Liverpool took a significant stride towards winning the Premier League title on a normally exciting Boxing Day, but the banter club title is still up for grabs in a thrilling three-way match between the Manchester teams and Spurs, from which it is still impossible to predict a result.
Winners
Liverpool
They are going to win, and it is obvious that they are certain of it. On its own, a home win over Leicester isn't really convincing proof of anything, but the calm is. Even after falling behind early on, there didn't seem to be any solid evidence that anything unusual may happen or that Liverpool wouldn't figure out this small conundrum they had set for themselves. With Mo Salah's late goal making Liverpool the first team to reach 40 this season, the moderately annoying draws against Newcastle and Fulham have been forgotten in a rush of goals this week.
However, Chelsea's late and surprising collapse against Fulham at home may have been Liverpool's greatest performance of the day, not even their own. It served as a reminder that Enzo Maresca's team is, quite rightly, still not fully prepared to contend for the championship. Therefore, Liverpool's primary and arguably exclusive title rivals are currently in fourth place, nine points behind the leaders.
They will finish the first half of the season as overwhelming favorites for their second Premier League crown, despite having begun the season as a forgotten third wheel who was predicted to require some time to get used to life after Klopp. The past several months have been good.
Mo Salah
Although there are many different and layered factors that contribute to Liverpool's excellence, it is pointless to try to pinpoint the primary one. Mo Salah is currently playing better for Liverpool than he has ever been, which is incredibly impressive, regardless of what the future may bring. With one game remaining, his late goal against Leicester puts him three points ahead of Leicester in the Golden Boot race. In his previous ten Premier League games, he has scored 12 goals and provided seven assists. Or, you know, an average wide forward's output for the entire season. Nobody needs to be reminded that Salah is not your typical wide forward.
Nottingham Forest
It's an exciting and amazing time to be alive. Their four-match winning streak, in which they have defeated Manchester United, Aston Villa, and Tottenham, as well as—perhaps most impressively of all—coming away from Brentford with all three points—a feat that football scientists had long thought impossible—has allayed fears that the sheer humiliating embarrassment of planning to lose a game of association football against Manchester City might ruin their already stellar season.
Naturally, no one should be overly thrilled about a victory over the ridiculous Spurs, and no one should receive excessive kudos for using the blatantly obvious strategies that make it so simple to first suppress and then discipline this incredibly foolish football team. Few, however, have done it as effectively and unfusciously as Forest, who gladly gave Spurs two-thirds of the possession while supporting themselves to make sure the visitors would never be more than a few seconds and a few deft passes away from that soft, soft underbelly.
The goal that would win Forest the game was the ideal example of a perfectly executed 90-minute strategy.
Even that sentence seems ridiculous to write, yet they will undoubtedly drop back below Arsenal tonight. However, it is quite real, as is the five-point lead Forest currently holds over fifth place.
Additionally, Forest may currently lose all 20 of their games left in the season and most likely avoid relegation. It would be amusing if they said, "Well, that's our season's goal achieved," and simply put down tools for the next six months, but even while we don't think they should or would do that, it's still wonderful to be so assured of escaping relegation with half of the season left.
Fulham
With a massive bonus win at a stadium where Fulham rarely succeeds, they move up to eighth place in the standings and are just starting to establish themselves among all of that mid-table competition.
This victory has Fulham looking up and dreaming big again after the heartbreaking goalless draw with Southampton. A Champions League spot this season and the tantalizing potential of a mass rush to get it are already quite likely to result from finishing in fifth place.
Right now, Fulham is in a better position than either Manchester United or Tottenham to be in that race.
Wolves
They moved out of the relegation zone for the first time this season with back-to-back victories under Vitor Pereira. Additionally, for the first time this season, the team has the general appearance and feel of one that will be alright. Not only does the table suddenly indicate that they are superior to Southampton, Ipswich, and Leicester, but you also know deep inside that they are.
Naturally, Manchester United was once again complicit in their own demise, but it's hard to argue that Wolves didn't deserve the three points that eventually came their way following Bruno Fernandes' red card. Both against 11 and, more convincingly, against 10, they were the superior squad.
Speaking of seizing the opportunity to cause more suffering to a ridiculous Big Six team while they are experiencing a full-blown panic attack, Wolves' next assignment is to travel to Spurs to face their defense, which is literally, figuratively, and philosophically nonexistent.
