Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz celebrate goal for Liverpool
Each of the Liverpool front three scored as they returned to the top of the Premier League through a 3-1 win over Burnley after Manchester City had won to take top spot from the Reds.
Pep Guardiola’s side had overtaken their north-west rivals to reach the summit for the first time since November with victory in the lunchtime kick-off against Everton.
And while the three points re-established their two-point advantage the less-than-convincing nature of victory against the league’s next-bottom side was not quite befitting the occasion of Liverpool’s biggest league crowd of 60,725 after the full opening of the Anfield Road stand.
For a time it appeared the hosts, who due to flu in the camp were without goalkeeper Alisson Becker and Joe Gomez, were still suffering a hangover from the defeat at Arsenal last week.
It took the familiar right boot of Trent Alexander-Arnold, setting a new mark of 58 for Premier League assists by a defender, and the equally reliable head of Diogo Jota to get them out of first gear but even then it was far from a return to normality.
The sloppy concession of an equaliser to Dara O’Shea on the stroke of half-time posed further problems as did the withdrawal of Alexander-Arnold – only recently returned from a knee injury – at half-time.
But it was the England international’s replacement Harvey Elliott who set up goals for Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez to ease the pressure.
However, had on-loan Chelsea forward David Fofana been as clinical as he was scoring twice last weekend then not only would Liverpool still be looking up at City but questions would have started to be asked about their ability to match their long-time rivals blow-for-blow.
They do have Mohamed Salah and Dominic Szoboszlai to return from injury in the next couple of weeks but having negotiated January without the pair it was imperative they regained their momentum after their Emirates setback.
For 25 minutes it looked a struggle with Caoimhin Kelleher required to be out quickly to block Zeki Amdouni’s shot as early as the 10th minute as Klopp’s side struggled to find any rhythm.
Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones both fired rising shots over until, just past the half-hour, the breakthrough came when Clarets goalkeeper James Trafford misjudged the flight of a corner and Jota headed in his fifth goal in six games.
But O’Shea produced a better header from 12 yards from Josh Brownhill’s corner, outjumping Wataru Endo, now back from the Asian Cup, to power the ball past Kelleher.
Jones moved to right-back to fill in for Alexander-Arnold at the start of the second half but within seven minutes Elliott had made his first significant contribution when his low cross took a deflection off Maxime Esteve and allowing a stooping Diaz to nod in at the near post.
But although playing better they still looked far from secure and Kelleher made a huge save in the 64th minute in a one-on-one against Fofana, with Wilson Odobert blazing over the rebound, before the Burnley forward steered a shot wide of the far post with only the goalkeeper to beat.
Visiting sides rarely get the chance to squander such chances and after Jota had a shot tipped around the post, Jarell Quansah volleyed wide and Virgil van Dijk headed at Trafford it was left to Nunez to apply the finishing touch when he flicked a header inside the far post from Elliott’s cross.
The Uruguay international had a chance to make the scoreline more flattering in added time but, typically, shot straight at Trafford.

Who will replace Jurgen Klopp as next Liverpool manager? Ange in the running

Amorim, De Zerbi and Xabi Alonso all in frame for Liverpool.
You might not have heard, but Jurgen Klopp is leaving Liverpool. The German is on his way in the summer after a half-season farewell tour. 
So, who next? Replacing Klopp feels like the perfect job for one man, but let’s pretend there are other contenders. 
Here, according to Oddschecker, are the 10 favourites to become Liverpool’s next manager…

 
10) Ange Postecoglou
The Aussie was regularly and speculatively linked with Liverpool while he was pulling up trees with Celtic. But Postecoglou’s timing was a year off.
Still, he seems to be enjoying himself at Tottenham, and Spurs fans are loving Angeball. Might he be tempted to jump the Spurs ship for the club he supported as a boy?
Probably not. “Like any kid, I had the posters up on my wall, so Liverpool was my team,” he admitted earlier this season before Spurs robbed the Reds. “But you grow up, things change.
“I used to love ‘Happy Days’ back then too, but I don’t have pictures of the Fonz on my wall today either.”
 
9) Roger Schmidt
Won the Austrian league in 2013/14 with RB Salzburg, but then who hasn’t? Reclaimed the Primeira Liga as boss of Benfica last term, which is rather more impressive, and his side are currently just one point adrift of Ruben Amorim’s Sporting Lisbon.

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8) Unai Emery
Aston Villa were always likely to find out sooner or later what happens when you dare to challenge the accepted order of things. But having tried and failed to follow one big Barclays legacy manager, would he really want to have another crack at that quite possibly thankless task when he’s got such a good thing going in the midlands?
 
7) Michel Sanchez
His Girona side are top of the actual La Liga table, which has obviously made him one of the favourites for the Barcelona job that will come up at the end of the season. Mentioned as a possible Newcastle candidate in early January but he could probably aim higher. As high as Liverpool? Oh yes.
 
