Liverpool's Lead in Premier League Grows to 16 Points as Man City Loses Again

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield in Liverpool, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield in Liverpool, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
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Liverpool's Lead in Premier League Grows to 16 Points as Man City Loses Again

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield in Liverpool, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring his side's third goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Southampton at Anfield in Liverpool, Saturday, March 8, 2025. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Liverpool's lead in the Premier League has grown to 16 points.
Mohamed Salah's lead in the Golden Boot contest is up to seven goals.
Both races are turning into a procession after Salah converted two second-half penalties for his 26th and 27th goals of the campaign to clinch a 3-1 win for Liverpool at home to last-placed Southampton on Saturday, The Associated Press reported.
It seems a matter of when, not if, Liverpool secures its record-tying 20th English top-flight championship, even if Arsenal — way back in second place — has two games in hand. Liverpool's players have nine games left but surely won't need all of them to seal the title.
Maybe a more staggering statistic is that Manchester City, the winner of the last four titles, is now 23 points behind Liverpool after a 1-0 loss at third-placed Nottingham Forest, whose 83rd-minute winner came from Callum Hudson-Odoi.
City is in fourth place, at least for overnight, and has a fight on its hands just to finish in the top five, which should be enough to qualify for the Champions League this season. Only five points separate City from Fulham in 10th place.
Erling Haaland had a quiet match and — stuck on 20 goals — is now struggling to be the league's top scorer for the third straight season.
Instead, it's Salah heading for the Golden Boot, which he won outright in 2017-18 and shared in the 2018-19 and 2021-22 seasons, and is now up to 184 goals in the Premier League — tied with Man City great Sergio Aguero at No. 5 on the all-time list. Aguero and Salah are the top-scoring foreign players since the Premier League was founded in 1992.
Liverpool not holding back ahead of PSG For Liverpool, the meeting with Southampton came in the middle of two matches in a six-day span against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League's last 16.
Liverpool holds a 1-0 lead after the first leg in Paris on Wednesday and manager Arne Slot opted against mass rotation ahead of the return match on Tuesday. Indeed, Salah played the whole match.
Darwin Nunez started after setting up Harvey Elliott's winner in the French capital and scored himself in the 51st minute, canceling out Will Smallbone's shock opener for Southampton in first-half stoppage time.
Nunez then was fouled for the first penalty slotted home by Salah in the 54th, before the Egypt star notched his second in the 88th after a handball.
“The manager, his head was going for us but it's something you need sometimes," Salah said of Slot's halftime reaction. “Because the first half it was sloppy and we were slow.”
Southampton stayed 13 points from safety and looks destined for an immediate return to the Championship.
Forest on course for Champions League Forest’s improbable bid for Champions League qualification was strengthened by beating City, whose goalkeeper Ederson Moraes was beaten at his near post by Hudson-Odoi’s shot late in a tight game at the City Ground.
A few minutes earlier, Ederson had tipped a curling strike by Hudson-Odoi onto the post.
“I knew I'd get another chance and that one went in, so I'm buzzing,” Hudson-Odoi said.
Forest was battling relegation last season and finished 59 points behind City. Now it is four points ahead of the soon-to-be-deposed champions and has 10 games remaining as the club looks to get back into Europe’s top competition, which Forest famously won in 1979 and ’80 under Brian Clough.
City has lost three of its last five league games, to the current top three of Liverpool, Arsenal and now Forest.
“Every season the Premier League gets better and better,” Guardiola said. “We have 10 finals (to go).”
Narrow wins for Brighton and Villa Joao Pedro converted a penalty in the eighth minute of stoppage time to earn Brighton a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Fulham and lift his team to sixth place — level on points with fifth-placed Chelsea.
Since losing 7-0 at Forest on Feb. 1, Brighton has won six straight games in all competitions — including four in the league.
Aston Villa is a point behind in seventh place after winning 1-0 at Brentford, with Ollie Watkins scoring from a deflected shot in the 49th against his former club. The England striker, who was jeered throughout by the home fans, has six goals in his last six appearances against Brentford.
Crystal Palace beat Ipswich 1-0 thanks to Ismaila Sarr's 82nd-minute goal, while fourth-from-last Wolverhampton pushed six points clear of the relegation zone after drawing 1-1 with Everton in the late game.



Georgian Teenager Salia's Dream Comes True with Newcastle Move 

Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Georgian Teenager Salia's Dream Comes True with Newcastle Move 

Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)
Vakhtang Salia, a Georgian footballer who plays as a forward for Dinamo Tbilisi and will officially join Newcastle United on his 18th birthday in August 2025, controls the ball during a match against Samgurali Tskaltubo in the Georgian top football league, in Tbilisi, Georgia, March 6, 2025. (Reuters)

Georgian Vakhtang Salia may only be 17-years-old but he will soon be trading Dinamo Tbilisi's training ground for Newcastle United's famous St James' Park stadium.

The striker, known as Vakho, was with his friends when he heard he would be moving to Premier League Newcastle. He will relocate to England near his 18th birthday in August.

For the young prospect, who started playing aged four and debuted for Dinamo Tbilisi in Georgia's top flight only a year ago, signing for a Premier League club is a dream come true.

"I couldn't believe it. But I can't believe it right up until now. It's my dream to play there," he said.

Salia is part of a rising generation of young Georgian players who have given the South Caucasus country of 3.7 million, which gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, a spot on the world football map.

Salia told Reuters that among the players he most admires are Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze, who shone during the Euro 2024 campaign, Georgia's first major tournament. They lost to eventual champions Spain in the last 16.

The Euros saw Georgia, the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, win 2-0 against a Portugal side captained by Cristiano Ronaldo, another of Salia's soccer idols, in the group stage with goals from Kvaratskhelia and Mikautadze.

Salia also hopes to play for Georgia one day.

"Football in Georgia now is getting bigger," he said. "It's every Georgian's dream for Georgia to play in the World Cup and the Euros. And I hope that I'll play one day in the national team, too."

Dinamo Tbilisi head coach Vladimer Kakashvili said that Salia has every chance of becoming as good a player as his more established countrymen, even if the Premier League is a step up.

"Undoubtedly, today English football is among the best in Europe, where there are very high speeds, very high physical standards, and Vakho will need a certain period to get used to that," he said.

Salia's career at Dinamo Tbilisi so far leaves him well placed to shine in England, added Kakashvili.

"When a footballer joins the main team at such a young age, it shows that he's undoubtedly talented, that he undoubtedly works on himself, and that he is a professional of the highest level," he said.

"I think with his talent, strong work ethic, and dedication, he can play in any competition. It won't be a problem."