Arne Slot's greatest masterstroke, Brighton's annoying habit, Thomas Frank suffers a PR misstep and the spectre of Marcus Rashford hangs over Manchester United
Liverpool had a lead at Christmas confirmed before this weekend, but were able to extend it and shorten their odds for the title after a win at Tottenham Hotspur that followed Chelsea surprisingly dropping points at Goodison Park. Four 0-0s in six games for Everton; Dycheball is back.
Brentford’s unbeaten home record has gone because the Nottingham Forest party bus keeps on rolling. Forest are in the top four at Christmas after a comprehensive 2-0 win and dreaming of Europe next season. Newcastle and Aston Villa may be their closest challengers for their top-four spot after they beat Leicester and Manchester City respectively.
The promoted clubs suffered another sorry weekend, despite Southampton getting a surprise point at Fulham. Ipswich Town and Leicester City conceded seven goals between them at home and barely managed to threaten at all.
Scroll down for our verdict on every team (listed in table order).
This weekend’s results
Saturday 21 December
Sunday 22 December
Liverpool
Luis Diaz’s burgeoning reinvention as a false nine might be Arne Slot’s greatest masterstroke yet, as among his first clear stamps of ownership and originality on a Liverpool side it often appears he is simply maintaining and preening, re-wallpapering the House of Klopp. This was a masterclass in movement and energy, in understanding and manipulating space, in offensive pressing and interplay.
Trent Alexander-Arnold has spoken about Slot’s focus on positioning, on footballing minutiae, micro-tactics, especially when the ball is on the other side of the pitch. Diaz appears another key beneficiary of this sermon.
First against Bayer Leverkusen – where he scored a hat-trick – then against Manchester City and Fulham and now in North London, the Colombian has started centrally for the first occasions in his Liverpool career.
While he’s among the Premier League’s best left-wingers, with five goals in his first five league games under Slot, striker affords him a freedom which clearly suits his roaming heart, and more crucially suits the wider team. This looks like the beginning of a glorious future.
Interchanging with Cody Gakpo, undoubtedly most comfortable and effective on the left, is a mutual agreement which suits both, further inspiring chaos and triggering uncertainty. For all the intricacies and complexities of modern tactics, there are few moves more disruptive than two players repeatedly alternating positions.
And then there’s the pressing, here the catalyst in dismantling Postecoglou’s plan from the front. By so effectively trailing Pape Matar Sarr when Spurs had the ball, he forced Dragusin to play long – badly – or Fraser Forster to use his feet – very badly. This off-the-ball work is as selfless as it is invaluable.
Of course, using Diaz centrally might not be as effective against low blocks and smaller teams, but that’s what Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez are for. He is also unlikely to ever become the most reliable finisher, but goals are not the priority in this role.
But Diaz the striker provides an option to reliably disrupt fellow top six sides, a ghost for only the fanciest feasts, to ensure Liverpool continue winning the games which separate top four contenders from title challengers. By George Simms
League table
Chelsea
Despite the fact that a run of eight consecutive victories came to a windblown and ultimately forgettable finish, Enzo Maresca will enjoy his Christmas.
Should Maresca fail to follow Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte, all of whom won the title in their first season at Stamford Bridge, much of the damage will have been done on Merseyside. A narrow 2-1 defeat at Anfield, followed by a windblown goalless draw at Everton.
Nevertheless, the Chelsea manager thought this a better result than last Sunday’s 2-1 win over Brentford. Chelsea do not have a good record at Goodison Park, where they have recorded two wins in the last decade. Maresca expected a grinding afternoon.
“I am more than happy with a point,” he reflected. “It was a tricky game in a tricky stadium against a tricky team who are one of the five best in Europe when keeping clean sheets.”
Nevertheless, at the interval it seemed likely that Chelsea would break through and that, if they did so, they would win. Nicolas Jackson saw a gaping chance saved by Jordan Pickford and nodded a header against the post.
Against Brentford, Jackson had six clear chances before scoring, decisively, with the seventh. Everton would not allow him that many. In a match this tight, Chelsea’s forwards needed to be more clinical.
