Liverpool FC conceded a completely surprising 0-1 defeat at bottom Brentford on Saturday. The Reds traveled there with a lot of self-confidence after the brilliant 7-0 win against Manchester United. But the Klopp team’s season so far has been like a roller coaster ride, which should now continue this time. A week after the brilliant triumph against the English record champions, Liverpool made a mistake at the bottom of the Premier League table.
The only goal of the game came from Bournemouth’s Philip Billing in the 29th minute. The supposed leadership of Liverpool by Cody Gakpo didn’t count (15th). To make matters worse, Mohamed Salah shot a penalty wide to the left of the goal (69′). With a win, coach Jürgen Klopp’s team would have had the chance to make it into the top four, at least temporarily, for the first time in this messed-up season.
Instead, it was another setback in the fight for the Champions League spots. After the game, Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp spoke of a frustrating day. “I think we played the game Bournemouth wanted to play for about 95 minutes and maybe a few minutes, a few moments, we did what we wanted to do,” said the German.
Liverpool also have a far more difficult task ahead of them on Wednesday. In the second leg of the Champions League in a repeat of last year’s final at Real Madrid, the English have to catch up 2: 5 from the first leg.
Fourth-placed Tottenham won 3-1 at Nottingham Forest, as did Chelsea at Leicester City. Match winner for Tottenham was star striker Harry Kane with a brace before the break (19′, 35’/penalty). Son Heung-min scored (62′). The “Spurs” were previously three competitive games without a win. During the week came the end of the CL round of 16 against AC Milan.
Chelsea followed up their promotion to the top flight against Dortmund with another success. For the first time since October, the Londoners have back-to-back league wins but remain stuck in tenth place. The goals were scored by Ben Chilwell (11′), Kai Havertz (45’+6′) and Mateo Kovacic (78′). The interim equalization of ex-Salzburger Patson Daka (39th) was not enough for Leicester. The former champions are level on points with Bournemouth just a point clear of the relegation zone.
This is where Maximilian Wöber is with Leeds United. The “Whites” fought a 2-2 draw against Brighton after falling behind twice. Wöber played through in central defense. Leeds have won just one of their last 13 league games – two weeks ago against bottom-placed Southampton (1-0). The deficit of the new table penultimate to a non-relegation zone is only one point.