Liverpool and Chelsea failed to find a cure for their January blues as the out-of-form giants played out a goalless draw in Saturday's headline Premier League clash at Anfield.
While Graham Potter's visitors went close through £89million signing Mykhaylo Mudryk, the contest offered a stark reminder of why both teams are marooned in mid-table, though there was plenty of intrigue to be found elsewhere.
While Champions League-chasing Newcastle United failed to make further inroads in a stalemate of their own at Crystal Palace, it was a day of contrasting fortunes at the bottom.
West Ham clinched a huge win over Everton as Leicester City were pegged back by Brighton and Hove Albion, leaving both Frank Lampard and Brendan Rodgers under severe pressure.
Here, Stats Perform takes a look at the most interesting facts to emerge from Saturday's Premier League action.
Liverpool 0-0 Chelsea: Reds and Blues fire another blank
Fans of Liverpool and Chelsea have become accustomed to goalless draws when their sides meet. Saturday's game represented the third consecutive fixture between the teams to finish 0-0.
Liverpool have only recorded a longer such run against an opponent once in their history, playing out four successive 0-0 draws with Everton in 1974 and 1975. Chelsea have never done so.
Jurgen Klopp would have been hoping to see Cody Gakpo hit the ground running when he arrived from PSV earlier this month, but the Netherlands international disappointed once again at Anfield – since his Reds debut on January 7, no Premier League player has had more shots without scoring in all competitions than Gakpo's 12.
While Potter has now overseen 16 goalless draws since making his Premier League bow in the 2019-20 season, at least twice as many as any other manager in that time, Klopp was left to curse the identity of Liverpool's opponents on a landmark occasion.
The German has now completed 1,000 games as a manager – 411 with Liverpool, 319 with Borussia Dortmund and 270 with Mainz. However, 10 of his 20 career meetings with Chelsea have been drawn, more than against any other side.
Leicester City 2-2 Brighton and Hove Albion: Foxes denied by in-form Ferguson
At the King Power Stadium, Leicester looked to be on course for a crucial victory when goals from Marc Albrighton and Harvey Barnes put them on top following Kaoru Mitoma's stunning opener.
Barnes has scored more Premier League goals (seven) in 18 appearances this season than he did in 32 games last term (six), but the winger was to be outdone at the death as Evan Ferguson headed a late leveller for Brighton.
With three goals and two assists in his five Premier League appearances, Ferguson is averaging a goal involvement every 40 minutes in the competition – the best ratio among players to have played at least 90 minutes this term.
The result leaves Leicester boss Rodgers facing mounting pressure, with the Foxes winless in their last five league games (W1, D4) after winning five of their previous eight.
West Ham 2-0 Everton: Bowen at the double as Lampard's woes deepen
At the London Stadium, West Ham struck a huge blow in the battle to avoid the drop, ending a run of seven league matches without a win (D1, L6) as Jarrod Bowen's brace sunk Everton.
The England international was on hand for two close-range finishes before the interval as the Hammers escaped the relegation zone. With 21 goals at the venue, Bowen is now level with Michail Antonio as the joint-top scorer at the London Stadium.
Everton, however, are in crisis mode after collecting just 15 points from their first 20 games of the season. Accounting for three points per win across all seasons, this is the Toffees' worst return at this point of a campaign in their history.
Their run of eight league games without a win (D2, L6) is the longest of Lampard's managerial career, casting further doubt on his future at Goodison Park.
Crystal Palace 0-0 Newcastle United: Magpies showcase solidity at Selhurst Park
Newcastle's failure to make the breakthrough against Crystal Palace will not have pleased Eddie Howe, but a sixth consecutive Premier League clean sheet demonstrated the solid streak which has put them in top-four contention.
The Magpies' run of six successive shutouts is the longest managed by a Premier League side under an English manager since Steve McClaren's Middlesbrough went seven games without conceding in the 2003-04 campaign.
Meanwhile, Newcastle's sequence of 15 games without defeat in the Premier League (W9, D6) is now the longest in their top-flight history.
Having also drawn 0-0 in the return fixture at St James' Park in September, Palace and Newcastle have attempted 64 shots between them without scoring in their two Premier League meetings this term – the most of any two sides in a single season on record (since 2003-04).
Joao Felix sinks parent club Atletico Madrid as Barcelona move third
Joao Felix undid his parent club as a first-half finish from the Portugal international earned Barcelona a 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium.
Felix lifted the ball over goalkeeper Jan Oblak in deft fashion in the 28th minute as Xavi’s men replaced Atletico in third in the LaLiga table, with a four-point gap to leaders Real Madrid and second-placed Girona
Sevilla were held 1-1 at home by Villarreal, Hector Bellerin was shown a red card in the 27th minute of Real Betis’ goalless draw at Almeria, and Mallorca and Alaves also drew a blank.
