Liverpool Gains an Advantage in Three-Way Title Race as Man City and Arsenal Draw

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after winning the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion in Liverpool, Britain, 31 March 2024. (EPA)
Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after winning the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion in Liverpool, Britain, 31 March 2024. (EPA)
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Liverpool Gains an Advantage in Three-Way Title Race as Man City and Arsenal Draw

Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after winning the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion in Liverpool, Britain, 31 March 2024. (EPA)
Liverpool’s manager Jurgen Klopp celebrates after winning the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Brighton & Hove Albion in Liverpool, Britain, 31 March 2024. (EPA)

Liverpool leads the way in the race for the Premier League title after Manchester City and Arsenal canceled each other out on Sunday.

A 2-1 comeback win against Brighton left Jurgen Klopp's team looking down on its rivals — two points ahead of second-place Arsenal and three clear of City in third with nine games to go.

"It is a great situation where the boys brought us," said the Liverpool manager, who is aiming to sign off with a second league title before stepping down at the end of the season.

There is still some way to go in the three-way fight, but Mohamed Salah's second-half winner at Anfield could be crucial.

Even City manager Pep Guardiola admitted it's in Liverpool's hands now.

"Always who is first is favorites," Guardiola said. "Second is Arsenal and we are third."

Victory had moved Liverpool to the top of the standings before City and Arsenal played out a frustrating 0-0 draw at Etihad Stadium later in the day.

The clash between last season's top two had been highly anticipated but failed to live up to the pre-match hype, with few goal-scoring chances.

While the result suited Liverpool most of all, it was the latest evidence of Arsenal's growing title credentials after falling away at the end of last season.

The Londoners had lost on their previous eight visits to City — including a 4-1 defeat last year that proved costly in the title race.

This season, Mikel Arteta's team has taken four points off the defending champions, as well as winning the Community Shield against City in August. But the Arsenal manager said he was still looking for more from his players to prove they are ready to end Guardiola's dominance with City.

"(It shows) that we are improving and that we are competing better and we are understanding how you have to play these games, but there are other steps to be made to win the championship. You have to come here and you have to win," Arteta said. "Today we were able to draw and we have to still improve a lot to be able to do that."

Arsenal has now had the better of both of its title rivals, having also won and drawn against Liverpool.

By contrast, City has no league wins against any of the teams above it, having drawn against Liverpool home and away.

Sunday was a chance to improve that record — but City instead slipped further adrift of the top.

"Now we don’t depend on ourselves, we depend on Liverpool and Arsenal now because we don’t play against them again," City midfielder Bernardo Silva said. "So we need them to drop points as well as do our job and win our own games."

Guardiola is backing his team to do just that as it targets back-to-back trebles after winning the Premier League title, Champions League and FA Cup last season.

"My point of view is we are still there," Guardiola said. "I’m satisfied. I said to the team, ‘Don’t be sad.'"

With just three points separating the top three, it looks to set to be the most open title race in recent years.

And Brighton's performance at Anfield suggested there could still be some surprises along the way, with Liverpool having to come back from a goal down after Danny Welbeck's strike in the second minute.

Luis Diaz evened the score before the break and Salah struck his 22nd goal of the season in the second half to secure all three points.

"So, we are there with two other teams fighting for the biggest prize in English football and we will see how it will end up," Klopp said. "But I decided I will really try hard to enjoy it."



Flawless Oscar, Max Flounders: Bahrain Grand Prix Talking Points 

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
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Flawless Oscar, Max Flounders: Bahrain Grand Prix Talking Points 

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia in action during the the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, in Sakhir, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP)

Oscar Piastri produced a command performance on Sunday to deliver McLaren's first win at the Bahrain Grand Prix since the nocturnal desert dust-up joined the Formula One calendar in 2004.

The Australian crossed the line in Sakhir over 15 seconds clear of Mercedes' George Russell to move second behind teammate Lando Norris in the drivers' standings.

Norris completed the podium to take a three-point lead into next Sunday's race in Jeddah.

AFP Sport looks at three talking points from the fourth round of the season:

Oscar Piastri shone brightest under the floodlights in Bahrain to enhance his standing as a potential world champion.

Cool, calm and collected, nothing seems to faze the 24-year-old Australian.

As McLaren team principal Andrea Stella succinctly remarked: "There's no noise in Oscar's head".

Brushing off the misfortune of a late run off in the season-opener in Melbourne that dropped him back from second to ninth he regrouped to win in China, take third in Japan, and win from pole in Bahrain.

"I'm very proud of the team, proud of myself, and excited for next week," he said after his fourth career win.

Piastri's persona is poles apart from that of the man on the other side of the McLaren garage, Lando Norris.

The Briton wears his heart on his sleeve, is intensely self-critical, and left Bahrain searching for answers to regain his and his car's mojo.

"I'm not confident, I'm not comfortable, I know what I can achieve, it's not gone, I've not lost it, but things aren't clicking. I've got to look at why but that's proving not to be easy."

Red Bull picked up their first double points of the season in Sakhir, with Max Verstappen sixth and his new teammate Yuki Tsunoda ninth.

But that was small consolation for a team in trouble and desperately searching for answers to solve issues with their problematic 2025 car.

Team principal Christian Horner was frank about the situation when he met the media in the team's hospitality tent after the race.

"Look, it was a bad weekend.

"It's a 24-race championship, we're eight points behind in the drivers' championship, and we know we need to make progress very quickly."

With Verstappen slipping to third in the drivers' standings his quest for a fifth successive title, a feat only achieved by Michael Schumacher, looks in danger.

"Everything went wrong, poor start, wheel spin, same problems in qualification, hard tires didn't work, I was last after the second pit stop," remarked Verstappen.

"Considering everything to finish sixth was alright.

"It's not what we want, but it's where we are at.

"It's tough, got to hang on to improve the situation -- hopefully we can improve soon," added the downbeat Dutchman.

Arguably the driver of the day was George Russell.

His Mercedes was doing everything it could in the closing stages to sabotage his race.

He found himself having to multi-task at high speed trying to sort out a litany of electronic issues -- at one stage he pressed the team radio button only to engage DRS (drag reduction system).

All that as he was fending off Norris.

After surviving a steward's inquiry over the DRS incident which carried with it the threat of a five-second penalty Russell's runner-up spot maintained his best ever start to a season with his third podium finish.

"I'm mega happy, the last 10 laps were exceptionally difficult," said the man who has seamlessly taken over the role of team leader at the Silver Arrows after Lewis Hamilton's move to Ferrari.

Hamilton's replacement Kimi Antonelli was going well until undone by the late safety car to finish just outside the points in a race which will serve as a valuable learning exercise for the brilliant young Italian rookie.