Arsenal capitalise on Tottenham defeat to climb into top four

Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (R) celebrates his goal againt Leicester City with Mesut Ozil during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London, February 10, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

LONDON - Arsenal climbed into the Premier League's top four with a laboured 2-1 win against spirited Leicester City and Liverpool continued their push with a pulsating 3-2 home defeat of rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday.

With a revitalised Mesut Ozil playing a central role, Arsenal led 2-0 through Laurent Koscielny and Theo Walcott but Andrej Kramaric pulled a goal back as bottom club Leicester dominated the second half.

Mario Balotelli's first Premier League goal for Liverpool sealed a topsy-turvey game that they twice led through Lazar Markovic and a Steven Gerrard penalty before being pegged back by the in-form Harry Kane and Mousa Dembele.

Arsenal's Laurent Koscielny (R) celebrates his goal againt Leicester City with Mesut Ozil during their English Premier League soccer match at the Emirates Stadium in London, February 10, 2015. [Photo/Agencies]

Fourth-placed Arsenal have 45 points from 25 games -- two clear of sixth placed Spurs and three ahead of Liverpool in seventh -- though they could be displaced by Manchester United in fifth who host lowly Burnley on Wednesday.

Queens Park Rangers claimed their first Premier League points away from home this season with a 2-0 victory against Sunderland thanks to goals from Leroy Fer and Bobby Zamora.

Hull City climbed out of the relegation zone with a 2-0 victory against free-falling Aston Villa -- courtesy of goals from Nikica Jelavic and Dame N'Doye -- subjecting the Midlands side to a fifth successive league defeat in the process.