🔬 The Debrief as Chelsea hold Man City, Arsenal run riot and Spurs lose | OneFootball

Saturday delivered another action-packed afternoon in Premier League with seven matches to savour.

Here’s the lowdown on the day’s events …

What happened?

Arsenal and Liverpool continued their fine form at the top of the table, beating Burnley 5-0 and Brentford 4-1 respectively.

Chelsea also did the pair a favour as they took points off of Manchester City with a 1-1 draw away at the Etihad Stadium.

Meanwhile, the Midlands teams gave London a lesson with Aston Villa, Wolves and Nottingham Forest beating Fulham, Tottenham and West Ham.

There was late drama at St James’ Park as Matt Richie scored a last minute goal to snatch a point against former employers Bournemouth.

Player of the day

There were three shouts for Player of the Day and all of them scored braces for their sides.

Ollie Watkins and Bukayo Saka are unlucky to miss out but the award is this week going to Wolves midfielder João Gomes.

The young Brazilian has been a mainstay in Gary O’Neil’s revived Wolves side and he is really showing his worth this season.

His brace from midfield against Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham sealed a vital victory which has firmly put Wolves in the hunt for the lower European spots.

The 23-year-old leapt the highest to head home into the top left corner for his first and finished off a slick counter attack lead by Pedro Neto.

A good evenings work from Gomes.

Key Detail

The title race is getting interesting. With Arsenal returning to form, Liverpool suffering injuries and Man City dropping points, things could be getting interesting.

We were in danger of the title race fizzling out with Arsenal’s inability to score but after 11 goals in just two games, the floodgates have now opened.

Liverpool lost Darwin Núñez, Diogo Jota and Curtis Jones to injury at the Gtech Commuity Stadium, which only adds to the masses in the injury room. Could that slow Jürgen Klopp’s men down?

Slightly further down the table West Ham’s winless run continued as Nottingham Forest put two past David Moyes’ side. eight games without a win in 2024 has seen the pressure mount on the Scotsman.

Stats of the day

Raheem Sterling made some Premier League history today as he overtook Steven Gerrard’s Premier League goal record of 120, scoring his 121st against his former side.

It is the second time Sterling has scored against City this season, and it becomes the first time an ex player has scored home and away against the Sky Blues in a single Premier League campaign according to Squawka.

Speaking of Liverpool legends, Mohamed Salah joined some esteemed company in the Premier League with his goal and assist against Brentford.

The Egyptian has now scored and assisted in 30 Premier League games in the competitions history.

Salah joins a list of Wayne Rooney, Thierry Henry and Alan Shearer.

Not bad company to be in!

What this means

Wins for Liverpool and Arsenal and points dropped by Man City means Klopp and Mikel Arteta’s sides pull four and two points clear of Pep Guardiola’s men as the title race heats up.

Aston Villa’s win away at Fulham has put the Villains back in the driving seat for Champions League qualification as Tottenham slip up and stay 5th.

West Ham are in danger of being sucked out of the race for Europe despite being in such a promising situation before the new year should their woeful form continue, with Wolves, Chelsea and Brighton now sniffing heavily down their necks.

The win was huge for Nuno Espírito Santo’s men who now sit five points clear of the drop zone.

What they said?

West Ham boss David Moyes on fans calling for change: “Maybe they want something different, but they would honestly have to say it has been the best times they have had at the club with regards winning a European trophy, the league positions. Maybe there would be managers who excite them more, possibly, but the one who is sitting here wins more.”

Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp on Liverpool’s injuries against Brentford: “That Curtis cannot play on tells you that it must be something because he would have played on at all costs.

“Diogo looks probably the worst; I didn’t see it back but I heard the pictures didn’t look great as well, so we have to see there. Darwin, we took off because he felt really a little but that was obviously today enough to immediately push the break and that’s what we did.”

Wolves manager Gary O’Neil on Wolves fans excitement: “I love the fans dreaming. One of my favourite parts of the job is I’m not allowed to get carried away and think about things that might happen, but I love them being able to think about it.”

What comes next?

Three more games are still left to play in this match week with Sunday seeing Sheffield United host Brighton and Manchester United travel to Luton Town.

The weekend will be wrapped up at Goodison Park, where Everton are set to face Crystal Palace for the fourth time this season.