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).
Nashville SC v Atlanta United: Long-time coach Smith departs in shock move
Gary Smith has left Nashville SC, with the team confirming they have parted company with their long-serving head coach.
Nashville beat Toronto FC on Wednesday, moving up to 10th in the Eastern Conference.
Yet on Thursday, the team confirmed they had decided to part ways with Smith, who had been in charge for seven seasons.
Smith won 52 MLS games during his spell in charge, while also leading Nashville to the Leagues Cup final in 2023.
Nashville face Atlanta United on Saturday, with ex-player and now player development coach Rumba Munthali stepping in as interim head coach.
No reason was provided for Smith's departure. He has been joined in leaving the club by assistant coach Steve Guppy.
A Nashville statement read: "Nashville SC extends its gratitude to Smith and Guppy for their dedication and contributions to our team and wishes them and their families all the best in their future endeavours.
"Under Smith's leadership, Nashville SC emerged as a very organised and hard-to-beat team in both leagues.
"In the USL Championship, Smith guided the team to a 32-win record over two seasons, including two playoff appearances and a second-place finish in the Eastern Conference in 2019.
"His transition to MLS with the club was seamless, leading Nashville to four consecutive MLS Cup playoff appearances, a feat only achieved by two other teams in the league's history."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nashville SC - Hany Mukhtar
Mukhtar has scored five goals in nine career regular-season matches against Atlanta. Only Luciano Acosta (nine goals in 17 games) has scored more times against the Five Stripes.
Atlanta United - Thiago Almada
Almada has scored in all three of his career MLS matches against Nashville. No player has ever scored in four consecutive regular-season meetings versus Nashville, though Daryl Dike did score in four straight for Orlando City, including playoff games.
MATCH PREDICTION: NASHVILLE WIN
Despite Smith's departure, Opta's model still predicts a positive outcome for Nashville.
Atlanta are winless in 11 straight MLS away matches (D5 L6 incl. playoffs) dating back to last September. It is the longest active road winless run in MLS.
Nashville have won two straight home matches, their first regular-season home winning streak since a run of six straight last April-July. They managed just two wins in 12 home league games between the two streaks (D6 L4).
Atlanta's 4-0 home win over Nashville last August ended a seven-match winless run for them in the series (D3 L4). Atlanta won their first visit to Nashville, 2-1, in the latter's inaugural match in March 2020, but the Five Stripes are winless in five visits in all competitions since (D2 L3).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Nashville SC - 46.2%
Atlanta United - 25.5%
Draw - 28.3%
FC Cincinnati v St. Louis City: Noonan looking for improved performance despite Atlanta win
Despite watching his side beat Atlanta United in midweek, FC Cincinnati head coach Pat Noonan still wants more from his side when they host St. Louis City this weekend.
Kevin Kelsy's seventh-minute strike was enough to earn Cincinnati a 1-0 win over Atlanta to make it five straight MLS victories.
Cincinnati currently sit second in the Eastern Conference, but Noonan is still demanding more from his side than Wednesday's performance.
"I wouldn't say 'negatives' but [there are] things we could have done better, and here we are with the guys keeping a clean sheet and winning the game," Noonan told reporters.
"They deserve credit and to be proud of the fact that they're still walking off the field with a win tonight."
St. Louis saw a five-game unbeaten streak end as they lost 2-0 to Los Angeles FC in midweek.
The defeat leaves St. Louis ninth in the Western Conference, though they are just three points off sixth-placed Austin FC.
Bradley Carnell is looking to get players back fit and raring to go for the visit to Cincinnati at the weekend, saying: "It's about how we manage over the next couple of days to get a solid, fit line-up for Cincinnati.
"We don't have much time to sit and dwell, and we have to be brave and positive to head to Cincinnati."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
FC Cincinnati – Kevin Kelsy
In his first MLS start, Kelsy scored Cincinnati's lone goal on Wednesday. The 19-year-old has scored in consecutive games, making him the first teenager to score multiple MLS goals for Cincinnati, and if he gets the nod from the off again here, he will once more hope to mark it with a goal.
St. Louis City – Joao Klauss
Having netted four in his previous four games, Klauss drew a blank against LAFC as St. Louis slumped to defeat. He is clearly a key man in St. Louis' attack, and he will hope to get back among the goals this weekend, and with a win too.
MATCH PREDICTION – CINCINNATI WIN
St. Louis beat Cincinnati 5-1 in the lone previous meeting between the sides last April. The four-goal margin is Cincinnati’s largest defeat since the start of last season and equals St. Louis' largest ever margin of victory.
But St. Louis are winless in eight straight away matches in all competitions (four draws, four defeats). St. Louis have won three of their last 23 on the road after winning the first three away matches in club history.
Cincinnati have won five straight regular season matches with all five wins coming by one-goal margins, the first team to do so since the Red Bulls in 2012, and though it may be a tight game again this weekend, the hosts will fancy their chances of coming out on the right side of the result and collecting another three points.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Cincinnati: 44.3%
St. Louis: 28.2%
Draw: 27.5%
Klopp jokes he 'doesn't like Maddison' after failing to block Kompany winner
Jurgen Klopp has joked he doesn't like James Maddison after the midfielder's failure to block Vincent Kompany's long-range winner in the 2018-19 season.
With the title race that campaign nearing its conclusion, Manchester City and Liverpool were going toe-to-toe at the Premier League summit.
City faced Leicester City in their penultimate game, and with the contest 0-0 with 20 minutes left, the ball sat up for Kompany to shoot from range with Maddison in the vicinity.
Maddison failed to block the effort, and Kompany's drive flew into the top corner before City ultimately went on to claim the title.
Klopp has joked that he now feels differently about Maddison following that incident, telling The Redmen TV: "The moment when Vinny Kompany fires the ball, I'm really happy I didn't get a stroke because that's how it must feel.
"I was watching thinking, 'Maddison, block him, close him down!'
"And since then, I don't like Maddison! I was also angry with Brendan [Rodgers, then Leicester manager] that day, because he should have taken him off, he was tired.
"It's a personal thing. Of course, I have no problem."
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