Foxes biting at heels of Reds, Spurs; Arsenal lose again

Earlier Sunday, Tottenham, the league leaders, were held to a 1-1 draw by Crystal Palace while struggling Arsenal again lost at home, this time 1-0 to Burnley.

On Saturday, Chelsea lost for just the second time in the league this season, 1-0 at Everton, and the two Manchester clubs played out a drab 0-0 draw at Old Trafford.

If this was some kind of hangover from the teams’ latest mid-week exertions in European competition, then the schedule is only going to get more hectic now English football is entering the festive period when the show goes on unlike many leagues on the continent.

“I don’t want to make excuses — I’ll let you all talk about that and the amount of games players are playing, especially European teams,” Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson said. “We’ve just got to prepare and play whenever we’re told. That’s all we can do.”

As it was, there was no harm done by the champions for what was one of their sloppiest displays of the season.

Liverpool ended the week in second place after 12 games, tied on 25 points with Tottenham. Leicester are one point back after a 3-0 win over Brighton.

Tottenham and Liverpool meet at Anfield on Wednesday in the headline fixture in a mid-week round of games in the Premier League where rotation might be heavy across the division.

Salah moved to 13 goals for the season in all competitions with Liverpool’s 79th-minute equaliser at Fulham, with the Egypt forward scoring for the third straight game.

Liverpool looked to be heading for the second loss of their title defence, when a shot by Georginio Wijnaldum at a free kick struck the outstretched elbow of Fulham substitute Aboubakar Kamara, who was jumping in the defensive wall.

A penalty was awarded and Salah struck his attempt low and down the middle, with goalkeeper Alphonse Areola getting a hand to the ball but unable to keep it out.

Bobby Decordova-Reid gave Fulham the lead in the 25th minute with one of a series of chances created by the home team in a one-sided first half.

Liverpool played the second half with two central midfielders — Fabinho and Henderson — at centre-back after Joel Matip went off with a back issue. Matip had been the only fit, senior centre-alf available to Klopp, with Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez out with long-term injuries.

For Tottenham, there’s just no stopping Harry Kane and Son Heung-min.

They teamed up for a goal for the 12th time this season, as Kane opened the scoring for Spurs at Palace by collecting a pass from Son and smashing a fierce, swerving shot from about 30 metres that goalkeeper Vicente Guaita lost track of.

Only Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton, with 13, have combined for more goals in a single top-flight season than Kane and Son. That came in the 1994-95 title-winning campaign for Blackburn.

Guaita made amends with two outstanding saves, denying first Kane and then Eric Dier at a free kick, to preserve a point for Palace after Jeffrey Schlupp’s 81st-minute equaliser at Selhurst Park.

Tottenham’s only loss this season remains against Everton on the opening weekend.

Sheffield United, meanwhile, became the first Premier League team since Queens Park Rangers in 2012 to fail to win any of their first 12 games in a season after losing 3-0 at Southampton, who are just two points off the summit.

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Arsenal’s troubles intensified as they fell to a 1-0 defeat at home by lowly Burnley with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scoring an own goal after Granit Xhaka was sent off.

The Gunners, who have now lost four straight home games, are in 15th place in the standings with 13 points while Burnley climb out of the bottom three moving up to 17th place on nine points after their first away win of the season.

Mikel Arteta’s side were enjoying a spell of strong pressure after the interval, testing Burnley goalkeeper Nick Pope, when Xhaka was sent off after a VAR review spotted him grabbing Burnley’s Ashley Westwood by the throat.

Westwood created the decisive goal when his dangerous in-swinging corner was headed into his own goal by Aubameyang as he rose to challenge Josh Brownhill at the near post.

AP