🦁 Liverpool win Spurs thriller; Chelsea batter Hammers; Brighton survive | OneFootball

An intriguing set of fixtures were on offer  from the Premier League on Sunday.

Here’s how it all unfolded.

Liverpool beat Tottenham in thriller

Scorers: Salah 16′, Robertson 45′, Gakpo 50′, Elliot 60′; Richarlison 72′, Son 77′

Liverpool and Tottenham faced off at Anfield knowing that both of their seasons were in danger of ending with a whimper, but the Reds roared past Spurs and kept their slim title hopes alive.

It looked as though Spurs had a grip on the game from the early stages, but Liverpool burst into life and saw Mo Salah’s cross come back off the crossbar, before Harvey Elliot had an effort cleared off the line.

But the opening goal was coming, and it just had to be Salah. After the Egyptian went close again, a cross from Cody Gakpo allowed Salah to nod home unmarked to hand his side the lead.

The Reds pressed for a second, but some wayward finishing and last-ditch defending kept them at bay, with Diaz firing a scissor kick wide and Alexander-Arnold lifting an effort over the bar.

A second goal was coming though, and just before half time they eventually doubled their lead when a save from Guglielmo Vicario fell to the feet of Andy Robertson, who duly tapped home.

Any hopes of a Spurs fightback after half time were quickly quashed in the second half, with Liverpool adding a third within five minutes when Gakpo headed home a cross from Elliot to add more gloss to the scoreline.

They weren’t finished there; Harvey Elliot rattled in a gorgeous effort on the hour mark to inflict further salt into the Spurs wounds.

But the addition of James Maddison and Richarlison changed the tide; first the Brazilian tapped home before laying the ball off to Son, who fired past Alisson to set up a grandstand finale.

The chances kept coming as Mo Salah missed from a yard out before Alexander-Arnold almost lobbed Vicario from 60.

But there was to be no seventh goal, and Liverpool took all three points in Klopp’s penultimate Anfield outing.

Blues on fire in London derby at the Bridge

Scorers: Palmer 15′, Gallagher 30′, Madueke 36′, Jackson 48′, 80′

Chelsea are up to seventh in the table after a comprehensive battering of West Ham in Sunday’s London derby.

It took 15 minutes for the deadlock to be broken and it was Chelsea’s main man Cole Palmer who found the net, pouncing on a loose ball inside the box to fire home his 24th goal of the season on the eve of his 22nd birthday.

West Ham went close to equalising just moments later when Jarrod Bowen rattled the woodwork with a header from a corner.

But Chelsea doubled their lead after half an hour and Conor Gallagher was the scorer, when another loose ball deflected into his path and he finished cleanly on the volley for 2-0.

And the Blues went even further ahead in the 36th-minute, when Noni Madueke nodded home from inside the six-yard box following Thiago Silva’s knockdown from a corner.

Moments later Gallagher headed against the crossbar for what was almost 4-0, and moments before half-time Bowen went close to pulling one back for West Ham, but again he hit the bar too.

Chelsea began the second half at the same speed they finished the first, and soon went 4-0 up when Nicolas Jackson tapped into an empty net from Madueke’s cut-back.

Former Chelsea man Emerson Palmieri then had a great chance to pull one back when he was played through by Lucas Paquetá, but somehow the Italian blazed his shot over the bar.

Hammers winger Bowen was left cursing his luck again in the 79th-minute, when he hit the crossbar for the third time after his effort deflected off Benoît Badiashile.

Before Jackson raced through on goal and slipped coolly past Alphonse Areola to make it 5-0.

That result leaves the Blues in seventh, five points ahead of ninth-placed West Ham and still with a game in hand over their London rivals. Eighth-placed Manchester United travel to face Crystal Palace on Monday.

Villa’s top four hopes dealt blow at Brighton

Scorers: João Pedro (PEN) 87′

Aston Villa’s hopes of finishing in the top four suffered a potential blow when they were beaten away at Brighton & Hove Albion.

A late João Pedro penalty gave the Seagulls the victory, which will have Villa hoping for a Tottenham defeat at Anfield in the day’s late kick-off.

Stand-in Villa goalkeeper Robin Olsen was called into action early when he had to be at full stretch to deny a goalbound effort from Simon Adingra.

Villa were dealt a blow midway through the first half when Morgan Rogers was forced off with what appeared to be a muscular injury. Matty Cash came off the bench to replace him.

Olsen had to make another good save to deny João Pedro in the second half, just before Pascal Groß thought he’d broken the deadlock for Brighton, only for his goal to be ruled out by VAR for offside.

At the other end, Villa also thought they’d found the net momentarily when John McGinn found the bottom corner, but he too was denied by the offside flag.

But there was to be some late drama, when Adingra was brought down in the box by Ezri Konsa and the referee pointed to the penalty spot.

João Pedro took it, his first effort was saved by Olsen, but the Brazilian tucked home the rebound for 1-0.

That result leaves Villa in fourth on 67 points, still seven-points ahead of Spurs, who have two games in hand.

Monday’s fixture