Man City and Liverpool frustrated in 0-0 draws in Premier League to leave Arsenal with 4-point lead

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Erling Haaland and Manchester City were frustrated in a 0-0 draw at Sunderland on Thursday, leaving Arsenal with a four-point lead at the halfway stage of the Premier League season.

Liverpool couldn't manage a goal against a promoted team, either, laboring to a 0-0 draw against Leeds at Anfield.

The stalemates highlighted the strength in depth in England's lucrative top flight.

They also maybe showed why Arsenal has been able to forge clear after 19 of 38 games in its bid for a first league title since 2004, with City and Liverpool — the dominant forces in English soccer over the last decade — having lost their old fluency going forward.

There were draws all round on a low-scoring night, with Tottenham held 0-0 at Brentford and Fulham scoring in the 80th minute to finish 1-1 at Crystal Palace.

City was on an eight-match winning run in all competitions but stumbled against an opponent that has drawn against Arsenal and beaten Newcastle at its Stadium of Light home over the last two months.

Haaland had opportunities either side of halftime against stubborn Sunderland but couldn't add to his league-high 19 goals for the campaign.

Indeed, it was substitute defender Josko Gvardiol who came closest for City, flicking a shot against the post and having a header saved from point-blank range.

“You can't be perfect every time, every half, every minute,” City captain Bernardo Silva said. “The team is showing a lot of resilience at the minute — in the moments when we don't play that well, we are still very consistent, very stable.”

Spain star Rodri, the former Ballon d'Or winner, made his return for City after two months out with a hamstring injury when he came on as a halftime substitute.

Liverpool extended its unbeaten run to eight games but underwhelmed again amid key absences up front.

Hugo Ekitike's misdirected header from in front of goal in the first half was the only clear-cut chance at Anfield for Liverpool, which lacked inspiration in attack with Alexander Isak injured and Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Liverpool stayed in fourth and is 12 points behind Arsenal in a disappointing title defense.

Since a 4-1 home loss to PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Nov. 26, Liverpool has played seven games in the Premier League — winning four of them and drawing the other three. It has struggled to find much fluency, however, with Liverpool manager Arne Slot placing extra emphasis on being tighter at the back after the team's early season woes.

“This season multiple times we have conceded a goal in a game like this and that’s a positive thing today,” Slot said.

The other result in the recent undefeated streak was a victory at Inter Milan in the Champions League.

Jean-Philippe Mateta headed Palace in front against Fulham, only for Tom Cairney to equalize for the visitors.

That left Palace without a win in six matches in all competitions, with the absence of regulars like Daniel Munoz, Chris Richards (both injured) and Ismaila Sarr (at the Africa Cup) hitting hard.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer