Arsenal will top the table at Christmas for the second consecutive season after holding onto the Premier League lead with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool.
Gabriel Magalhaes gave Arsenal a fourth-minute lead but Mohamed Salah’s 151st Premier League goal cancelled out his strike as both teams remain just a single point apart in first and second.
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How the match unfolded
Arsenal made a dream start at Anfield as Gabriel headed in from Martin Odegaard's set-piece for the club's earliest ever Premier League goal in a match at Anfield.
However, that goal woke Liverpool up and they started to dominate the play, and in the 29th minute Salah scored a brilliant equaliser.
The Egyptian received a long-range pass from Trent Alexander-Arnold before moving inside Oleksandr Zinchenko and producing an unstoppable left-footed shot into the roof of the net.
It was Salah’s 151st Premier League goal, meaning he moved above former Liverpool striker Michael Owen and into 10th in the all-time goalscoring charts.
The assist from Alexander-Arnold was his seventh against Arsenal in Premier League history and his 57th overall in the competition, the joint-most by a defender, along with team-mate Andrew Robertson.
Liverpool were fortunate not to fall behind again when Gabriel Martinelli shot wide after Bukayo Saka had rounded Alisson and set the Brazilian up.
Liverpool then suffered a blow as Konstantinos Tsimikas was forced off with a collarbone injury in the first half as he accidentally collided into his own manager, Jurgen Klopp.
The Reds came out on the front foot in the second half and Joe Gomez, who has never scored in his professional career, came inches away from putting Liverpool in front when his curling shot went just wide of the right post.
With the match evenly balanced, Liverpool then missed a glorious chance to take the lead when Alexander-Arnold smashed the crossbar from close range with Liverpool on the counter-attack.
Neither side could force a late winner as Arsenal left Anfield with a point that keeps them top, with 40 points, one ahead of Liverpool and third-placed Aston Villa.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Liverpool
LIV
|
16 | +21 | 39 |
| 2 |
Chelsea
CHE
|
17 | +18 | 35 |
| 3 |
Arsenal
ARS
|
17 | +18 | 33 |
| 4 |
Nott'm Forest
NFO
|
17 | +4 | 31 |
| 5 |
Bournemouth
BOU
|
17 | +6 | 28 |
Next five Premier league matches
Key facts
Salah scored his 10th Premier League goal against Arsenal, his joint-most against a single opponent (Man Utd & West Ham also 10). The Egyptian now has 121 Premier League goal involvements at Anfield (88 goals, 33 assists), a record by a player at the ground in the competition, surpassing Steven Gerrard (120 – 69 goals, 51 assists).
Alexander-Arnold recorded his 57th Premier League assist, the joint-most by a defender in the competition's history, alongside teammate Andy Robertson. Seven of these have been against Arsenal, his most against a single opponent, with no player in Premier League history assisting more goals against the Gunners (Steven Gerrard also 7).
Liverpool have recovered 19 points from losing positions in the Premier League this season, more than any other side. They have lost just one league game in 2023-24 despite falling behind in 10 (W5 D4 L1 when falling behind).
Since his first Premier League season (2020/21), Gabriel has scored more goals in the competition than any other defender (11).
Arsenal will start Christmas Day top of the English top-flight table in two consecutive years for just a second time, after last doing so in 1932 and 1933.