Kylian Mbappe inspired 10-man Paris St Germain to a 2-0 victory over Le Havre to send them four points clear of Nice at the top of Ligue 1.
PSG found themselves down to 10 men after just 10 minutes when goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sent off for a high challenge on Josue Casimir.
The visitors went in front in the 23rd minute through Mbappe and while the hosts did their best to find an equaliser, Vitinha scored against the run of play in the 89th minute to seal three points.
Goalkeeper Lucas Chevalier saved two penalties as Lille claimed a 2-0 win at home to Metz. The 22-year-old denied Simon Elisor before two goals in first-half stoppage time from Yusuf Yazici and Jonathan David put Lille in control.
More heroics from Chevalier 10 minutes into the second half to keep out Lamine Camara’s penalty helped preserve victory for the home side.
Third-placed Monaco are two points behind Nice following a 2-0 win over 10-man Montpellier, who saw Boubakar Kouyate sent off in the second half, while Brest beat Clermont 3-0 and Toulouse played out a 1-1 draw with Lorient.
Both sides were reduced to 10 as Marseille beat Rennes 2-0 at home, Christopher Wooh being dismissed for the visitors just past the hour mark and Iliman Ndiaye going soon after.
Marseille’s goals came via an early Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang penalty and Azzedine Ounahi effort between the red cards.
Inter Milan moved back above Juventus to the top of Serie A with a 3-0 win at defending champions Napoli, with Hakan Calhanoglu, Nicolo Barella and Marcus Thuram on the scoresheet.
Rasmus Kristensen scored the winner for Roma as they came from behind to beat Sassuolo 2-1.
Matheus Henrique fired in a first-half opener for Sassuolo, but it all came undone after the break when Daniel Boloca was dismissed and Paulo Dybala scored from the spot, before Kristensen fired home a second.
A Lucas Beltran spot-kick and further goals from Riccardo Sottil and Giacomo Bonaventura earned Fiorentina a 3-0 victory over Salernitana, while Udinese and Verona drew 3-3.
Bologna looked poised for victory at Lecce but had to settle for a point after Roberto Piccoli’s penalty in the 10th minute of second-half stoppage time cancelled out Charalampos Lykogiannis’ 68th-minute opener.
In the Bundesliga, Borussia Dortmund were on course to leapfrog fourth-placed Leipzig with a vital victory at leaders Bayer Leverkusen after Julian Ryerson fired the visitors ahead after five minutes, but Victor Boniface salvaged a point when he levelled late in the second half.
Elsewhere, Augsburg beat Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 and Freiburg won 1-0 at Mainz.
England likely to be without star names in Euro 2024 build-up – Gareth Southgate
England manager Gareth Southgate is gearing up to be without a number of star names in his Euro 2024 build-up.
The 23-man squad is likely to include players who will feature in the Champions League final on June 1 at Wembley, just 15 days before their Group C opener against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen.
Southgate faced a similar difficulty before the inaugural Nations League finals in 2019, when seven players arrived late after Liverpool beat Tottenham in the Champions League final.
There were similar headaches ahead of the last Euros as Chelsea and Manchester City contested the 2021 Champions League final, but Southgate insisted it was just an occupational hazard he would have to cope with.
“You would love to have all of the players for all of the preparation camps, but that’s not our reality,” Southgate said.
“We’ve dealt with that in the past, so we know what it needs to look like.
“It’s important they get some sort of psychological break in between but, of course, the longer they play, the less you can give them is the reality.
“What we’ve got to do now is, now we know the draw, look at the opponents for those (warm-up) games again a bit more clearly.”
England have already confirmed March warm-up friendlies against Brazil and Belgium at Wembley.
The Euro 2020 runners-up are understood to be planning two further friendlies on home soil against as yet unspecified opposition.
Callum McGregor excited at chance to open Euro 2024 against hosts Germany
Scotland midfielder Callum McGregor is relishing the prospect of opening Euro 2024 against the hosts.
Steve Clarke’s side will kick off the tournament on June 14 against Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich.
Scotland will also take on Hungary and Switzerland in Group A following Saturday’s draw in Hamburg.
McGregor said: “It was great watching the draw. We have three really good teams and it’s a strong group.
“When you get to a tournament that’s what you want to do, you want to be against the best teams and that’s what we’ll do in the opening game against Germany.
“It doesn’t come much bigger than that as an occasion and everyone is looking forward to it.”
Scotland opened the 1998 World Cup with a 2-1 defeat by Brazil at the Stade de France in their most recent major tournament on foreign soil.
Celtic captain McGregor said: “I don’t remember the 1998 game as such but I have heard people talking about it.
“It’s going to be such a brilliant occasion opening the whole tournament.”
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
