Liverpool loses again as Premier League defense lurches deeper into crisis

Liverpool's Premier League title defense lurched deeper into crisis Saturday — losing 3-0 at home to Nottingham Forest.

A sixth defeat of the campaign left last season's runaway champion 11th in the standings and eight points behind leader Arsenal, having played a game more.

Goals from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White at Anfield consigned Liverpool to a fifth defeat from its last six games in England's top flight.

To put that into context, Arne Slot's team only lost four over the entire season last term when winning a record-equaling 20th title.

Chelsea closed the gap on Arsenal to three points with a 2-0 win at Burnley. Crystal Palace beat Wolverhampton 2-0 and Fulham won 1-0 at home to Sunderland.

Brighton won 2-1 against Brentford while Bournemouth came back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 with West Ham.

Chelsea closes the gap

Pedro Neto and Enzo Fernandez scored at Turf Moor as Chelsea provisionally moved up to second.

Arsenal plays Tottenham on Sunday, while Manchester City can retake second place later Saturday when it plays at Newcastle.

Neto headed Chelsea in front in the 37th minute for his second goal in as many games and his fourth this season.

Fernandez sealed the win in the 88th with a low shot from inside the box.

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James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson