Liverpool’s lead in the Premier League has grown to 16 points.
Mohamed Salah’s lead in the Golden Boot race 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.
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 winner came from Callum Hudson-Odoi in the 83rd.
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.
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.
Liverpool not holding back ahead of PSG
The game against 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 the match 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.
Southampton stayed 13 points from safety and looks destined for an immediate return to the Championship.
Forest on course for Champions League
Nottingham Forest’s improbable bid for Champions League qualification was strengthened by the win over City, whose goalkeeper Ederson Moraes was beaten at his near post by Hudson-Odoi’s shot in one of the few clear-cut chances 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.
Third-placed Forest, which was battling relegation last season, moved four points clear of City and has 10 games remaining as it looks to get back into Europe’s top competition, which the club famously won in 1979 and ’80 under Brian Clough.
City has steadied after a dreadful end to 2024 but has still 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).”
Last-gasp winner for Brighton
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.
Crystal Palace beat Ipswich 1-0.
___
Steve Douglas is at
___
AP soccer:
The post Sweet Sixteen: Liverpool’s lead in Premier League grows to 16 points as ailing Man City loses again appeared first on Associated Press.
