Football writer Ben Bloom analyses an incredible weekend of Matchweek 17 action in which there were big wins at both ends of the Premier League table.
The final round of Premier League fixtures before Christmas provided a wealth of entertainment, nowhere more so than at Tottenham Hotspur, where Liverpool beat the hosts 6-3 to open a four-point lead at the top of the table.
Manchester City’s poor form continued with defeat at Aston Villa, while wins for Nottingham Forest and AFC Bournemouth kept them in contention for a top-four spot.
At the other end of the table, Wolverhampton Wanderers secured a valuable win over Leicester City in their first match under new manager Vitor Pereira. They were the sole relegation-threatened side to head into Christmas with a triumph.
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The plight of the four-time reigning Premier League champions continues as Man City slipped to their ninth defeat in 12 matches across all competitions to continue their freefall down the table.
Pep Guardiola’s side now sit seventh, without a win in their last eight away matches, and looked bereft of confidence against a Villa team who have now leapfrogged them in the standings.
Indeed, City now sit bottom of the Premier League form table with just four points from their last eight matches. Southampton and Leicester have five points.
In what has become a worryingly common theme, City conceded the opening goal for the ninth time in the Premier League this season – only Wolves, Southampton and Leicester have done so more times (12).
That Villa opener came courtesy of Jhon Duran, who was selected ahead of Ollie Watkins.
Duran's goal v Man City
pure cinema 🍿 pic.twitter.com/mModB8dcS7
— Aston Villa (@AVFCOfficial) December 22, 2024
Duran has now scored in each of his last three Premier League starts and his seven top-flight goals this season is bettered only by Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala (nine) across Europe’s top five leagues among players aged 21 or under.
Former City man Morgan Rogers, who never made a first-team appearance for the club, added Villa's second strike soon after the hour, and Phil Foden’s first Premier League goal of the campaign counted for little in stoppage time.
City have scored just 10 times in their last nine Premier League matches – only Leicester, Everton and Southampton have scored fewer in that time.
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Forest supporters will enjoy Christmas Day with their team in the unfamiliar position of occupying a UEFA Champions League spot after ending Brentford’s phenomenal home record.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side are now up to fourth in the table after reaching 31 points from 17 Premier League matches - the most the club has managed at this stage of a top-flight season since 1987/88 when they finished third.
Ola Aina put the visitors ahead, before Anthony Elanga scored for the second successive match to seal the win.
It marked Brentford’s first Premier League home defeat of the season, with Forest being the first visitors to have more shots (10 v seven), shots on target (six v three) and a higher Expected Goals (xG) (0.84 v 0.8) than the hosts at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Notably, Forest have excelled despite having less possession (40.2 per cent) than any Premier League side this campaign except for Everton.
“It’s not about the table,” said Nuno. “It’s about improving, realising that there is still a long way to go and realising that we’ve achieved nothing yet.”
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A week after beating Leicester 4-0, Newcastle United repeated the trick by easing past Ipswich Town by the same scoreline in a thoroughly comprehensive victory.
Alexander Isak scored Newcastle’s first hat-trick – including the opener after just 26 seconds – since Ayoze Perez in April 2019 to take his Premier League tally to 10 this season.
Isak's hat-trick v Ipswich
Alex Isak hits a hat-trick! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/0OuWvlvW63
— Newcastle United (@NUFC) December 21, 2024
Isak now has 23 league goals in 2024 - only Alan Shearer (27 in 2002) and Andy Cole (24 in 1994) have scored more for Newcastle in a calendar year.
Jacob Murphy continued his fine form, assisting one and netting another to become the first player to score or assist two+ goals in three successive Premier League appearances for Newcastle since Papiss Cisse in April 2012.
Defeat means Ipswich are yet to win a league match at Portman Road on their return to the top flight.
They are only the sixth side to fail to win each of their opening nine home matches of a Premier League season after Crystal Palace (1997/98), West Ham United (2002/03), Sunderland (2005/06), Villa (2015/16) and Brighton & Hove Albion (2020/21).
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Mohammed Kudus helped West Ham recover a rare point after falling behind at home to Brighton.
Julen Lopetegui’s side conceded the opening goal for the fifth time at London Stadium this season, but this was the first such match in which they have then managed to avoid defeat.
Mats Wieffer put the visitors ahead when he became the 13th different player to score a Premier League goal for Brighton this season – the most of any side in the competition, excluding own goals.
Brighton have never lost any of their eight Premier League matches at London Stadium and they maintained that record despite Kudus’s equaliser.
The Ghanaian has now either scored or assisted a goal in each of his last three Premier League home appearances for West Ham.
Despite memorable wins against teams including Manchester United, Spurs, Newcastle and Man City, this draw was the sixth time in seven matches that Brighton have failed to win when facing the teams who are currently in the bottom seven places in the table.
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Palace fans must be sick of the sight of Gabriel Jesus.
The Brazilian had scored only five times in 45 Arsenal appearances prior to last week. But he has now doubled that tally in two matches in the last week against Palace - in the EFL Cup and Premier League.
