Liverpool were held by first-placed Arsenal to 1-1 at Anfield in the English Premier League on Saturday.
Arsenal led through Gabriel’s fourth-minute header but Mohamed Salah evened the score in the 29th. Salah’s 151st Premier League goal moved him to 10th on the all-time list.
Liverpool pressed hardest in the second half and hit the woodwork twice. Mikel Arteta’s team will go into Christmas at the top of the standings, with Liverpool a point behind in second.
Defending champion Manchester City is likely happiest with the result after seeing two of its title rivals drop points. City, which fell to fifth while it was away winning the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia this week, is six points behind Arsenal with a game in hand.
Another title challenger, Aston Villa, also dropped points with a surprise 1-1 draw against Sheffield United on Friday. Liverpool has drawn back-to-back games in the league against Manchester United and Arsenal.
Jurgen Klopp’s team had the better chances to win on Saturday; Trent Alexander-Arnold hit the bar in the second half with only Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya to beat.
Substitute Harvey Elliott also hit the post with a deflected shot from outside the box. Relive all the action from the blog below and get all the latest football odds and tips here.
Kostas Tsimikas faces a lengthy lay-off with a broken collarbone as Liverpool’s injury problems leave then without both of their senior left-backs.
The Greece international was hurt in the first half of Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Arsenal and Jurgen Klopp expects he will be out for months.
Andy Robertson could be out until the end of January as he recovers from a dislocated shoulder. The Scotland captain is back in training but unlikely to return for another month.
Tsimikas’ injury came in freak circumstances when he was nudged by Bukayo Saka and collided with Klopp himself as well as the ground.
The Liverpool manager said: “Of course it effected me. I had no pain but thought maybe Kostas was going to be fine. I would happily give my collarbone for him to be fit again.
“It is not cool when something like that happens in front of you and you are involved in that, I was not sure what even happened or if I fell on him. It is not nice to see.”
*Reported by Independent.
