Liverpool takes advantage in three-way title race as Man City and Arsenal draw

Liverpool leads the way in the race for the Premier League title after Manchester City and Arsenal canceled each other out on Sunday.

A 2-1 comeback win against Brighton left Jurgen Klopp's team looking down on its rivals — two points ahead of second-place Arsenal and three clear of City in third with nine games to go.

"It is a great situation where the boys brought us in," the Liverpool manager said.

There is still some way to go in the three-way title fight, but Mohamed Salah's second-half winner at Anfield could be crucial.

It had moved Liverpool to the top of the standings before City and Arsenal played out a frustrating 0-0 draw at Etihad Stadium later in the day.

Most of the focus had been on the clash between last season's top two but it failed to live up to the pre-match hype, with few goal-scoring chances.

While Klopp is likely to be happiest about the result, it was the latest evidence of Arsenal's growing title credentials after falling away at the end of last season.

The Londoners had lost on their previous eight visits to City — including a 4-1 defeat last year that proved costly in the title race.

This season, Mikel Arteta's team has taken four points off the defending champions, as well as winning the Community Shield against City in August. But Arteta is still looking for more from his players to prove they are ready to end Pep Guardiola's dominance with City.

"(It shows) that we are improving and that we are competing better and we are understanding how you have to play these games, but there are other steps to be made to win the championship. You have to come here and you have to win," the Arsenal manager said. "Today we were able to draw and we have to still improve a lot to be able to do that."

Arsenal has now had the better of both of its title rivals, having also won and drawn against Liverpool.

By contrast, City has no wins against any of the teams above it, having drawn against Liverpool home and away.

Sunday was a chance to improve that record.

"Now we don't depend on ourselves, we depend on Liverpool and Arsenal now because we don't play against them again," City midfielder Bernardo Silva said. "So we need them to drop points as well as do our job and win our own games."

While Guardiola admitted Liverpool was now the favorite to lift the title, the City manager is still backing his team, which is aiming for back-to-back trebles after winning the Premier

League title, Champions League and FA Cup last season.

"My point of view is we are still there," Guardiola said. "I'm satisfied. I said to the team, 'Don't be sad.'"

With just three points separating the top three, it looks to set to be the most open title race in recent years.

And Brighton's performance at Anfield suggested there could still be some surprises along the way.

While Liverpool's players had already done their job before City and Arsenal kicked off, they were stunned when going behind to Danny Welbeck's goal in the second minute.

Luis Diaz evened the score before the break and Salah struck his 22nd goal of the season in the second half to secure all three points.

Klopp is stepping down at the end of the season and is determined to go out on the ultimate high by winning a second title as Liverpool boss.

"So, we are there with two other teams fighting for the biggest prize in English football and we will see how it will end up," Klopp said. "But I decided I will really try hard to enjoy it."

Germany forward Undav rescues 3-3 draw for Stuttgart with Heidenheim in Bundesliga

Germany forward Deniz Undav scored in stoppage time to rescue a 3-3 draw for third-place Stuttgart against Heidenheim in the Bundesliga on Sunday, preserving the team's seven-game unbeaten streak after a dramatic finale.

An own-goal from Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel and two quick-fire goals from Tim Kleindienst had given the visitors a late 3-2 lead after Stuttgart had looked comfortable leading 2-0.

But Maximilian Mittelstädt sent a long ball forward for Undav to take with his back toward goal. Undav eluded two defenders as he turned and scored inside the far corner for Stuttgart's equalizer.

Undav, who has 15 Bundesliga goals this season, made his Germany debut against France last week.

Neither Stuttgart nor Heidenheim were happy with the draw.

"We're not happy because we took over the game completely when we got the goal back, we believed in ourselves, turned the game around with unbelievable will and then conceded the equalizer in the 90th-plus-eight," said Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt, who led Heidenheim to its first promotion last season.

"In the end it's still a point. Despite all the disappointment of my team, which is of course really annoyed that we gave the game away – that's why we're not happy – but after a day's distance and a night's sleep, I'll tell the team tomorrow that we took a point from the third-place team in the table, who will probably play Champions League next season. That's worth something," Schmidt said. "In two games against VfB Stuttgart we've collected four points. We shouldn't forget that."

The home team thought it had made a great start with Serhou Guirassy firing inside the left post after a fast break involving Undav and fellow Germany player Chris Führich, but the goal was ruled out after a VAR check for offside.

Guirassy did score in the 41st to take his tally to 23 goals in 21 league appearances. Angelo Stiller combined with Undav to give Guirassy an easy finish, and Stiller gave Stuttgart a comfortable 2-0 lead early in the second half after another perfectly played combination with Undav.

The visitors got one back in the 62nd when Nübel dropped a harmless-looking header from Kleindienst that saw the ball squirm between his legs.

Kleindienst wasn't done yet. The 28-year-old forward equalized in the 84th with a volley to Jan-Niklas Beste's cross, then headed in Eren Dinkçi's cross a minute later.

Heidenheim forward Nikola Dovedan was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Mittelstädt just before Undav preserved Stuttgart's unbeaten run and gained a point for its Champions League qualification bid. The top four in Germany are sure of qualifying for Europe's premier club competition. Stuttgart has a seven-point cushion over fifth-place Leipzig with seven games remaining.

Sunday's match was the 1,000th Bundesliga game to be played in Stuttgart's stadium, formerly known as the Neckarstadion before sponsors paid to rename it. The Stuttgarter Kickers played in 36 of those games in the 1988-89 and 1991-92 seasons.

Bochum squandered a two-goal lead to draw with last-place Darmstadt 2-2 in the late game. It left Bochum just six points clear of danger. Darmstadt is six points behind Mainz in the relegation playoff place, and 12 points behind Bochum in 15th.

Augsburg drew with Cologne 11 in the early game, leaving Cologne in relegation danger. The Billy Goats were second from bottom, one point behind Mainz and seven from safety.