Klopp takes Premier League bow as big boys toy with rivals, including Sterling hat-trick

New Delhi: Jurgen Klopp started his Liverpool reign with a goalless draw at Tottenham Hotpsur even as Premier League big boys toy with their not so prominent rivals in gameweek 9 in England.

Liverpool traveled to White Hart Lane with their new manager in the hope of some instant gratification after the departure of a promising Brendan Rodgers last week. But the Reds settled with a hard-fought 0-0 draw with Tottenham.

The former Borrusia Dortmund boss could have tasted a win in his league bow, but the clash at London could only produced half-chances and plenty of questions remained unanswered for the German.

Liverpool stayed put at 10th position, with 13 points while Spurs are seventh with one more point.

But, things got smoother for under-fire Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as his Blues beat struggling Aston Villa 2-0 at home, with notorious Diego Costa returning to make amends. The Spaniard opened the scoring in 34th minutes, from a Willian set-up.

Then an Alan Hutton own-goal in the 54th minute, again involving the former Atletico Madrid striker, meant defending champions got full three points for the first time in three games.

Chelsea are 11th in the table with 11 points, 10 points behind leaders Manchester City.

Citizens romped into a 5-1 win over new boys Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, thanks to a first-half hat-trick from their summer buy Raheem Sterling. The former Liverpool star opened the scoring as early as the seventh minute, then followed it up with two strikes in the 29th and first half injury time.

For Manuel Pellegrini's side, which started as the obvious favourites after 6-1 thrashing of Newcastle United in their last outing, the win helped them consolidate the lead with 21 points. Wilfred Bony scored the other two goals, in the 11th and 89th minutes.

For Eddie Howe's side, Glenn Murray scored the lone goal in the 22nd minute. And they are lie just ahead of the relegation zone with eight points.

Season's surprise package Leicester once again another great escape with a 2-2 draw with Southampton after trailing 0-2 for more than an hour. Jose Fonte (21st minute) and Virgil Van Dijk (37th minute) goals seemed to have provided Ronald Koeman's side all three points but, a Jamie Vardy double helped Claudio Ranieri's side share the spoils at St. Mary's. Leicester are in fifth place with 16 points, and the Saints in ninth with 13 points.

At Goodison Park, Wayne Rooney scored against his former club Everton to end his scoring drought. Morgan Schneiderlin and Ander Herrera also scored to give Louis van Gaal's side a comfortable 3-0 win. The win helped Old Trafford outfit keep pace with leaders City and Arsenal. In third place with 19 points, United are separated from Gunners in goal-difference.

Meanwhile, West Ham United continued to impress with their attacking game, this time beating Crystal Palace 3-1 away. After Yohan Cabaye penalty (25th minute) put the Slaven Bilic side in a spot of bother, which negated Carl Jenkinson's 22nd minute opener in Selhurst Park, two late goals from Manuel Lanzini and Dimitri Payet help Hammers to their fifth win of the season. They are now in fourth place with 17 points, while Palace dropped in sixth place with 15 points.

Sunderland continued their awful season with their sixth defeat. The Black Cats were denied a deserving point at The Hawthorns by a 54th minute Saido Berahino goal. With the win, West Bromwich Albion have garnered 11 points and are sitting at 12th place. Sunderland are in 19th place with three points.

In today's last last match, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal beat promoted side Watford 3-0 at Vicarage Road. After enduring a goalless first half, Gunners scored three goals in the second half in quick succession to kill off of the contest.

Alexis Sanchez broke the deadlock in the 62nd minute from a Mesut Ozil pass. The German followed it up with another set up, giving Olivier Giroud a confidence boosting goal six minutes later. Aaron Ramsey score the third goal from a Hector Bellerin play in the 74th minute to complete the rout.

After the defeat, Watford found themselves in the 14th place with 10 points.

Tomorrow, bottom placed Newcastle will host 15th place Norwich City. And in the gameweek's last match, 16th place Stoke City travel to 13th place Swansea on Tuesday.