Victor Pereira
This Premier League management joke is simple. To be honest, I don't see why people still shamble around and make things seem so hard.
Matheus chunha
There are still valid concerns about his somewhat ridiculous decision to play in some very important games when a ban for the Ipswich antics is so clearly imminent, but this man is making the most of the circumstances as they are.
They are already looking at Cunha because of Arsenal's most recent injury crisis, which has seen not one but two truly inconceivable players sidelined for a short time. Cunha did nothing to pull himself out of the shop window with his all-around standout performance against United.
However, do you still worry about the long-term effects of his absurd response at Ipswich on his future?
Westham
Although it wasn't the most convincing victory over Southampton, it was still quite helpful. West Ham has been an intriguing squad whose position remained uncertain for some time. Were they in danger of being relegated, or were they just another squad in the tangle of teams in the middle of the table, anywhere between fifth and fourteenth? For a team that is now three points closer to the top six than the bottom three, two victories and two draws in the last four games seem to have provided a definitive response to the question.
Newcastle
They have appeared wildly unconvincing for a significant portion of this season, and it is undeniable that they are the appreciative recipients of three Big Six teams going into complete farce. However, there are now indications that Newcastle has recovered from their missteps and is in a prime position to profit from all the nonsense occurring elsewhere.
Alright, so they, like the rest of us, didn't fully anticipate Nottingham Forest's success, but a comfortable win over rivals Aston Villa puts them in a strong position to finish at least fifth and secure the already-seemingly certain Champions League spot this season with three wins from three games, 11 goals scored, and none given up.
Additionally, given their current play, they can view the upcoming week's games against Spurs and Manchester United as a significant opportunity to solidify that status rather than one that puts it in jeopardy.
Alexander Isak
A run of ten goals in ten games has carried him to fourth place on the Premier League goalscoring chart, sweeping aside a challenging start to the season marred by concerns about form and fitness. A guy who didn't score his second goal of the season until the last weekend of October put in some effort.
Sean Dyche
Is he not completely in his element? Man City, Chelsea, and Arsenal have all been brought to heel and are unable to come up with a convincing solution to the Dycheball conundrum. As Everton played so horribly at the beginning of the season, we have to admit that we questioned the real purpose of having Sean Dyche as your manager if you're just going to let up goals all the time.
However, after giving up 13 goals in its opening four games, the team has only given up nine more in the last 13 games, four of which were at Old Trafford.
Whatever you think of Dycheball's principles, at least it's an ethos. Sure, no team in the entire division has scored fewer goals than Everton, and despite all of this work, they are still just three points above the bottom three.
Losers
Manchester United
Manchester United has had a disastrous season both on and off the field, and all signs point to the possibility that things could only grow worse in 2025.
Off the field, we can only hope that on Christmas Eve, Jim Ratcliffe received three visits from ghosts. Otherwise, his reign of cartoonishly petty terror is likely to continue unchecked, with vicious, useless little swipes in every direction that, by some terrible coincidence, always, always, always target the little guy.
Although we can get why United supporters were eager to embrace Ratcliffe at the time because he was neither Glazer nor Qatari, the notion of a kind billionaire was always unrealistic.
We must all acknowledge, though, that none of us saw him coming as such a stereotypical megarich super-villain. It has been a series of wild disasters on the field. Erik Ten Hag's unwarranted and unreasonable stay of execution, which was a) never going to last long and b) always going to f*** things right up, taints even the FA Cup victory with its long-term issues.
And here we are at this moment. Despite the worst possible conditions, United has signed one of Europe's top young coaches. It was common knowledge that Ruben Amorim was a coach who preferred a particular approach. Everyone was aware that United didn't have a team that could do things in that manner. It was a betrayal of the club's new and already eroding trust to bring him in during the busiest period of the season.
Ruben Amorim
We think he can pull this off if given the necessary time and support, and we really like him. However, it's becoming more and more obvious that it will take a lot of effort and support. We are no longer confident that United will be able to weather the storm and reap the possible rewards.
This has been f***ed by them. Amorim hasn't played it perfectly, even though he was dealt a terrible hand. His management and comprehension of the scope of the job in his off-field responsibilities have been outstanding; unlike many United managers before him, he doesn't seem like he's too little for such a big job.
