By Samuel Akpan with agency report
Liverpool’s unbeaten away league record remained intact, but they dropped crucial points in the title race after being held to a 2-2 draw at Aston Villa.
The result gives Arsenal hope, with the Gunners now eight points behind the leaders having played a game less.
Mohamed Salah opened the scoring for Liverpool, but Ollie Watkins equalized for Villa just before halftime.
Youri Tielemans then gave Villa the lead, but Trent Alexander-Arnold’s deflected strike earned Liverpool a point.
Substitute Darwin Nunez had a late chance to win it for Liverpool but blasted his shot over the bar.
Liverpool manager Arne Slot appeared to reference Nunez’s miss in his post-match comments, saying, “There is one person in the dressing room that feels quite down. I think you know who it is.”
Slot also expressed his disappointment with the result, stating, “Not so happy, to be honest. We created far more chances than them and created chances to win.”
Villa boss Unai Emery was more positive, saying, “You have to wait your moment to attack and get chances like we had. We did. We were more or less competing well and we came back in the first half.”
Emery also defended his team’s approach, saying, “We are taking some risk and avoiding it a lot of the time. Today they scored but we are not changing and will work to improve.”
The draw leaves Liverpool eight points clear of Arsenal, but the Gunners have a game in hand.
Liverpool’s next two games are against Manchester City and Newcastle, and they will need to regain their momentum to maintain their title challenge.
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