Cole Palmer was increasingly denied space that snuffed out his runs while the contest between Jadon Sancho and Ashley Young was rather more even than the 15-year difference in their ages might suggest.
Long before the end, Chelsea looked exhausted of ideas. As their manager observed: ‘We are going into Christmas second in the table but we need to learn to play a different type of game.” By Tim Rich
Arsenal
Gabriel Jesus scored a brace against Crystal Palace on Saturday (Photo: Getty)
Mikel Arteta rewarded Gabriel Jesus for his cup heroics by handing him only his third league start of the season, a decision made easier by his treble and Kai Havertz’s dwindling returns in recent months.
It prompted a reshuffle of the attack with Havertz dropping into midfield. That ploy hasn’t worked in the past, but by half-time both players had contributed three goals to put the Gunners in a commanding position.
Taking Jesus out of the team would have run the risk of denting his confidence as soon as it had returned. Within a quarter of an hour, Jesus had justified his manager’s decision by scoring twice, his first league goals since 30 January.
A total of 56 minutes elapsed from Jesus’s first of three goals against Palace on Wednesday to his second of two on Saturday. Poor Dean Henderson will be sick of the sight of him. He has scored as many goals in his last two appearances as he had managed in his previous 45. By Oliver Young-Myles
Nottingham Forest
Everything Nuno Espirito Santo touches turns to gold. How best to sum up the madness of Nottingham Forest’s ludicrous half season to date? The two best home records in the Premier League in 2024-25 are owned by Liverpool and Brentford. Forest have now beaten them both on the road.
You have to live within this joyous, disbelieving mania to understand it. For the last 20 minutes at Brentford on Saturday, the away end bounced to the tune of The Lion Sleeps Tonight with their own catchy lyrics: “We’re the Forest, the mighty Forest. We always win away”. Try to tell them that they are wrong.
For all the historical score-settling of first wins at Old Trafford in three decades and Anfield in double that, there is a case to be made that this was the most impressive victory and performance yet. Not just because Brentford had been free-scoring and unbeaten at home, but because Nuno’s team is no longer a secret. Opposition scouts have been scrabbling to work out the best method to thwart this overachievement.
Nuno dealt with that danger by proactively changing the plan again. For the first time this season, Forest started the match with a back three, summer signing Morato coming into the team ostensibly in place of a central midfielder. That meant wing-backs: cue Neco Williams assisting Ola Aina for the first goal.
Aina has been revelatory at Forest and not just for his flexibility to operate on either flank. There has been a deliberate strategy by Forest to spread the love on their social media feeds this year, offering insight into the dressing room morale that has sparked their rise up the Premier League. If Aina isn’t the protagonist or the comedy character in the first video you watch, he’ll be in the second. That stuff matters.
The pre-match worry was how Forest’s midfield might look with Elliott Anderson and Morgan Gibbs-White, ostensibly attacking players, picked as a starting central pair. It worked for two reasons: Gibbs-White hounded players in a manner that we might usually not expect, winning eight tackles, and Murillo stepped out of defence and into midfield with the ball, allowing Anderson and Gibbs-White to receive it further away from their own goal.
Forest’s ability to hold onto their best players will presumably depend upon where this journey ends in May, but there is an acceptance with the fanbase that Murillo should be enjoyed for as long as he is here; it may be a good time not a long time. His physical presence, pace and passing ability makes him a perfect fit for an elite club and he’s still only 22. The good news: the transfer fee will be rising all the time.
With Forest’s two midfielders comfortable in possession and with all three centre-backs virtually faultless, Forest relied upon their final trick. Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga have struggled for consistency at times this season and this was their first start together in five matches.
But give them space to run into and defenders to take on at speed and there can be few more dangerous combinations in England. Elanga has scored the second Forest goal in each of the last two games. His goalscoring form too is coming good at just the right time.
It feels a little cheap to talk of May right now, not least because it risks abandoning the joy of the present and doing that even for a moment is ill-advised. When you’ve not had it as good as today for 30 years, why look at what tomorrow can bring?