That "storm coming" statement following an ostensibly impressive victory over Everton was not some nebulous expectation-checking cliché, but rather a precise prediction based on known and acknowledged variables. He knew what he'd inherited and had this squad's number from the beginning. But at a time when things are already terrible, one does question if his inflexible insistence on jamming various sh*tty square pegs into his predefined round holes isn't making matters worse.
They are woefully underpowered as an attacking force; two of the five clubs below and all 13 of the teams above them have scored more goals this season than United, which is problematic when you also have a defense that you can't count on to keep two straight corners in a week.
Bruno Fernandes
The captain and lucky charm of Manchester United continues to define their 2024 in a way that is nearly ridiculously ideal. Talented yet vulnerable, he is utterly uncertain of himself in the new system and is so anxious to demonstrate his concern that he often exacerbates a difficult situation.
His second yellow card, which came so early in the second half, was a clumsy one, but his first was gentle. It must be acknowledged that captaincy isn't ideal when there are two red cards in two devastating losses before the season is halfway over.
Chelsea
There's no need to panic or overreact. Under Enzo Maresca, there haven't been many mistakes. However, losing to Fulham at home after leading with 81 minutes remaining is a serious blunder at a very unfavorable moment.
A win that seemed so likely for so long would have solidified second place and put pressure on Liverpool, the leaders, in the closing minutes of the match. As it stands, Chelsea might have shown Maresca that they don't belong in a title competition. Of course, it's not all negative.
Chelsea is still in the running for third place with Nottingham Forest, something we all undoubtedly anticipated at the beginning of the season due to their own skill and the foolishness occurring elsewhere.
Enzo Maresca
I don't want to be critical of a manager who has surpassed all reasonable expectations at a team plagued by nonsense in recent years, but I do have some reservations about him because of the way he has handled the workload of his defenders and the game management of the last two games.
It's reasonable that Maresca has maintained throughout that his squad and team aren't yet prepared to contend for a championship. However, that assessment may have included some self-reflection as well.
Tottenham
Another loss, and perhaps a sobering reminder that not all of their setbacks are the reckless, crazy, "entertaining," or "fun" of the Brighton, Chelsea, or Liverpool games. Combine this dreadful effort with the performances in the draws against Leicester and Fulham, as well as the losses to Ipswich, Palace, Newcastle, Bournemouth, and Arsenal.
Nine league losses have already been accumulated; only three teams have suffered more this season. The great majority of those losses were not heroic "glory, glory" drivel, but rather a squad that is a little below average.
The severity of their full-strength attacking efforts here far outweighs any moderation that may exist in their defensive injury issue. Again, it's not an isolated incident.
The belief that this Spurs team is always exciting to watch, even when they lose, is at the top of the list of misconceptions and delusions that need to be dispelled.
Even if they play some of the best football in the world, and it is truly amazing, that is not their default level. Furthermore, none is thrillingly excitingly weak. Quite Boringly Drearily Sh*t is their default, typical level of performance based on simple frequency of occurrence. They lose a lot of games, which is surprising for a squad that so proudly strives to win every one of them.
Ange postecoglou
He's done. He is now firmly in the "when-not-if" zone, and it would be shocking if he finished the season. After the incredible victory against Manchester United and the ridiculous beating from Liverpool, this was the worst sort of loss he had ever experienced against the worst kind of opponent.
In addition to serving as a sobering reminder of how dull and lifeless many of Postecoglou's numerous Spurs defeats have been, this was also the most scathing of all possible responses to the increasingly irrational belief expressed by both supporters and opponents that Postecoglou can only be expected to provide mid-table irrelevance at a team that, despite its propensity for absurdity, has only placed outside the top six twice in the previous 15 years. The primary arguments for Ange's exclusion seems to be that Spurs are Spurs and the team is led by idiots.
With its notorious two-point-from-eight-game start and subsequent Harry Redknapp rescue, this is now certain to be Tottenham's worst Premier League season opening half since 2008–09.
The manager's poor performance, which was worse than that of any of his predecessors up to and including Mauricio Pochettino, made it absurd to let him off so lightly. This is especially true when you lose badly to Nottingham Forest, owned by Evangelos Marinakis, whose victory puts them in third place, ahead of Arsenal. Does "can't expect any better than this while Daniel Levy remains" still signify resignation? Will some people have to be pulled into a real relegation battle for Spurs to awaken from their naive sleep?