Jesus struck the opening two goals inside 15 minutes to add to his midweek hat-trick and extend his record of never losing when scoring in a Premier League fixture to 61 matches.
There were also goals for Kai Havertz, Declan Rice and Gabriel Martinelli, who has now scored six Premier League goals against Palace – twice as many as he has netted against any other opponent.
The only sour note for the visitors was the loss of Bukayo Saka, who limped off injured in the first half. It was his 250th appearance for Arsenal, making him the the youngest Englishman to reach the landmark for the club.
The win meant Arsenal became the first team to remain unbeaten in Premier League London derbies across a full calendar year since Chelsea in 2005.
For Palace, it was the end of a five-match unbeaten run in the Premier League, where they remain four points clear of safety.
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New Southampton manager Ivan Juric watched from the stands as his side put in a battling, but largely impotent, performance at Fulham that leaves them eight points from safety at the bottom of the table.
Southampton’s six-point tally is the joint-third lowest of any side at this stage of the season in the Premier League era, with only Sheffield United (two in 2020/21) and Sunderland (five in 2005/06) having fewer.
The visiting fans chanted “we had a shot” after a tame strike in the 56th minute, which was the only save Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno had to make all match.
Southampton’s total of 11 goals is three lower than any other top-flight side.
It was not a match of great quality, with only one shot on target from either side in the entire first half and Southampton managing a pass-completion rate of 80 per cent - their lowest in a league fixture since May 2023.
Fulham’s inability to break down the opposition defence brought an end to their 15-match scoring streak.
One bright light for the hosts was Josh King (17y 354d), who became the second-youngest player to start a Premier League match for Fulham behind Moussa Dembele (17y 261d).
King created the joint-most chances (two) and attempted the most dribbles (four) in just over an hour on the pitch.
2018: Tom Cairney walks out mascot Josh King
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 22, 2024
2024: Josh King starts alongside Tom Cairney in the @premierleague pic.twitter.com/0GChXsOS5s
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Pereira made the perfect start to his tenure at Wolves, as his new side scored three first-half goals in a comprehensive victory at fellow relegation-threatened Leicester.
The hosts began life under Ruud van Nistelrooy with a 3-1 win over West Ham at the start of the month, but have since picked up only one point and suffered successive defeats to leave them two points clear of Wolves, who sit in the relegation zone.
There was no surprise to see Matheus Cunha on the scoresheet, with the Brazilian notching his ninth goal of the season to put him clear of Steven Fletcher on 23 Premier League goals for Wolves. Only Raul Jimenez (40) has more.
The recalled Portuguese pair of Rodrigo Gomes and Goncalo Guedes also scored in a rapid start to the match.
Guedes has been directly involved in six goals (two goals, four assists) across his last eight Premier League matches, after managing only two goal involvements in his first 19 English top-flight appearances.
The clean sheet was Wolves’s first in 17 away Premier League matches, since a goalless draw at Brighton in January.
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It was a case of deja vu at Old Trafford, where AFC Bournemouth triumphed 3-0 for the second successive season and became the first club ever to win consecutive away matches at Man Utd by a three+ goal margin.
Worryingly for Ruben Amorim, the only team to have conceded three+ goals in more Premier League home matches this season than United’s four are bottom club Southampton, with five.
The result means Amorim has picked up only seven points from his first six matches at the helm, and United sit a lowly 13th at Christmas.
A key factor in their recent troubles has been an inability to defend set-pieces, and Bournemouth’s headed opener from Dean Huijsen was the 17th they have conceded from set-pieces in 2024 – their most in a single Premier League calendar year in the competition, excluding penalties.
After scoring only once from 29 shots in a 1-1 draw against West Ham in their previous outing, Bournemouth converted three from 10 on this occasion, with Justin Kluivert and Antoine Semenyo also on the scoresheet.
Bournemouth now sit fifth in the table.
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For the 21st time - more than any other club - Liverpool will lead the top-flight table on Christmas Day.
On 11 of those previous 20 occasions they have gone on to win the title, and this beating of Spurs suggests they stand a very strong chance of claiming another crown.
Luis Diaz scored twice, while Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai also found the net, but once again it was Mohamed Salah who shone brightest with the latest in a season of sparkling performances.
The Egyptian scored two and assisted two to move fourth on the Liverpool all-time goalscorer list with 229 goals from 373 matches.
For the sixth Premier League season in his career, Salah has both scored and assisted 10+ goals. With just 16 matches played, this is the joint-quickest (alongside Harry Kane in 2020/21) that a player has hit double figures for both in a single campaign.
Facing a host of injuries and absentees, Spurs fielded an unchanged team from their EFL Cup quarter-final win over Man Utd three days earlier and paid a harsh price.
It was the third successive home match in which they have conceded three or more goals, and they have now conceded more goals, faced more shots and allowed more chances than any other team in the Premier League in December.
Head coach Ange Postecoglou has spoken of wanting to entertain, and there have certainly been no shortage of goals under his charge.
Spurs' Premier League matches under Postecoglou have featured an average of 3.6 goals scored (both teams combined) - the highest rate among any manager to have overseen 50 or more matches in the competition.