Monday’s briefing: Newcastle look to take advantage of City and Chelsea drawing | OneFootball

Liverpool’s long unbeaten run in the Premier League was ended by a 3-2 defeat at Fulham on Sunday.

Neither Manchester United nor Manchester City saw their disappointing seasons much improved by a dour goalless draw at Old Trafford, while Chelsea were held at Brentford.

Southampton set an unwanted record with the earliest Premier League relegation after a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham, with top-four chasing Newcastle taking on Leicester on Monday night.

Slot’s bubble burst

Liverpool manager Arne Slot admitted he was not used to seeing the volume of mistakes made by his Premier League leaders as a 3-2 defeat at Fulham saw their 26-match unbeaten league run ended.

Despite Alexis Mac Allister’s sensational opener, Liverpool were handed their second defeat of the campaign, with Fulham responding thanks to goals from Ryan Sessegnon, Alex Iwobi and Rodrigo Muniz.

Substitute Luis Diaz found the net after the break but it was not enough as Liverpool slipped to their first league loss since Nottingham Forest’s 1-0 win at Anfield in September.

“It wasn’t 45 minutes of disaster but the errors we made weren’t something that we’re used to and it’s something different,” Slot said. “It’s disappointed us all, the players and the fans.

“One reason we’re in the position we’re in is because we don’t make a lot of mistakes and if we do, the players try and make up for them.”

Guardiola points the finger

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola accused Manchester United supporters of lacking class after singing vulgar chants about Phil Foden’s mother during Sunday’s derby.

Guardiola said rival supporters should be ashamed having also targeted the England international as he left the field following a drab goalless draw at Old Trafford.

He said: “The chants to him? Lack of class. But it’s not United, it’s the people.”

United and City – sat 13th and fifth in the table respectively – produced a subdued, scrappy and scoreless clash that lacked the drama seen in December, when Ruben Amorim’s men secured a last-gasp 2-1 turnaround at the Etihad Stadium.

Substitute Joshua Zirkzee had United’s best chance and Omar Marmoush looked most likely to secure an away win in Kevin De Bruyne’s final Manchester derby before ending his medal-laden decade with City.

Saints’ sorry record

Ivan Juric paid tribute to Southampton’s “incredible” fan base for the love they showed after relegation from the Premier League in record-breaking fashion was confirmed at Tottenham.

Saints’ fate had felt inevitable for months, but a 2-1 victory for Wolves at Ipswich on Saturday opened up a 22-point gap to safety for the south coast club.

It meant Juric’s team required a draw or win in north London to delay the inevitable for at least another week, but Brennan Johnson’s first-half brace was followed by a stoppage-time penalty from Mathys Tel to ensure Mateus Fernandes’ late effort was a mere consolation.

The Saints supporters at Spurs gave their relegated team plenty of applause at full-time in a show of defiance which left its mark on Juric.

“A new experience. I said to the players, they have to be really thankful they have fans like this. It was something incredible the way they love their team, their squad, even the players that we are relegated (with), incredible for me,” Juric explained.

Newcastle will look to take charge of the race for the Champions League after their rivals dropped points, while at the same time pushing opponents Leicester closer to relegation when the teams meet at the King Power Stadium. The Magpies are three points off fourth-placed Chelsea.