Premier League chaos live: Haaland hat-trick, Liverpool thriller shake title race

Haaland explodes with a ruthless hat-trick as Man City crush opponents while Liverpool edge a wild Anfield thriller – but who really won the title race twist?

Kick-off! As of today, 2026-01-25, the pitch is on fire... If you were searching for football results today and somehow missed this, stop everything: Erling Haaland just ripped up the Premier League live narrative with a brutal hat-trick for Manchester City, while Liverpool survived a full-blown rollercoaster at Anfield. This wasn’t just another matchday – this felt like a title race shockwave.

Haaland goes nuclear as Man City smash Brighton

At the Etihad, Manchester City absolutely dismantled Brighton & Hove Albion in a 4–1 demolition that screamed, "We are still here." Erling Haaland was pure chaos: a hat-trick that looked almost unfair at times.

• 1–0 (Haaland) – Kevin De Bruyne slipped a filthy reverse pass through the lines, Haaland bullied the centre-back, and buried a low right-foot finish into the far corner.
• 2–0 (Haaland, pen) – Phil Foden twisted into the box, drew a clumsy challenge, and after a quick VAR check, Haaland smashed the penalty high down the middle.
• 3–0 (Foden) – De Bruyne again the architect, clipping a ball to the back post where Foden ghosted in and hammered home on the half-volley.
• 4–0 (Haaland) – The hat-trick: a classic Haaland run between the centre-backs, first touch out of his feet, second touch a rocket into the roof of the net. Game over.

Brighton grabbed a late consolation through João Pedro, who finished calmly after a slick counter, but honestly, this was the Haaland and De Bruyne show. De Bruyne was everywhere – dictating tempo, creating angles, finding impossible passes. Foden constantly popped up in pockets, dragging markers all over the place.

Famous players check: Haaland? Absolute hero. De Bruyne? Ageless puppet master. Foden? Electric between the lines. Brighton’s stars – Mitoma and João Pedro – had flashes, but City suffocated them so badly their highlight reel is basically 30 seconds of pain and one neat finish.

The biggest flashpoint came on the penalty: Brighton’s players went crazy at the referee, claiming Foden dived. VAR spent a long time drawing lines and zooming in. There was contact, but it was soft. Cue social media meltdown. City fans shouting "stonewall," Brighton fans screaming robbery. The decision stood, Haaland scored, and the game tilted decisively.

Anfield drama: Liverpool edge Tottenham in 3–2 classic

Over at Anfield, we got pure box-office chaos as Liverpool beat Tottenham 3–2 in a frantic Premier League live showdown that had everything: early goals, defensive brain fades, a VAR offside line that could haunt Spurs fans, and Mohamed Salah back doing Mohamed Salah things.

• 1–0 Liverpool (Salah) – Trent Alexander-Arnold pinged a trademark diagonal, Darwin Núñez knocked it back across, and Salah arrived like a sniper to side-foot home on the half-volley.
• 2–0 Liverpool (Núñez) – A counter straight from Klopp’s dreams: Díaz drove at the back line, slipped Núñez in, and the Uruguayan drilled low across the keeper.
• 2–1 Spurs (Son) – Totally against the run of play, Heung-min Son cut inside from the left and curled a gorgeous right-foot shot into the far corner. Vintage Son.
• 3–1 Liverpool (Salah, pen) – Díaz chopped inside and was tripped. Huge VAR review as Spurs argued the contact started outside the box. Penalty given, and Salah went top bins. Ice cold.
• 3–2 Spurs (Kulusevski) – In stoppage time, Dejan Kulusevski blasted one in from the edge of the box after a scramble had Liverpool’s back line in pieces.

Salah’s performance was massive. Two goals, non-stop movement, that feeling that every time he touched the ball something terrible was about to happen to Spurs. Darwin Núñez was chaos personified – sometimes messy, sometimes brilliant, but his movement shredded the high line.

For Spurs, Son battled hard and produced one moment of pure class, but he was isolated too often. James Maddison had flashes but got boxed in by Liverpool’s midfield press. Defensively, Spurs were way too open – it felt like they were permanently one pass away from disaster.

The real talking point, though? That penalty for 3–1. Social media is going nuts over whether the foul on Díaz was actually inside the box. VAR checked the contact point frame by frame; the ref stayed with the original call. Spurs fans are livid, Liverpool fans are posting screenshots and freeze-frames proving it was a pen. This is the kind of decision that lives rent-free in timelines for weeks.

Title race twist: how much did today change?

With City crushing Brighton and Liverpool just about surviving Spurs, the top of the Premier League table tightened and twisted again. City’s goal difference got a juicy boost thanks to Haaland’s ruthless finishing, while Liverpool’s narrow win kept them clinging to the top-spot conversation instead of falling off the pace.

Spurs’ loss, combined with City’s surge, could be a huge hit to their top-four momentum, especially with rivals sniffing around. And Brighton’s brave, open style is fun, but today it looked downright dangerous against a team as clinical as City.

What does this mean for the title race? Click here for the live standings

Social Media Spotlight: Haaland’s hat-trick vs. VAR chaos at Anfield

Online, fans are split between spamming Haaland hat-trick compilations and arguing non-stop about that Liverpool penalty. It’s basically a full-blown civil war on X right now.

On the other side, Manchester City’s feeds are basically a shrine to Haaland right now – training clips, goal angles, slow-mo finishes, the lot. Defenders around the league are probably muting his name for their own sanity.

Reporter's take: statement win vs survival act

Here’s my honest verdict: City sent a message, Liverpool dodged a bullet.

City looked like a fully weaponised title machine again. When Haaland is this sharp and De Bruyne is pulling strings like that, it feels almost unfair. That 4–1 could easily have been five or six. If they keep this gear, every single slip from their rivals is going to be punished brutally.

Liverpool, meanwhile, played with fire. Offensively, they were brilliant in bursts – Salah and Núñez gave Spurs nightmares – but defensively there were far too many moments of panic. If you’re serious about winning the league, you can’t be conceding late scrappy goals and begging the whistle to go. Still, three points is three points, and on days like this, that’s all that really matters.

As for Spurs, in my opinion, this kind of performance proves they’re still a step away from genuinely elite. Brave on the ball, fun to watch, but too naïve out of possession. You can’t give Salah and Núñez that much grass to run into and expect to walk out of Anfield smiling.

Closing whistle: the race is officially insane

So, when you check football results today, don’t just skim the scorelines. Haaland’s hat-trick, Salah’s brace, the VAR controversy, the late drama – all of it fed straight into a title race that’s now absolutely wild.

Every goal now feels like it could swing the season. City look ruthless, Liverpool look dangerous but vulnerable, and everyone else is scrambling to keep up.

Check full stats & standings now

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