The most intense rivalry in English football sees Liverpool comfortably return to the top of the Premier League through two second-half deflections from Anfield’s new super-sub, Xherdan Shaqiri. Despite Jose Mourinho's pre-match comments on Jürgen Klopp's side, the Reds seemed unphased by any challenge as the supporters made their presence known. I played against a Liverpool side who was a European champion, and I don’t know if this one is better or not I know the another one was European champion and this one won nothing. So I think I have to respect the ones that did it. Liverpool quickly responded as they took an early lead courtesy of a well played goal by Sadio Mané. However, goalkeeper Alisson’s unsteady hands let Manchester United's Jesse Lingard steal a brace for an equaliser that changed the complexion of the game. At 1-1 there was a considerable period when Liverpool looked short of ideas. An adventurous move from Klopp, replacing Naby Keïta with Shaqiri
Liverpool's hero Mohamed Salah gave up his man-of-the-match award to James Milner on his 500th Premier League appearance, after celebrating a comfortable 4-0 win against Bournemouth. This saw the Reds finally take first place in the Premier League. After nearly all season in the lead, Manchester City were now trailing Liverpool by one point, with a game in hand against Chelsea. The champions dominated the early stages of the game but were caught on the counterattack seconds before half-time when N'Golo Kante scored with Chelsea's first shot on target. Manchester City were left surprisingly toothless, chasing the game after Luiz found himself heading home Chelsea's second from a corner in the 78th minute. Having had their attitude and mentality questioned by Maurizio Sarri following the defeat to Wolves earlier on in the week, this was a response from his side. Sarri wants his team to carry their form into the rest of December, when they will play against Brighton