We needed that. The club, the players, and everyone needed to win. After what happened in the past, we did not relax until the referee blew the final whistle.”