Title contender left feeling the blues

LONDON — Mikel Arteta urged Arsenal to dig deep after a shock 1-0 defeat at Everton dented the Premier League leader's title bid, while Liverpool's troubled season hit a new low with a woeful 3-0 loss at Wolves on Saturday.

Arteta's side was beaten for just the second time in 20 league games this season as James Tarkowski headed Everton's winner in the 60th minute.

The Gunners' only other league defeat came at Manchester United in September.

Arsenal still leads second placed Manchester City by five points, but the champion can close the gap to two points if it wins at Tottenham on Sunday.

"This is not going to be a rosy pathway," said Arteta of Arsenal's road to the title.

"This is going to be tricky and we will have to dig in and play much better than we did today."

Everton came into the game on a run of four league defeats at Goodison Park for the first time since 1958.

That disastrous form cost Frank Lampard his job and Sean Dyche's appointment got the desired bounce with a first win in 11 games.

"The minimum requirement is maximum effort and we saw that today," said Dyche after his first game in charge.

"It's a start point. That one (win) doesn't guarantee the next one," Dyche said. "The way they have taken ownership and pride in what we have tried to do this week, I value that."

While Everton, which sits third from bottom, boosted its bid to avoid relegation, its Merseyside rival Liverpool crashed to a fourth defeat in seven games across all competitions, a miserable run featuring only one win.

Jurgen Klopp's side is languishing in 10th place, 11 points adrift of the top four amid its worst season of Klopp's seven-year reign.

It is the first time since 2012 that Liverpool has lost three successive away games in the league, while it has already conceded more league goals this season than it did in the entirety of last term.

Facing a struggling team who kicked off the match in the relegation zone, Liverpool immediately crumbled as Joel Matip deflected Hwang Hee-chan's cross into his own net after five minutes.

Wolves debutant Craig Dawson doubled the lead after 12 minutes when the defender smashed in from 10 yards.

With Wolves fans taunting Klopp with chants of "you're getting sacked in the morning", Ruben Neves sealed the win with a 71st minute finish from Adama Traore's cross.

"Obviously it was a horrible start with two goals which should not happen like that. We were 2-0 down because of our own fault," Klopp said.

"We were very passive in that opening period. I cannot explain it. There is no excuse for it.

"I'm so disappointed and angry about the first 15 minutes. I have no words for it really, I'm sorry."

Casemiro sees red

Ten-man Manchester United cemented its grip on third place with a 2-1 win against Crystal Palace.

In the seventh minute, United was awarded a penalty after VAR showed Will Hughes handled Marcus Rashford's cross, with Bruno Fernandes coolly converting from the spot.

Rashford struck in the 62nd minute with a composed finish from Luke Shaw's cross.

United was reduced to 10 men in the 70th minute when Brazil midfielder Casemiro grabbed Will Hughes by the throat.

Jeff Schlupp's 76th minute strike set up a tense finish but United held on to make it a sixth successive home league win for the first time since 2017.

Just prior to his goal, Schlupp had shoved United winger Antony off the pitch, sparking a fight involving both sets of players which ended with Casemiro receiving a straight red card for violent conduct.

Referee Andre Marriner was advised to check the pitch-side monitor by the VAR to review images of Casemiro grabbing Palace's Will Hughes by the throat.

"It was a really high level first 70 minutes until the incident takes place and then you see this team stands for each other," Ten Hag said.

"It's such a good spirit for the team and they don't accept it when a teammate could have been badly injured. That is the way Antony got treated.

"This team sticks together, but of course you have to control your emotions, but it's really difficult in such a moment.

"Then I see two teams fighting each other, I see two teams where players, several players, are crossing the line and then one player is picked out and sent off. For me, that's not right."

Fresh from reaching its first League Cup final for 47 years in midweek, fourth placed Newcastle had to settle for a 1-1 draw against lowly West Ham at St James' Park.

Callum Wilson fired Newcastle ahead after three minutes, but West Ham leveled in the 32nd minute through Lucas Paqueta.

It was the first goal conceded by Newcastle in 574 minutes of Premier League action dating back to November.

Brentford climbed to seventh place and pushed bottom of the table Southampton deeper into trouble with a 3-0 win.

Kaoru Mitoma's 87th minute header gave sixth placed Brighton a 1-0 victory against second from bottom Bournemouth.

Leicester twice came from behind to win 4-2 at Aston Villa.

Agencies