Chelsea, Bayern keep up title charge

LONDON (AP) ― Just three months into the season, it is hard to see how Chelsea can be stopped in its remorseless charge to the English Premier League title.

For many, the biggest question now is whether it can go through the season unbeaten.

Chelsea got past another major obstacle on its way to the league title by winning 2-1 at Liverpool on Saturday and running its record to nine wins and two draws. Defending champion Manchester City, probably Chelsea’s biggest rival, is eight points behind in third after 11 games following a 2-2 draw at Queens Park Rangers.

Bayern Munich won to also open up a big lead in Germany while Luis Suarez led Barcelona to victory in Spain.

Chelsea came from behind to beat Liverpool at Anfield in the Premier League, with Diego Costa scoring the winner in the 67th minute.

Emre Can put Liverpool ahead in the ninth minute with a long-range strike that deflected off Gary Cahill, before Cahill reacted quickest in a goalmouth scramble to equalize with a 14th-minute goal that needed confirming through goal-line technology.

Asked if his team could go through the season unbeaten, Mourinho said it would be “the impossible job.” Yet Chelsea has played four of its hardest away matches this season ― the two Manchester clubs, Liverpool and Everton ― and is even harder to beat at home.

Southampton stayed four points behind in second place thanks to Shane Long’s double in a 2-0 win over Leicester but Man City dropped two more points by drawing at QPR, with Sergio Aguero scoring two equalizers to take his league-high haul to 12 goals.

Manchester United won 1-0 against Crystal Palace thanks to a goal from Juan Mata. Burnley won for first time this season, 1-0 against Hull, and West Ham drew 0-0 with Aston Villa.

Suarez set up two late goals to help give Barcelona a 2-1 comeback victory at Almeria in the Spanish league.

With Barcelona trailing 1-0 and facing a third straight loss in the competition, Suarez came on at halftime and orchestrated the visitors’ comeback in his fourth appearance for his new team since completing a four-month biting ban.

The Uruguay forward used a burst of speed to shed his marker before crossing for fellow substitute Neymar to equalize in the 73rd minute. He then picked out Jordi Alba to grab the winner in the 82nd.

Almeria forward Bifouma Thievy had put the hosts ahead in the 22nd on a counterattack after Lionel Messi lost the ball.

Barcelona went top of the table for a couple of hours, and then provisionally went into second place after Real Madrid routed Rayo Vallecano 5-1 to retake first place in La Liga. Cristiano Ronaldo polished off the lopsided win with his league-leading 18th goal and 23rd in all competitions this season.

Valencia and Atletico Madrid can also overtake Barcelona with wins on Sunday.

Thomas Mueller scored a hat trick as Bayern Munich won 4-0 at Eintracht Frankfurt to increase its overnight lead in the Bundesliga to seven points on Saturday.

Franck Ribery set up Mueller’s first two, crossing for the World Cup winner to open the scoring in the 22nd minute and then again to finish a counterattack in the 64th. Mueller completed his hat trick three minutes later and Xherdan Shaqiri completed the scoring in the 86th.

Bayern is unbeaten, with eight wins from 11 games, 27 goals scored and just three conceded.

The defending champion’s closest rivals, Wolfsburg and Borussia Moenchengladbach, are set to play their 11th-round games on Sunday.

Elsewhere Saturday, Schalke disappointed in a 2-0 defeat at Freiburg, Bayer Leverkusen was held to a frustrating 0-0 draw by visiting Mainz, Augsburg beat promoted Paderborn 3-0 and Cologne won 4-3 at Hoffenheim. Werder Bremen defeated fellow struggler Stuttgart 2-0.

Bordeaux beat struggling Lens 2-1 to go level on points with second-place Paris Saint-Germain in the French league on Saturday.

Bordeaux midfielder Wahbi Khazri finished off a counterattack to open the scoring in the 24th minute.