6) Zinedine Zidane
The ex-Real Madrid coach will have been away from the game for three years come the summer but he seems ready to come back. “I feel refreshed now,” he told GQ last year. “There is nothing better than talking to a player before a match. I need that.”
Having achieved what he’s achieved while retaining his unique aura, Zidane could have had his pick of jobs. He is perennially linked with PSG and Manchester United, the feeling being that if he was going to work for either, he would have done by now. Apparently, he could be tempted by Liverpool.
 
5) Julian Nagelsmann
Bayern Munich binned Nagelsman while he had a perfect Champions League record last season having faced Inter Milan, Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain, while sitting a point off the Bundesliga summit after replacing Robert Lewandowski with Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting. That doesn’t feel like a sackable offence.
The DFB thought not and offered him the Germany national team job. But only until after the European Championships. After which Liverpool need a new manager. And Nagelsmann sees his future as a club coach.

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There would still be a general cynicism and distrust over his fashion sense and obsession with nerdy tactics and such, and probably a humbling, Welcome To The Premier League defeat to someone like Bournemouth. Nagelsmann would not come without his faults and appointing someone younger than Adrian seems like a stick that would be used to beat both club and manager.
 
4) Ruben Amorim
The highly-rated young Sporting coach, famed for his attacking and enterprising 3-4-3 formation is an early mover in the list of potetntial contenders with reports on Saturday night placing him on the all-important ‘Liverpool shortlist’. Has been linked a bit with Manchester United this season and his name was always there or thereabouts before Spurs settled on Ange Postecoglou too. As a manager, arguably possesses similar credentials to Alonso, apart from the all-important Knows The Club metric.
Has a buyout clause of 20 million euro, making it both a Sporting release claus and a sporting release clause.
 
3) Pep Lijnders
Who better than the author of a self-described “counter-pressing bible” to replace the man he has worked alongside for five remarkable years? Releasing a 400-plus page book entitled ‘Intensity’ at the precise point Liverpool appeared to have lost theirs last season was not lost on the fans, but the suspicion lingers that if Klopp were to personally choose his successor – which he won’t – it might be his right-hand man.
Lijnders certainly knows the structure and current philosophy; it would be something of a return to the Boot Room and probably Mean More than any other managerial appointment in history. It almost doesn’t matter that his only previous experience in senior management was the five months he spent in charge of NEC in the Dutch second division almost five years ago, although it does matter a bit.
Lijnders’ role as assistant will end when Klopp walks away so that his right-hand man can pursue his own managerial ambitions. Straight into the Reds’ hot-seat?
 

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Roberto De Zerbi hugs Jurgen Klopp before a match.
 
2) Roberto De Zerbi
The Brighton boss has worked wonders at the AmEx, creating history seemingly on a bi-monthly basis since he was appointed in September 2022 to replace Graham Potter.
De Zerbi’s style of play would certainly entertain the Kop, which was privy to the Italian’s first game in charge of Brighton: a mental 3-3 draw in October 2022. Since then, he took Brighton into Europe for the first time, an achievement he described as ‘more prestigious than winning the title’ with a top six club.
It feels like only a matter of time before De Zerbi gets to find out for himself. The 44-year-old has been linked with Manchester United and City. The United job could be up for grabs at the same time as Liverpool’s.
Losing 4-0 to Luton did him no favours though.
 
1) Xabi Alonso
It’s a perfect fit. Surely? Almost too perfect.

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The ex-Liverpool midfielder is currently at the top of the Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, lording it up over Bayern in the form of a two-point lead. If Leverkusen retain that advantage and end Bayern’s 427-year-long reign as champions of Germany, there will be no better time to walk away.
Alonso, who started his managerial journey at Real Sociedad, was also a heavy favourite for Real Madrid when it seemed Carlo Ancelotti would be on his way at the end of the season. But he isn’t. Klopp is.
The Spaniard is under contract until 2026 though there were reports of a clause that allow him to walk away if any of his pretty handy list of former clubs – Liverpool, Bayern, Real Madrid… Sessions – came calling. The Reds will. Won’t they?

Darwin Nunez celebrates against Burnley
Always looked a cracking batch of 3pm games, this one, with significant potential to reshape the relegation picture in particular. It certainly did that, but perhaps not in the way most expected…
 
