Mohamed Salah scored one goal and set up the equalizer by Trent Alexander-Arnold in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw at Aston Villa that stretched its lead in the Premier League to eight points on Wednesday.
Salah tucked away with his league-leading 24th goal of the campaign to put Liverpool ahead at Villa Park in the 29th minute, only for the leaders to fall behind by halftime following a volley by Youri Tielemans and a header from Ollie Watkins.
Alexander-Arnold ran onto an inside pass from Salah and drove in a shot that deflected past Villa goalkeeper Emi Martinez in the 61st as Liverpool salvaged a point, avoiding what would have been just a second league defeat of the season.
Liverpool has now played a game more than second-place Arsenal, which appears to be the only other realistic challenger for the title, and has another tough away game on Sunday at Manchester City.
Liverpool is seeking a 20th top-flight championship to tie the record of Manchester United.
Salah is spearheading Liverpool’s title charge. Not only is the Egypt forward the league’s top scorer, with five more than nearest challenger Erling Haaland of Manchester City, he has more assists than anyone else with 15.
Should Arsenal wind up reeling in Liverpool, the Reds may regret a big miss from Darwin Nunez after the Uruguay striker came on as a substitute. Dominik Szoboszlai ran through a squared the ball to Nunez, who had an open goal at which to aim with a left-footed shot.
Nunez blazed the finish high and wide, with Liverpool manager Arne Slot barely believing what he had seen on the touchline.
While drawing at Villa isn’t a bad result in normal circumstances, it still means Liverpool has dropped points in back-to-back midweek games — after a 2-2 draw at local rival Everton last Wednesday.
Arsenal plays first out of the top two at the weekend — at home to West Ham on Saturday — and has the chance to trim the lead to five points before Liverpool meets City.
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