But know this: Nuno sees no ceiling here if the hard work and the camaraderie and the lack of injuries all continue. One game at a time. One weekend sent like manna from heaven at a time. They always win away.
Bournemouth
Andoni Iraola refused to discuss the prospects of his team qualifying for Europe but, understandably, there was no such reluctance on the part of his supporters.
Dean Huijsen, Justin Kluivert from a penalty he won himself and Antoine Semenyo were all on the mark as Bournemouth won at Old Trafford 3-0 for the second year running.
It added to home victories over Arsenal, Manchester City and Tottenham and lifted Bournemouth into fifth and to within one victory over the Champions League places.
“It was one of the things we talked about in the summer and we have improved this season,” Iraola said. “You need points, especially against the teams fighting for the title.
“I think the fans have to enjoy it a lot because normally it doesn’t happen a lot, you come to these stadiums and it’s difficult to get these kind of results.
“So they have to enjoy it because they know how much it costs to win just one Premier League game. It’s very expensive and difficult so we have to continue the same way or the results will be much worse, for sure.” By Ian Whittell
Aston Villa
Twenty-five games into the season, Aston Villa finally have what they have been craving since August. Call it an early Christmas present, if you will.
Injuries had prevented Amadou Onana and Boubacar Kamara from starting together since the former’s arrival in the summer, meaning Villa fans had to wait to witness what was probably going to be Unai Emery’s first-choice defensive midfield partnership.
To call it worth the wait defies the patchy run Villa have been on, but against Manchester City it was evident a fit Onana and Kamara can provide the solid foundations for the second half of their season.
That will be necessary, with the Champions League knockouts coinciding with a push to qualify for Europe again, as will Youri Tielemans carrying on with how he started in this more attacking role.
Though it could have gone to Morgan Rogers, Tielemans beamed when holding the trophy for player of the match after full-time, with his first-half pass for Jhon Duran’s opener the highlight of a superb all-round display from the Belgian.
With Kamara and Onana behind Tielemans, this trio is one Emery will be reluctant to change, and he may only do so going forward if injuries hit. By Michael Hincks
Man City
It was the most frequent sight here in the first half: Jack Grealish plucking the ball out of the air down the left wing for Manchester City, who suffered their ninth defeat in 12.
The results were varied, like watching a live experiment from a scientist desperately short of ideas – Pep Guardiola making Grealish one of six City changes from the defeat to Manchester United.
Guardiola was perhaps hoping emotion could play a part, with Grealish making his first start at Aston Villa since leaving his boyhood club in 2021.
It didn’t pay off. More often than not the first touch was perfect, but thereafter Grealish was proving a microcosm of City’s run overall. Plenty of the ball, and no idea what to do with it.
The good was a cross that Josko Gvardiol arguably could have done better with, the bad was the backward passes, and the downright ugly was a shot so bad it went out for a throw-in. By Michael Hincks
Newcastle
There was some trepidation amongst Newcastle United supporters ahead of this mini-run. Eddie Howe’s team had been inconsistent and not quite worked out the right midfield balance to get the best out of Bruno Guimaraes and Sandro Tonali in combination and were struggling to service Alexander Isak properly. The opposition – promoted club, home fixture in Carabao Cup, promoted club – left no room for slip-up.
The flipside to that pessimism is that Newcastle have better players than each of those three opponents. Not only did they win all three, they have done so via an aggregate scoreline of 11-1 and in doing so have forced their way back into the conversation for a top-four place.
It’s funny how everything clicks when you get on a roll against lesser teams. Tonali scored the first two goals on Wednesday evening and was probably Newcastle’s best player against Ipswich. That statement sounds ridiculous because Isak scored a hat-trick and delighted in the space afforded by one or two Championship-level defenders. Jacob Murphy now has eight league goals and assists this season and is filling in superbly on the right wing.
It’s not an exaggeration to say that Newcastle’s next three league fixtures may set up the rest of their season: Aston Villa at home, Manchester United away, Tottenham away. All three will now take on a positive inflection with a cup semi-final to come in January.
