Arsenal reclaimed top spot in time for Christmas but their wait for a win at Anfield stretches into a 12th year after an absorbing 1-1 draw which ensured Liverpool kept pace in the title race.
Gabriel’s early goal was cancelled out by a Mohamed Salah stunner and, despite both pushing for victory, the Premier League’s top two deservedly shared the spoils.
Being top for December 25 is no guarantee of future performance, however, as both these clubs are well aware; on the last six occasions a team has failed to go on and lift the trophy from this position it was one of them.
So while nothing has been decided, it at least provided some early festive fun and was the very antithesis of last weekend’s game here when Manchester United showed no attacking intent.
Arsenal were fully engaged, and while they left with the same point United did, it was achieved in a much different manner during a draining 90 minutes of high press and high intensity.
For the hosts centre-back Ibrahima Konate was imperious, Trent Alexander-Arnold visionary and Salah threatening, while Arsenal had their own rock at the back in William Saliba, with Declan Rice covering plenty of ground just in front of him.
On the bench Jurgen Klopp had a wry smile to himself as the atmosphere ramped up just before kick-off, just as he had planned with his carefully chosen comments about fan apathy.
But that smile was soon wiped off his face when Gabriel headed home Martin Odegaard’s fourth-minute free-kick.
It was a perfectly executed training ground routine to expose Liverpool’s high line; the four furthest-advanced players dropping back just before their captain delivered the cross which resulted in Cody Gakpo playing the Gunners centre-back onside.
The visitors sensed an opportunity and their midfield press created a three-on-three which saw Gabriel Jesus fire over.
But roared on by an Anfield crowd which still had Klopp’s admonishment ringing in their ears, Liverpool could have had a penalty when Odegaard stuck out a low left hand to stop Salah going past him, with only thing possibly saving him in the eyes of VAR was his loss of footing.
The equaliser was not long in coming, however, with Alexander-Arnold, at times dropping so deep in his hybrid role to almost be a third central defender, unsurprisingly the architect.
From 20 yards inside his own half his searching pass dropped over the head of Oleksandar Zinchenko, which Salah anticipated, who was then beaten easily as the Egypt international executed a trademark cutback to beat David Raya for pace at his near post.
Liverpool soon had left-back problems of their own when Bukayo Saka pushed Kostas Tsimikas, deputising for the long-term injured Andy Robertson, into Klopp and while both took a tumble in the technical area the Greek came off worse as he departed with what appeared to be either a shoulder or collarbone injury.
Replacement Joe Gomez saw Saka race past him to cut into the penalty area where Gabriel Martinelli fired wide with Alisson Becker out of his goal and only Gomez and Alexander-Arnold guarding the goalline.
Gomez, who has never scored a senior goal, almost ended his nine-year drought by curling a shot just wide early in the second half with Dominik Szoboszlai also off target as the hosts began to dominate the chances created.
The triple 68th-minute substitution of Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott and Ryan Gravenberch added new impetus as both sides started to show signs of having run themselves into the ground, with Leandro Trossard replacing Martinelli.
Elliott and Nunez both had chances either side of a five-on-two counter-attack launched by Salah after Odegaard and Zinchenko collided on the edge of Liverpool’s penalty area.
There were three team-mates queuing up to shoot but when Alexander-Arnold was teed up the ball bobbled and his shot smashed against the crossbar.
Kai Havertz’s penalty claim was quickly dismissed by VAR as neither side paused for breath in a thrilling finale.
Bristol City Women 0-4 Man City Women: Hosts relegated as Fowler double inspires WSL leaders
Mary Fowler scored twice to set WSL leaders Manchester City on their way to a 4-0 rout of Bristol City, who suffered relegation as a result, on Sunday.
With Arsenal having drawn with Everton earlier in the day, Man City knew a victory would be enough to take the title race down to two teams.
That victory duly arrived in emphatic fashion, with all four of Man City's goals arriving in the second half.
