10 biggest talking points in the Premier League - Gameweek 18 | OneFootball

The Premier League has wrapped up for Christmas, and it's Arsenal that find themselves at the top of the table after a thrilling 1-1 draw against title rivals Liverpool at Anfield. Mikel Arteta's side flew out of the blocks to take an early lead before they were pegged back by a familiar foe.

Elsewhere, Manchester United's underwhelming season continued with a deflating defeat in the capital and Manchester City were absent from the fixture list due to their involvement in the Club World Cup. While Luton Town, Sheffield United, and Burnley all gave brave performances and picked up points as the three newly-promoted clubs look to pull themselves out of the relegation zone.

There is a lot of football still to be played and nobody's fate has been set in stone. GIVEMESPORT have decided to take a look at the biggest talking points from Gameweek 18 in the Premier League. Check them out below...

1 Cameron Archer comes back to haunt Aston Villa

The former Villans striker prevented his former club from going top of the league

Aston Villa have been flying high under Unai Emery and a victory over Sheffield United on Friday night would have seen the Villans elevated to the top of the Premier League table. With Liverpool and Arsenal playing the day after, there was every chance this would be temporary, but it would still be a huge signal of intent by the West Midlands club.

Sheffield United are firmly cemented in the relegation places of the division as the Blades have failed to taste victory in an away game so far this season. Chris Wilder's men looked to have pulled off a shock result as Cameron Archer - signed from Villa in the summer - found the net following some excellent play by Gustavo Hamer. Nicolo Zaniolo scored a last-gasp header to rescue a draw for the home side, but this has to go down as an opportunity wasted.

2 Lucas Paqueta sinks Man United with samba magic

West Ham's last five league goals have been set up by the Brazilian

Lucas Paqueta was said to be at the top of Manchester City's transfer wishlist in the summer, and with each passing week, it is becoming clearer as to why. The Brazilian playmaker put Manchester United to the sword in a close encounter at the London Stadium. A wonderful assist for Jarrod Bowen's opener was then followed by an inch-perfect pass to release Mohammed Kudus, who put the game beyond all doubt with a fine right-footed finish.

David Moyes came in for criticism surrounding his team selection in the Hammers' 5-1 loss against Liverpool in the EFL Cup in the previous game, but the West Ham boss brought Paqueta and James Ward-Prowse back into the lineup and was rewarded. There was an overall lack of quality in Saturday's early kick-off until Paqueta stepped up to the mark to punish some sloppy defending from Man United.

The Red Devils are now without a goal in four games

Man United have scored the same number of Premier League goals as Crystal Palace and Burnley in the opening 18 games of the 2023/24 season. The Red Devils have only scored more than Sheffield United. This is largely down to the misfortune of the United forwards in front of goal as Erik ten Hag's side have regularly been wasteful with the chances they have created throughout the campaign.

The defeat against West Ham was not different as Alejandro Garnacho missed a gilt-edged opportunity to put his side in front early on. Rasmus Hojlund also failed to break his 14-game scoring duck in the league as the Danish striker was given limited service in promising areas. Ten Hag came out after the game to say his side were in total control, but the lack of a clinical edge in the first half cost his team.

4 Andros Townsend pays tribute to Tom Lockyer

Former Newcastle winger, Townsend, netted his first Luton goal

Luton Town had endured a tough week in the aftermath of Tom Lockyer's collapse during the game against Bournemouth in the previous gameweek. The club captain is at home recovering after suffering a cardiac arrest, and it will have been a heart-warming moment for Lockyer, as it was for everyone watching, to see Andros Townsend pay tribute to him after netting his first goal for the Hatters.

Townsend joined the club on a free transfer in the summer and is the most experienced Premier League player in the squad, along with Ross Barkley. It was Barkley that headed the ball into Townsend's path and the former Magpie applied the finishing touch to hand his side a 1-0 win over his former club, Newcastle. Lifting the shirt of Lockyer in celebration, Townsend paid great respect to his colleague.

5 Dominic Solanke ruins Nuno Espirito Santo's Nottingham Forest opener

A controversial red card didn't help the new boss

Nottingham Forest fans were unsure about the decision to sack Steve Cooper and replace him with Nuno Espirito Santo. The hope at the City Ground was that the incoming boss would lift the spirit of the players and inspire them to an up-turn in form. Dominic Solanke obviously didn't get the memo, however, as the English striker continued his fine season by bagging a hat-trick to lift the Cherries into 11th place in the table.

The former Liverpool and Chelsea forward has started to look like the player he was expected to become as a youngster as the 26-year-old has now scored 11 Premier League goals in the first half of the 2023/24 season. Nottingham Forest will feel hard done by as they initially took the lead through Anthony Elanga and later drew level at 2-2 courtesy of a Chris Wood header. Santo's men were forced to play the majority of the match with 10 men due to a very controversial red card.