Fulham
A weird thing has happened with Fulham’s strikers. A little less than a year ago, Marco Silva brought Rodrigo Muniz in to start over Raul Jimenez because the Mexican couldn’t buy a goal. Muniz then went on a run during which he scored eight goals in eight Premier League games. When Jimenez did play, he struggled (other than against Luton on the final day of the season).
Fast forward 10 months and the roles have been entirely reversed. Marco Silva started Jimenez from the middle of September onwards and the 33-year-old rediscovered his goalscoring touch in style. Jimenez, Alex Iwobi and Antonee Robinson have arguably been Fulham’s three best players this season.
Unfortunately, Jimenez’s powers of recovery seem to have cursed Muniz, who has not scored a single goal as a starter since April. Silva chose to rest Jimenez and start Muniz against Southampton on Sunday and it probably cost Fulham two points. Muniz had two off-target shots, failed to create a chance and completed only five passes in 61 minutes at home to the worst team in the division.
As thoughts turn to January, Silva may well ask his seniors if they might be able to spare a little of the money the club has made from increasing ticket prices so drastically for another striker. Without it, they’re reliant upon Jimenez.
Brighton
This is beginning to get very annoying indeed. Brighton raced off to a fine start this season, raising hopes of another European campaign that appeared entirely reasonable given the pre-Christmas fixture list. Since then, Brighton have drawn against Southampton, Leicester and West Ham and lost against Fulham and Crystal Palace.
Last week this column went into detail about Brighton struggling against opponents who allow them to have possession, because the full-backs tend to get high, the wingers stay high and they can be vulnerable to the counter attack.
We should also mention that Brighton have developed a bad habit for letting leads slip too. In the recent five-game run alone, Brighton took the lead against Southampton, Leicester and West Ham and failed to win any of them. These opponents have not been known for their excellent comebacks this season.
In total this season, Brighton have led in 13 Premier League matches but won only six of them. None of the other 11 teams in the division to lead in 10 or more matches have a worse record of converting them into victories.
Tottenham
Ange Postecoglou is the most entertaining manager in the Premier League bar none. This season alone he has presided over 4-3 thrillers against Manchester United and Chelsea, 3-2 nail-biters v Galatasaray and Brighton.
They’ve scored three-plus goals in a staggering 10 games. Beaten Manchester City twice (which, admittedly, is becoming less of an accomplishment as hindsight unfurls).
But there’s also this. It began as a game that felt like it could go either way before kick-off, because Spurs are that unpredictable. But it ended with a somewhat predictable dismantling by the leading team in the Premier League.
The BBC described “Spursy” as “shorthand to describe Tottenham’s wildly inconsistent form, an ability to snatch draws or defeats from the jaws of victory, and put their supporters through the wringer” and Postecoglou has somehow, since taking over, become the personification of that philosophy on a grander scale. The highs that bit higher, the lows that much lower.
It was very “Ange” for them to score a wonderful goal – Dominic Solanke clipping a ball over for Dejan Kulusevski to volley in – at 5-1 down with only 15 minutes left.
And then also pretty “Ange” for them to score again, Solanke converting with seven minutes remaining. By Sam Cunningham
Brentford
There are more serious things to get annoyed about in football in 2024, but the prioritisation of league position over a shot at a trophy for any club outside the elite is a source of deep frustration.
Brentford this week offered the perfect – or imperfect – example. Having got through to the Carabao Cup quarter-final and a trip to Newcastle United, supporters were understandably elated at the prospect of a potential Wembley visit. Brentford have never won a major trophy nor ever even reached a domestic final. That’s understandable given their rise over the last decade, but what better way to mark the pinnacle of that rise than by breaking both of those club records. Or at least trying.
Instead, Thomas Frank chose to leave Bryan Mbeumo and Mikkel Damsgaard on the bench, left Christian Norgaard out of the matchday squad entirely and would have left Nathan Collins on the bench had Sepp van den Berg not got injured in the warm-up. They were brushed aside by Newcastle and brought both Mbeumo and Damsgaard on anyway.