Liverpool 3-1 Burnley: Front three deliver, record for TAA, but a familiar feeling of dread for Reds
Liverpool find themselves in a curious position. We’re almost two-thirds of the way through the Premier League season now and Liverpool have just won 3-1 to go back to the top of the Premier League table. This is by any sane measure a Good Thing. And yet the day ends with Liverpool feeling far less like potential title winners than it started. The increasingly ominous Manchester Citying going on from Manchester City – and especially the returning Erling Haaland – just makes any win that is less than 100 per cent compelling feel like ground lost. At home to the second-worst team in the division, Liverpool really could have done with more than this.'We are trying to reach th
Sounds harsh, is harsh, but it’s the reality of trying to go toe to toe with Manchester City in the second half of a Premier League season. And there is of course no team better acquainted with that near impossible task than Liverpool. They were unconvincing going forward for long periods here, and the sloppy equaliser just before half-time and further chances given up to a team fighting a losing battle against relegation have to be a concern on the back of what was a pretty poor effort at Arsenal last weekend.
This really isn’t meant to sound as gloomy as it does. It’s just better to be realistic at this point. City are now firmly in their “New year is it? Win all the games now” phase and Liverpool are a work in progress who have if anything exceeded expectations this season. Getting back into the Champions League was a far more reasonable season target than a full-on title challenge, and they’re going to achieve that with plenty to spare.

Report: Liverpool 3-1 Burnley: Reds go back top with front three on song in victory over Clarets
 
Tottenham 2-1 Brighton: Spurs somehow escape early Brighton mauling with three more points
We’re becoming increasingly certain that Angeball has been largely worked out now by the rest of the Premier League. But this isn’t quite yet showing in Tottenham’s results. There are cracks and flaws if you want to find them. One away win since October is a good one, for instance. One clean sheet in 15 games another. But they’ve also now won five home games on the spin, and we’re no longer sure frankly if the often unconvincing nature of each of the last four makes that more or less impressive.
Certainly there can be no more grumbling about the injuries that really did cut them down in the autumn. The starting XI here was only Heung-min Son away from being Ange Postecoglou’s likely first-choice XI, and Son duly returned from Asian Cup duty to assist the winner for Brennan Johnson in the sixth added minute.
Are they playing well? Not really, but they’ve won six and drawn two of their last nine Premier League games since that horror run of one point in five games. For the third game in four they’ve picked up points from a losing position and a season of wild fluctuations between highs and lows is still overall miles ahead of what could reasonably be expected of a new-look team with a new un-Barclays-proven manager on the back of selling their greatest player of certainly the Premier League era and quite possibly ever.
There is plenty about them and when it all clicks it’s a joy to watch, but we’d feel happier if we could just see something approaching a complete 90-minute performance from a side that could do something really quite special over the next few years.
Report: Tottenham 2-1 Brighton: Brennan Johnson saves Spurs with 96th-minute winner to break Seagulls hearts
Brennan Johnson and Richarlison celebrate late Tottenham winner
 
Luton 1-3 Sheffield United: Hatters miss glorious opportunity
That one is going to sting. For Luton’s first two-goal home defeat of the season to come against one of the sides below them is going to be hard to put to one side, especially with upcoming games against Manchester United, Liverpool and Aston Villa before some more pre-interlull six-pointery against Palace and Forest.

It’s only one game, but it’s arguable Luton haven’t had a bigger one this season. Certainly not a bigger opportunity. This really had the potential to be a red-letter day for them, given what they could potentially do to the Blades and what City and Liverpool were always likely to do to nearest Everton and Burnley. The fixture computer had been kind, but the opportunity has been horribly spurned.
Victory today would have all but finished Sheffield United while opening a 10-point cushion over Burnley and most significantly four over Everton. If – and it still very much is if – Luton’s unexpectedly gallant survival bid failed, it’s unlikely there will be too many days more readily pinpointed for responsibility than this one.
 
Fulham 3-1 Bournemouth: So… are Fulham good, or what?
Can’t work Fulham out at all this season. Are you any good lads, or not? Please make up your minds. This was a thoroughly impressive dismantling of a Bournemouth team that took a while to find its stride this season but has proven notably tricky to dismantle having done so.
Fulham are the first team not called Manchester City, Liverpool or Tottenham – that is, three of the Premier League’s top four – to beat Bournemouth in any competition since October. That they did so with such compelling thrust and style as well only adds to the sense forged in those back-to-back 5-0 wins over Nottingham Forest and West Ham that this is a team that at its best can do quite striking things. Coming back from a goal down to beat Arsenal is another thing Fulham have done this season that doesn’t really happen these days.
And yet they also do things like lose at home to Burnley or, worse, Manchester United. Their five remaining games before the international break are against Villa, Manchester United, Brighton, Wolves and Tottenham. We fully expect them to win at least four of those before promptlcally losing on their return to action against Sheffield United.
 

Wolves 0-2 Brentford: Bees *can* hold a lead
For the 17th time in the Premier League this season, Brentford took the lead. For only the seventh – and the first away from home since October – they held that lead and took all three points. They even extended that lead to 2-0, which seems like a strategy they might want to consider using more often, although that did also only come after a VAR offside decision spared the familiar sinking feeling after what appeared to be an all-too predictable equaliser for the home side.
This was a big result, though, in a tricky game on a day that was always going to significantly reshape the relegation picture. A day that began with the very real prospect of being leapfrogged by Luton ends instead with a five-point cushion over the Hatter and six with a game in hand over Everton.