Fowler's fantastic strike opened the scoring in the 62nd minute, with the Australia international doubling her tally soon after, paving the way for an Amy Rodgers own goal and Alex Greenwood's late header to seal a huge victory.
Arsenal are now out of the title race, with Chelsea - who have two games in hand on Gareth Taylor's team - the only side capable of catching Man City.
The Robins, meanwhile, will be playing in the second tier again next term.
Data Debrief: Bristol heading down with a whimper
Bristol City have failed to score in their last five games in the WSL, a run of 544 minutes without a goal.
They mustered just 0.09 expected goals (xG) to Man City's 3.4, with the visitors having now kept a clean sheet in nine of their 20 league games this season.
De Rossi demands more from 'tired' Roma ahead of crunch run
Daniele De Rossi acknowledged his Roma team may be tired, but he insisted they must not allow themselves to be embarrassed.
Roma fought back to draw 2-2 with last season's Serie A champions Napoli in a pulsating fixture on Sunday.
Tammy Abraham's late header secured a point for De Rossi's team, who took the lead through Paulo Dybala's penalty before going behind to goals from Matias Olivera and Victor Osimhen.
With Serie A set to have five teams in the Champions League next season, Roma occupy fifth spot with four matches remaining, but sixth-placed Atalanta are just two points behind with a game in hand.
There is also the small matter of a Europa League semi-final against Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen on the cards over the coming weeks, and De Rossi set the stall out.
"We drew, it is not a result to throw away, but it is not the result or the performance that we wanted," Roma coach Daniele De Rossi told Sky Sports Italia.
"At times you can steal the ball off Napoli, but we then gave it back again too many times. Napoli had a lot of chances in the first half, we did better in the second, but we have to do better.
"Look, we are tired, but we cannot start thinking that we’re tired and that means we can be embarrassed in the final few weeks of the season."
Roma host Leverkusen on Thursday before taking on Juventus on May 5, with a crunch clash against Atalanta – who are also into the Europa League semi-finals – set to follow after the away leg against Xabi Alonso's team.
Key to a successful end to the campaign for Roma will be keeping Dybala fit. The Argentine has been involved in the joint-most goals (12) in Serie A since the turn of the year, scoring nine and setting up three, level with Juve's Dusan Vlahovic.
PSG's latest Ligue 1 title arrives as Monaco lose to Lyon
Paris Saint-Germain have been crowned as Ligue 1 champions after Lyon overcame Monaco 3-2 on Sunday.
A 4-1 midweek win over Lorient ensured that one more victory would be enough for Luis Enrique's team to get over the line, but PSG failed to get the job done themselves when they faced relegation-threatened Le Havre on Saturday.
That game was the 700th match of the QSI era at PSG, and the club's 1,900th in France's top flight.
However, PSG's wait to win their third straight title did not last long, as less than 24 hours later, Lyon – who will face the Parisians in the final of the Coupe de France at the end of May – came out on top in a topsy turvy encounter with second-placed Monaco.
Substitute Malick Fofana was the matchwinner for Lyon, and ultimately the player who handed the title to PSG.
Wissam Ben Yedder had put Monaco ahead in the opening minute, but quickfire goals from Alexandre Lacazette and Said Benrahma turned the match on its head before half-time.
Ben Yedder netted his second to restore parity on the hour mark, and thought he had sealed his hat-trick when he volleyed in from a free-kick, only to have strayed offside.
With only a win good enough for Monaco to stay in the fight, the visitors were then caught out in the 84th minute, with Fofana racing onto Lacazette's throughball and finishing calmly.
After a dismal start to the season, relegation looked a real possibility for Lyon, but they are now, with three games remaining, still in with a shout of qualifying for Europe.
PSG on the other hand now have 12 Ligue 1 titles to their name, with 10 of those coming under QSI's ownership. Aside from the COVID-impacted 2019-20 season, five of their last six league titles have been secured before the start of May.
It also means Luis Enrique remains in the running for a treble in his first season at the club, with PSG taking on Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-finals next week.
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