What that inevitably does is to pile extra pressure on your forthcoming league performances. Supporters who made the midweek trip to Newcastle could have stomached a first limp home performance of the season if Brentford had given it a go at St James’ Park, but will have far less patience after seeing their manager seemingly choose the Nottingham Forest fixture as the most important one.
Nobody is screaming for Frank to apologise and he is clearly not under any pressure, but it was surely still a PR misstep? What is the point of football if not to give yourself the best chance to win a trophy?
Man Utd
It looked like the roof was caving in on Ruben Amorim’s world after the 3-0 defeat to Bournemouth, which it definitely was, for a few moments at least.
A leaking ceiling forced a delay to the United manager’s post-match press conference and served as a fitting symbol, not only for the decrepit state of Old Trafford but also for an emphatic end to Amorim’s honeymoon period in charge.
The goodwill of last week’s Manchester derby win has quickly been forgotten after the midweek Carabao Cup loss at Tottenham and this debacle which, again, and for the ninth time this season, saw United concede from a set-piece.
The loss had Amorim admitting that the mental strain of United’s current problems is taking its toll on players and fans alike, and the spectre of Marcus Rashford still hangs over the club after he was left out of the squad for a third straight game. By Ian Whittell
West Ham
There is undue pressure on Niclas Fullkrug over the next few months, given the serious leg injury suffered by Michail Antonio in a car accident. Fullkrug has come back from his own injury and would probably have liked to improve his match fitness free from the spotlight’s glare. No such luck.
Fullkrug is also fighting a losing battle because of who he might have been. This summer, it was widely reported that Jhon Duran was close to signing from Aston Villa before a move fell through. Fullkrug arrived from Germany, promptly got injured and Duran began to score goals and has barely stopped.
On Saturday against Brighton, Fullkrug started his first Premier League match. And it showed. He had one off-target shot, touched the ball 13 times in 57 minutes and completed one pass to a West Ham player before being substituted. If this is the battering ram forward who unnerved defenders in the Bundesliga, he is currently a long way from the same presence.
To repeat: this isn’t really on him. But if Julen Lopetegui is going to survive at West Ham beyond the short-term, they need a penalty-box threat other than Jarrod Bowen. Fullkrug needs to get sharper, and quickly. Reading the stream of West Ham supporters making the contrast with Duran after the game tells its own story.
Everton
The sun barely peeked over the Main Stand so it would be stretching things to say this was a new dawn at Everton but the skies are certainly lighter.
Marc Watts, the club’s incoming executive chairman, took his first look at the Friedkin Group’s latest purchase and saw a team that is prepared to fight to survive.
Since every one of their business calculations depends on Everton being in the Premier League when moving into their new stadium on the Mersey waterfront, this should be deeply reassuring.
Everton may lack fantasy on the pitch but they do not require major, expensive surgery in the January transfer window. By Tim Rich
Crystal Palace
Jean-Philippe Mateta and Ismaila Sarr missed big chances when the deficit was still salvageable, but were both denied by David Raya, who recovered from a nervy start to play a big part in Arsenal’s win.
The key positive for Glasner, though, will be Sarr’s performance. The Senegal winger produced a lively display and another goal in front of the watching Wilfried Zaha and Michael Olise, two superstars who came before him.
After a slow start in south London following a summer move from Watford, he has now provided three goals and two assists in his last six matches.
Since gaining promotion in 2013, Palace have always been blessed with electrifying wide players on both flanks.
With Sarr improving and Eberechi Eze in contention to return from injury to face Bournemouth on Boxing Day, they may have uncovered another dynamic duo. By Oliver Young-Myles
Leicester
The Ruud van Nistelrooy honeymoon is emphatically over. Leicester City took four points from their new manager’s opening two matches, despite being outplayed for long periods of both games against West Ham and Brighton. They have since conceded seven goals without scoring and moved two points away from the bottom three with Wolves now potentially set for further improvement below them
The good news is that the obvious problem of their last three matches has slightly eased. Leicester allowed 74 shots against them in 270 minutes, Van Nistelrooy had his team far too open and thus risked being overpowered. If this was a deliberate response to the accused tactical risk aversion of the Steve Cooper months, Van Nistelrooy had gone too far.
