Liverpool, City tee up another titanic title race

LIVERPOOL, England — Liverpool and Manchester City look primed and ready for another heavyweight title fight.

Liverpool routed Chelsea 4-1 on Wednesday, restoring a five-point lead for Jurgen Klopp's team atop the table, before visiting third-placed Arsenal this weekend.

City eased to a 3-1 win over Burnley and reclaimed second spot, ahead of Arsenal on goal difference, and having played a game fewer than its two rivals.

With their fourth straight wins, the Premier League powers showcased deep squads, fast-improving young stars and, for City, the tentative return of feared forward Erling Haaland after nearly two months out injured.

Haaland came off the bench with City comfortably in charge holding a three-goal advantage, as Julian Alvarez again stepped up to lead the attack with two goals. The second was created by Kevin De Bruyne, making his first start in the Premier League since August.

For Liverpool, Diogo Jota again covered for the absence of Mohamed Salah, opening the scoring early against a poor Chelsea after receiving a pass from the impressive Conor Bradley.

Bradley, an unheralded 20-year-old rightback filling in for Trent Alexander-Arnold, then scored his first goal for the club before conjuring another assist, feeding Dominik Szoboszlai to effectively seal the win in the 65th.

Liverpool had the luxury of forward Darwin Nunez missing a first-half penalty, who posted a Premier League record for an individual player striking the frame of the goal four times in a game.

Final rehearsal

Liverpool and Chelsea meet again in the League Cup final on Feb 25.

Maybe, when the pair meet at Wembley Stadium, there'll be a winner within 90 minutes, after the teams finally ended their two-and-a-half-year streak of seven straight draws in games on Wednesday.

Two of those seven were English domestic cup finals in the 2021-22 season. Both the League Cup and FA Cup finals ended 0-0 before Liverpool won both via penalty shootout.

Just like two years ago, Liverpool is aiming for an unprecedented quadruple trophy sweep.

Also like two years ago, the Premier League shapes up as the toughest to win, with three-time defending champion Man City starting another of its mid-season surges.

Happy birthday

On the day he turned 24, Julian Alvarez scored twice in the first 22 minutes to set Manchester City on its way to an easy win over Burnley. Rodri extended the lead 30 seconds into the second half.

Alvarez now has six goals in his last five games, helping the English, European and Club World Cup champion manage the injury absence of Erling Haaland.

The Argentina forward's scoring run started with two goals in a 4-0 win over Fluminense in the Club World Cup final on Dec 22.

That title success capped a week in the Saudi Arabia sunshine that seemed to reset City's league campaign, after a run of dropped points due to the uncharacteristic concession of late goals in a number of games.

City has won six straight since coming home from Jeddah and, perhaps more importantly, now has Haaland back in action. The Norwegian, who has 19 goals in all competitions this season, came on in the 71st minute after missing six Premier League games and the Club World Cup.

Haaland had shooting chances, but the only further goal was Ameen Al-Dakhil's consolation for Burnley in stoppage time.

Spurred on

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are also still in the hunt for the league title.

Tottenham scored three goals in eight second-half minutes to beat Brentford 3-2 and rise to fourth, trailing Liverpool by eight points.

Whatever Premier League road that coach Ange Postecoglou's team takes, it should be one of the most watchable.

After a poor first half at home to Brentford, Destiny Udogie leveled the game in the 48th, one minute before Welshman Brennan Johnson scored the go-ahead goal. Richarlison scored what proved the decisive goal in the 56th.

Ivan Toney cut the lead, scoring for the second straight game since his return from an eight-month ban for betting violations.

A testy edge was created by Brentford forward Neal Maupay, appearing to mock the dart-throwing goal celebration favored by Tottenham playmaker James Maddison after scoring in the first half.

Maddison confronted Maupay in the center circle and the gesture was later repeated by Johnson and Richarlison when Tottenham took the lead.

"I just said to (Maupay) that he probably hasn't scored enough goals of his own over the last few years to have his own celebration," Maddison said, "so that's why he had to copy mine."

Agencies Via Xinhua