Changing of the Reds

 

Arsenal went into the Christmas period as league leaders but by the end of the year were replaced by Liverpool with Aston Villa and Manchester City above the Gunners.

Week 11 – A controversial goal at Newcastle ended Arsenal’s unbeaten run while Manchester City battered Bournemouth 6-1 at the Etihad with a brace from Bernardo Silva and Manchester United scored in stoppage time to win at Fulham. Brentford scored first at home but had to come from behind to beat West Ham 3-2 while Crystal Place won 2-0 at Burnley and Brighton drew 1-1 at Everton. Sheffield United picked up their first win of the season 2-1 at home to Wolves and on Sunday Aston Villa lost 2-0 at Nottingham Forest while Liverpool needed a goal in stoppage time to draw 1-1 at Luton. On Monday evening Nicolas Jackson scored a hat-trick as Chelsea came from behind to win 4-1 at nine-man Tottenham who also lost their unbeaten record.

 Week 12 – Tottenham took an early lead but lost to 2 goals in stoppage time at Wolves while Arsenal, who finished the match with 10 players, were 3-1 winners at home to Burnley and Newcastle lost to a Dominic Solanke double to Bournemouth. Everton were 3-2 winners at Crystal palace and Luton lost to a single goal at Manchester United while on Sunday Mohamed Salah netted a double as Liverpool put 3 past their visitors from Brentford and Aston Villa defeated Fulham 3-1 at Villa Park. West Ham United scored an early goal in front of their home crowd but needed a late goal to overcome Nottingham Forest 3-2 while Sheffield United drew 1-1 at 10-man Brighton and in a pulsating match at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea converted a stoppage-time penalty to draw 4-4 with reigning champions Manchester City for whom Erling Haaland scored twice.

Week 13 – After Liverpool had drawn 1-1 at Manchester City, a late goal at Brentford took Arsenal to the top of the table while 10-man Chelsea were thumped 4-1 at Newcastle and West Ham came from a goal down to win with 2 late goals at Burnley. Luton Town picked up their first ever Premier League home win with a 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace while Joao Pedro scored twice for Brighton, who were reduced to 10 players, in the 3-2 win at Nottingham Forest and Sheffield United lost 3-1 at home to Bournemouth for whom Marcus Tavernier netted a brace. On Sunday, in their first home match since being deducted 10 points, Everton lost 3-0 to Manchester United and Aston Villa came from behind to win 2-1 at Spurs while on Monday evening a second successful spot kick from Willian gave Fulham a 3-2 home win over Wolves in stoppage time.  

Week 14 – Two early goals gave Arsenal a 2-1 home win over Wolves while Burnley buried 10-man Sheffield United 5-0 at Turf Moor and Manchester United lost 1-0 at Newcastle. Brentford were 3-1 winners at home to Luton and a single goal gave Everton 3 points at Nottingham Forest while on a goal-rich but controversial Sunday Aston Villa scored in the last minute to draw 2-2 at Bournemouth and Enzo Fernandez scored twice for 10-man Chelsea who defeated Brighton 3-2 at Samford Bridge while Liverpool scored 2 late goals to overcome Fulham 4-3 at Anfield and Crystal Palace drew 1-1 at West Ham. Tottenham scored in the last minute to earn a 3-3 draw at Manchester City.  

Week 15 – In midweek Arsenal scored a last-gasp 4-3 winner at Luton Town to stay top while Liverpool kept up the pressure with 2 goals at Sheffield United and Aston Villa sent Manchester City home 1-0 losers. A double from Scott McTominay gave Manchester United a 2-1 win over visiting Chelsea and Crystal Palace lost 2-0 at home to Bournemouth while Burnley were beaten 1-0 at Wolves and Nottingham Forest were swept aside 5-0 at Fulham with Alex Iwobi and Raul Jimenez scoring 2 each. Brighton came from behind to win 2-1 at home to Brentford while on Thursday Tottenham took the lead at home but lost 2-1 to West Ham and Everton triumphed 3-0 at home to Newcastle.