6 Willy Boly handed extremely harsh red card

Nottingham Forest can feel very hard done by

The reason behind the home side being down to 10 men for more than half the match was that defender Willy Boly was dismissed in a very harsh fashion. The Ivorian centre-half was booked early on in the game for a foul on Solanke, a decision he can have very little argument about. The controversy surrounds the second yellow card that was brandished in his direction. Boly went into a sliding tackle and won the ball cleanly to relieve the pressure on his side. To the surprise of many, Rob Jones - the referee on the day - blew his whistle and gave Boly his marching orders.

Upon seeing the incident again, it is apparent that there is certainly contact between the 32-year-old and the opposing player after the ball had been played. Even with this being the case, there was no danger in the challenge and no malicious action at all. It was simply a result of Boly's foot following through after clearing the ball. The most frustrating part for Santo is that an appeal cannot be made as his player was shown two yellows rather than a straight red card.

7 Rebecca Welch makes history

She became the first-ever woman to referee in the Premier League

Women’s football has gone from strength to strength in previous years, and it was only a matter of time until the men’s game would look to appoint a woman to a Premier League match. There have been women involved in the officiating of English top-flight matches as assistant referees and fourth officials, but Welch made history as the first-ever referee. Not only that, but she had a very impressive first showing in a league that has come under intense scrutiny over the officiating of games in the 2023/24 season so far.

Being tasked with refereeing the Fulham vs Burnley clash on Saturday afternoon, Welch kept control of the game in a composed way and this didn't go unnoticed. Burnley ran out 2-0 winners in the game and the Clarets' boss, Vincent Kompany, made sure to congratulate Welch upon the full-time whistle.

I wanted to congratulate her because aside from the performance it’s a big moment. After the game it’s fair to say that is a milestone moment and may there be many more.

8 Mohamed Salah joins Premier League royalty

Liverpool's talisman scored his 151st goal in the English top-flight

Mohamed Salah is now the 10th-highest goalscorer in Premier League history with 151 goals. The Egyptian previously shared this spot with ex-Liverpool forward Michael Owen, but his brilliant goal against Arsenal pulled him ahead. In the highly anticipated clash at Anfield, the Gunners pulled in front as Gabriel stole a march on the Liverpool back line to nod the ball past Alisson. The title race in England is heating up and Jürgen Klopp's side couldn't afford to lose at home against a direct rival.

Who was going to bail the Reds out once again? Of course, it was Salah. A perfect long ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold set the winger free down the right flank, but he still had a lot of work to do with the Arsenal defence retreating. Oleksandr Zinchenko stood no chance as Salah cut inside the Ukrainian left-back with ease before rifling a shot into the near post past David Raya to pull his side level. Liverpool were unable to find a winner, but Salah's goal was vital nonetheless.

9 William Saliba admits Liverpool should have had a penalty

Martin Odegaard handled the ball in the penalty area

Speaking of the biggest game of the weekend. Salah could have been given the opportunity to score his 151st goal earlier in the game as many believe Liverpool should have been awarded a penalty. This is after Martin Odegaard prevented the ball from falling to Salah's feet in the penalty area by using his hand. The Danish midfielder did look to slip which may have been his only saving grace in the eyes of the referee and VAR officials. PGMOL came out after the game to explain that the penalty was not awarded as Odegaard's arm was moving towards his body.

The majority of Anfield believed the spot kick should have been awarded at the time and one man who - perhaps surprisingly - came out to agree with this after the game was Arsenal's William Saliba. The French centre-back, who was imperious throughout the game, told ViaPlay: "Yeah, of course. It was a penalty, but I’m not the ref and they have to accept [it]." Fair play to the Gunners' star for the honesty.

10 Raheem Sterling misses a sitter in Wolves loss

Chelsea fell to an 8th league defeat of the campaign

2023 has been a year of woe at Chelsea and the final fixture before Christmas was no different for the Blues. Mauricio Pochettino's men travelled to Wolves in search of three points in an attempt to keep within touching distance of the teams above them in the league table. Gary O'Neil and Wolves had other ideas, however, as the home side enjoyed a 2-1 victory in the perfect early Christmas present for the Molineux faithful.

Things could have been very different had Raheem Sterling managed to convert a one-on-one opportunity in the first half of proceedings. The English winger has been one of the very few bright sparks in the Chelsea side so far in 2023/24, but as he raced through on goal with only Jose Sa to beat, he never looked confident. There was even a chance of passing the ball onto a teammate for a tap-in, although the 28-year-old opted to shoot. Hitting the ball straight at the Portuguese goalkeeper, Sterling missed one of a growing list of gilt-edged opportunities for the West London side.