The bad news is that everything else went wrong. The decision of Van Nistelrooy to select Danny Ward over Daniel Iverson went badly wrong (and was sadly predictable) and James Justin needs some time out of the team because his confidence is broken and he’s getting abuse from supporters (his substitution was cheered on Sunday).
But even then, it’s quite hard to work out what Leicester’s tactical plan is for creating chances without leaving their defence exposed. There are players who aren’t in the team that probably should be, but the grim reality is that the defence needs far better organisation and protection than Van Nistelrooy’s tactics are providing.
If that wasn’t bad enough, it’s Liverpool, Manchester City, Aston Villa, Fulham and Tottenham in their next five matches. Having two helpings of pudding on the big day, Leicester fans. You’ve earned it.
Wolves
Wolves made a dream start to life under Vitor Pereira (Photo: Getty)
We have to factor in the standard of their opponents, because there can be no better defence to face than Leicester’s in their current guise. But Wolves fans will not care a jot and why should they. Vitor Pereira needed to hit the ground running and this was a sprint.
But there was something very interesting about Sunday, given the change of manager from Englishman to Portuguese. For his last game in charge at home to Ipswich, Gary O’Neil selected four Portuguese speakers in the starting XI: Andre, Toti Gomes, Nelson Semedo and Matheus Cunha.
For his first game in charge of Wolves, Pereira picked eight Lusophones in his starting XI: Jose Sa, Toti Gomes, Andre, Joao Gomes, Rodrigo Gomes, Semedo, Cunha and Goncalo Guedes. That represents such a difference that it has to be deliberate.
Not only does that make sense from a communication point of view, it also takes Wolves fans back to the time in the recent past when they were the happiest. Nuno isn’t coming back, sorry. But some of the ingredients can make a comeback.
Ipswich
This was a harsh reality check after the win over Wolves as Alexander Isak stole any festive cheer from Portman Road with his first Premier League hat-trick.
While this defeat does not condemn them, it makes the thought of an upcoming double header against Arsenal and Chelsea seem cruel. Ipswich are just the sixth side in history to reach the unfortunate milestone of nine home losses on the bounce in the top flight.
Ipswich did not deal with the wet conditions and were immediately playing catch-up after Isak scored in the opening 26 seconds. They had only one shot on target in the first half from Sammie Szmodics and frankly, they were lucky Isak’s hat-trick did not come before the break as he made light work of their defence.
Their own lack of opportunities continued into the second half and Nathan Broadhead could not make a breakthrough. However much Broadhead and Ali Al-Hamadi tried to keep the game alive, the only positive of the second half was that it stopped raining. Sam Morsy’s fifth booking of the season will rub salt into the wound as he now misses their next match against Arsenal on 27 December.
The same errors are coming back time and again. Against Brentford, Leicester, and Bournemouth, Ipswich conceded in the closing stages and although it was eventually ruled out for offside, Dan Burn’s 93rd-minute goal showed that Ipswich are still struggling to go the distance – a habit which could become catastrophic if not rectified. By Alex Lancaster-Lennox
Southampton
Simon Rusk made a rogue decision at Craven Cottage on Sunday: he sacrificed possession and didn’t try to play out from the back. Southampton promptly kept their second clean sheet in 29 Premier League matches and their first away from home since February 2023. It’s almost as if… oh you get it now.
There are two caveats to the praise, although Rusk still deserves commendation. Firstly, Southampton offered next to know attacking threat on Sunday, which clearly isn’t going to lead to many of the wins that they need.
Second: this already looks pretty forlorn. Southampton are eight points plus goal difference from safety and Wolves look like they might improve after appointing a new manager. If that does happen, Southampton are probably going to have to catch at least one of Crystal Palace, Everton or West Ham. That doesn’t seem likely.
Still, we should judge Sunday inside its own context, a fantastic draw and clean sheet against a top-half team. Ivan Juric will begin his work next week and already has a slightly more stable platform to work from than Russell Martin left. If they had been a little more like Sunday in every other game this season, the salvage mission may not have been quite so improbable.