He Liverpool (5th) and Chelsea (6º) took a step back in their aspirations to be in the next season Champions League, by losing respectively against Brighton (2-1) and Everton (3-0), offering the Aston Villa (4th) a golden opportunity to open the gap.
The Villains, who are two points ahead of the Reds and three over the Blues, play on Sunday at their home ground against West Ham on matchday 31 of the Premier League.
Hugo Ekitiké injury
The Reds went on to go a third game in a row without winning in the league and wasted the opportunity to provisionally move into the coveted fourth position.
Deprived of the Egyptian star Mohamed Salah and his Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson, both injured, Arne Slot’s men suffered a double from veteran Danny Welbeck (14′ and 56′), which nullified the equalizer by Hungarian Milos Kerkez (30′).
The English striker’s double gave the home team its fourth victory in five Premier League games, keeping alive its chances of playing in Europe next season.
The visitors suffered another injury blow when their top scorer, Frenchman Hugo Ekitiké, limped off shortly after the start of the match.
Slot stated that losing the French striker is a serious setback, given his current limited number of attacking options.
The French international retired in tears after suffering a collision with another illustrious veteran, James Milner, and injuring his left thigh after just three minutes of play.
“There is always pressure at Liverpool, on me, on the players; that is completely normal,” declared the Dutch coach.
“We have qualified for the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and the Champions League, but in the league we have to make sure that, in the end, we qualify for the Champions League,” he added.
In two and a half weeks, Liverpool, who this week eliminated Turkish Galatasaray with a 4-0 at Anfield, will play the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against the current champion PSG.
Robert Sánchez, unfortunate
Next, Chelsea, which had a clear path to surpass Liverpool in the table, skidded by chaining its fourth defeat, sinking in the field of Everton (3-0), which is once again two points away (seventh with 48).
Four days after their elimination in the round of 16 of the Champions League against PSG, Liam Rosenior’s team was not up to par at Goodison Park against a fresh and ambitious Toffees team.
Launched into space, Beto opened the scoring with a lob over the Spaniard Robert Sánchez (33′), before scoring a double thanks to a poor intervention by the goalkeeper, unable to block the ball despite the shot going directly at him (62′).
Iliman Ndiaye scored with a sublime shot into the top corner (76′) that ended up knocking out the helpless Blues.
