Leicester City’s improbable dream of winning the Barclays Premier League title moved ever closer after their main rivals stumbled on a night of high drama.
Tottenham Hotspur were beaten 1-0 away to West Ham United and Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager, came under renewed pressure after his side slipped to an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat by Swansea City.
Manchester City, meanwhile, were easily beaten 3-0 by Liverpool, with the Merseyside club gaining a measure of revenge after losing the Capital One Cup final at Wembley on Sunday.
Tottenham remain three points behind Claudio Ranieri’s side going into the north London derby on Saturday, a game that has taken on even more significance after both teams suffered defeats.
Arsenal will be without Petr Cech at White Hart Lane after the goalkeeper aggravated a hamstring injury in the final minutes when he went up for an Arsenal corner and then had to race back to his goal. Arsenal were booed off at the Emirates Stadium after Swansea came from a goal down — scored in memorable style by Joel Campbell — to clinch a crucial victory that moved them six points clear of the relegation zone.
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The result leaves Arsenal six points adrift of Leicester, the leaders, and only five points clear of West Ham, who are moving ever closer to a coveted place in the top four. Wenger, the Arsenal manager, said that he was “not in the mood” to discuss his side’s title chances after a second consecutive league defeat and has urged his players to react with a strong performance against Tottenham.
“At the moment we have to come back to a positive result before we speak about Championships,” Wenger said. “Let’s focus on winning games and we will not talk about titles. It’s a big disappointment. We have to swallow that and bounce back.
Michail Antonio’s early goal, his tenth of the season, condemned Tottenham to defeat in a high-octane encounter at Upton Park, although Mauricio Pochettino refused to blame title nerves on his side’s first defeat away from home in the league since the opening day of the season.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side will also be nervously looking over their shoulders after being thrashed at Anfield. City, who are ten points behind Leicester, albeit with a game in hand, are level with Manchester United after Juan Mata’s late goal secured a 1-0 win over Watford. Pellegrini, though, insisted that he was not worried about failing to qualify for the Champions League.
“I’m not thinking about the title or not thinking about qualifying for the Champions League, it’s important to think about the next game,” he said after City’s third successive league defeat.
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Newcastle United lost on the road again, this time 1-0 against Stoke City.