Liverpool’s rare loss delays title march, Southampton relegated

London: Liverpool slumped to just their second Premier League defeat this season as Fulham clinched a shock 3-2 win over the runaway leaders, while Southampton were relegated in record-setting time after a 3-1 loss at Tottenham on Sunday.

Arsenal´s 1-1 draw at Everton on Saturday left Liverpool needing just 11 points to secure a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title. Arne Slot´s men were unbeaten in 26 league games and looked set to take another step towards the title when Alexis Mac Allister´s stunning strike opened the scoring.

But poor defending allowed Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz to turn the game around for Fulham. The Reds appear to be running out of steam after challenging in four competitions for most of Slot´s largely impressive first season since replacing Jurgen Klopp.

But Liverpool are still almost certain to win their first title since 2020 with only seven games remaining for second-placed Arsenal to catch them. After a Champions League exit to Paris Saint-Germain and League Cup final defeat to Newcastle, Liverpool edged Everton 1-0 in a feisty Merseyside derby on Wednesday to get back to winning ways.

However, their lethargic effort against Fulham might delay the title party for a little while longer. “In general we are not making many of these errors, let alone three in one game,” Slot said.

“People want to make stories which is their job. Many teams find it difficult to play Fulham. The second half performance was outstanding. We had chances but in the end we lacked time.”

In north London, Brennan Johnson struck twice in the first half and Mateus Fernandes´ late reply was too late to stop bottom-of-the-table Southampton crashing back to the Championship. Beaten for the 25th time in 31 games, Southampton are the first Premier League team to be relegated with seven matches still to play.

Ipswich and Derby were relegated with six games left in 1994-95 and 2007-08 respectively. Ivan Juric´s side are also still one shy of matching Derby´s 2007-08 record low Premier League total points of 11.

Juric, whose team are without a win in their last seven league matches, admitted this week that avoiding the record low points tally is Southampton´s only target for the rest of their dismal season.