Tottheam Defense Against Wolve
Djed Spence was sent off late in the game, and Radu Dragusin hobbled off with an injury, making Spurs' already shabby defense appear completely nonexistent for their matchup with an improving Wolves team that defeated them both at home and away last season.
On the list of confirmed absences, that pair joins Guglielmo Vicario, Cristian Romero, Micky van de Ven, and Ben Davies. Meanwhile, Destiny Udogie is still having form and fitness issues.
It is now quite unclear who will join the suddenly indispensable and untouchable Archie Gray in the Tottenham defense on Sunday.
Manchester City
The fact that Sean Dyche's team is currently enjoying one of those gloriously stubborn spells in which they simply refuse to lose to good teams after spending a large portion of the season losing spectacularly to bad ones like Spurs or Man United is only the faintest of silver linings. It is simply not at all surprising anymore that Manchester City fails to defeat Everton at home.
The overall picture is bleak: a manager and team of players have only won one of their last 13 games, and they seem to have no idea why this is happening or how to fix it.
Pep Guardiola
Without a doubt, this run would have resulted in the dismissal of any other Premier League manager. A drop-off this bad would have been impossible for Mikel Arteta to survive. Naturally, everything Guardiola has accomplished at City and the increasingly clumsy and desperate-looking new deal he recently signed—from both the club and the manager—make things different.
But there's a reason why, in practically every other circumstance conceivable, a run this awful with no clear remedy in sight would result in the manager being dismissed. Guardiola won't be fired by City, which is fair enough, but we can't be too far off from the day he decides he no longer has the will or stomach to battle. Does he truly possess the energy required to reconstruct the city in the near future and, more crucially, throughout the ensuing years?
A major contributing cause to what has happened to a team that depends too much on a limited number of aging heroes who are no longer able to perform their former duties is Guardiola's penchant for a small roster. Change is on the horizon for City for a variety of reasons, both on and off the field. Furthermore, the likelihood that a new management will be involved has never been higher.
He and his aging team appear completely done, despite the fact that he has been ridiculously amazing for an impossibly long time.
Erling Haaland
After scoring ten goals in his first five Premier League games of the season, he has already missed three in the next thirteen, and he also missed a penalty. This is all because City's all-around play has completely disintegrated.
With one hat-trick from 16 touches in the game, Haaland appeared to perfect the function of goal scorer, reducing the job to its most basic form. Even in his goal-filled debut season, the lack of touches Haaland had in general play became a running joke.
When City was playing well and there were opportunities, that was acceptable. Haaland becomes the ultimate luxury passenger on a faltering team.
At least Haaland was still getting shots early in City's current bad luck. They occurred even though they weren't entering. Since then, he hasn't managed more than three shots in any of his last six Premier League games, despite having seven attempts on goal in the losses to Brighton and Spurs.
You do start to question the rationality of City's decision to decide they didn't need any competition or backup for the big guy, given that his wider contribution is as insignificant as ever—his total number of passes over those six games is 84, 33 fewer than Mateo Kovacic's versus Everton alone.
Aston Villa
In many respects, Villa's season was summed up by the fact that their own Boxing Day struggles were overshadowed by the more serious tragedies involving Manchester United and Spurs. However, in contrast to the brutally effective league season of the previous year, this one has been mainly underwhelming.
The harsh reality is that Villa has now lost to two direct rivals in the Champions League chase in as many days. However, the fixture list has been kind to Villa lately, helping them along with easy victories over Brentford away from home as well as the stark but tremendous struggles going on at Southampton and Man City.
Villa may have doomed themselves to a spot in the sizable group aiming for such a finish; by this evening, the top four will probably be six points away. It's possible that fifth place may be sufficient for Champions League qualification this season.
Leicester
Although the loss to Liverpool isn't particularly concerning on its own, the fact that it marks three straight convincing losses at a time when Wolves, Palace, and Everton all seem to be getting their act together to a greater or lesser extent raises concerns. We're not at all convinced Ruud van Nistelrooy was the best candidate for a relegation scrap.
Leicester has dropped into the bottom three, which now includes all three of the promoted teams from the previous season, after suffering a six-point swing against Wolves over the last two games.
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