Week 16 – Liverpool came from behind at 10-man Cystal Palace to win 2-1 and go top as Arsenal fell to an early goal at Aston Villa while Manchester United were humiliated 3-0 at home to Bournemouth. There were 1-1 home draws for Brighton against Burnley and for Wolves against Nottingham Forest while a single goal on the stroke of half time gave Sheffield United a home victory against Brentford. On Sunday West Ham were hammered 5-0 at Fulham and Newcastle United were taken apart 4-1 at Tottenham for whom Richarlison netted a brace while Manchester City came from a goal down to win 2-1 with goals in quick succession at Luton Town and Everton enjoyed a 2-0 home win against Chelsea.

Week 17 – On Friday evening, Nottingham Forest lost 2-0 at home to 10 men from Tottenham while on Saturday, Chelsea put 2 past their visitors from Sheffield United and Everton enjoyed the same result at Burnley. Crystal Palace came from 2 down to earn a 2-2 draw with a penalty in stoppage time at champions Manchester City and 10-man Fulham were beaten 3-0 at Newcastle while the match between Bournemouth and Luton was abandoned at 1-1 after Luton captain Tom Lockyer suffered a cardiac arrest and was taken to hospital with about 30 minutes remaining. On Sunday, Arsenal were 2-0 winners at home to Brighton and Aston Villa, who ended the match with 10 players, came from behind to win 2-1 at 10-man Brentford while Mohammed Kudus scored a double as West Ham triumphed 3-0 at home to Wolves and Manchester United, who saw red in time added on, drew 0-0 at Liverpool.

Week 18 – On Thursday Brighton and Hove Albion drew 1-1 at Crystal Palace and on Friday Aston Villa needed a goal deep into stoppage time to cancel out Sheffield United’s late goal at Villa Park while on Saturday Arsenal secured top spot for Christmas with a 1-1 draw at Liverpool. Manchester United lost 2-0 at West Ham and while Manchester City were celebrating winning the Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia, Tottenham picked up a 2-1 home win against Everton. Nottingham Forest, who were controversially reduced to 10 players in Nuno Espirito Santo’s first game in charge, took the lead at home to Bournemouth but lost 3-2 with Dominic Solanke scoring all 3 goals for the Cherries while Newcastle lost 1-0 at Luton and Burnley enjoyed a 2-0 victory at Fulham. On Sunday Chelsea were beaten 2-1 at Wolves.  

Week 19 – On Boxing Day Chris Wood scored a hat-trick as Nottingham Forest came from behind to win 3-1 at Newcastle and Alejandro Garnacho netted a brace for Manchester United who came from 2 down to celebrate a 3-2 home win over Aston Villa while Luton Town won 3-2 at Sheffield United and Liverpool put 2 past their hosts Burnley without reply. Fulham lost 3-0 at Bournemouth and on the following day Hee-chan Hwang scored twice as Wolves buried Brentford 4-1 in their own backyard while Manchester City came from behind to win 3-1 at Everton and Chelsea sent Crystal Palace home 2-1 losers. On Thursday evening Joao Pedro converted 2 penalties as Brighton put their visitors from Tottenham 4-2 to the sword while Arsenal suffered a 2-0 loss at home to West Ham.  

Week 20 – Ten-man Burnley lost 3-2 to a last-minute penalty at Aston Villa while Cole Palmer bagged a brace for Chelsea who achieved the same result at Luton Town and Crystal Palace came from an early setback at home to defeat Brentford 3-1 with a double from Michael Olise. The crowd at Nottingham Forest celebrated a 2-1 win over Manchester United while Everton Lost 3-0 at Wolves and Manchester City were 2-0 winners at home to Sheffield United. On the last day of the year, Arsenal failed to return to the top after losing 2-1 at Fulham despite taking an early lead while Tottenham their visitors from Bournemouth 3-1 and on the following day, after a goalless first-half, Mohamed Salah scored twice at Anfield as Liverpool moved to the summit with a 4-2 win over Newcastle. On Tuesday evening, Brighton played out a goalless match at West Ham.