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Being Riceless can be priceless, too. A slogan for a T-shirt in May, perhaps? The absence of Declan Rice against Aston Villa was supposed to be significant. It was in that it proved Arsenal can cope without him.

Arsenal have learned to embrace the fight, to harness the energy of a title challenge. If pressure is a privilege, as the Americans like to put it, Arsenal are suddenly all over it. Not only are they good enough to resist Manchester City, they believe themselves to be so.

We await City’s reply at Sunderland, of course, but it had better be good to taser the feeling that Arsenal’s beatdown of third-placed Villa means more. Mikel Arteta was a 22-year-old playing for Rangers when Arsenal last won the Premier League. The world in 2004 was created by Arsene Wenger. It was unimaginable in that distant constellation that 22 years would also become the magic number between titles.

Gabriel Jesus scored just minutes after coming on to make it 4-0 to Arsenal pic.twitter.com/Fy6PRv5mHN

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 30, 2025

But then none foresaw the birth of a new star in the north, a blue supergiant that would reshape the galaxy. It may be that City’s cosmic surge proves unanswerable as 2026 dawns, yet there was in Arsenal’s evisceration of Villa the nascent rumblings of substance, the sense that this time the Gunners are built to last.

It took 45 minutes to figure it out but once the first goal went in the stars aligned. Gabriel Magalhaes, resuming his iron-clad pairing with William Saliba after a seven-week lay-off, popped Arsenal’s 13th of the season from a corner, taking their total via that most Arsenal of mechanisms to 13, the highest in the Premier League. 

Three minutes later it was two, Martin Zubimendi pinning Villa to the floor. In that moment Arsenal crystalised into a different beast, one that began to recognise itself as the alpha of the piece.

Rice watched from the stands, wired like those around him by the sudden, irresistible turbo thrust. Little soothes like the power of relief. It was, however, more than that. There was a new energy about Arsenal, rising not sinking.

City under Pep Guardiola are practiced at this. Last season’s fall can be reassessed as the oddity it was. Revitalised by the arrival of Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, plus the renewal of Phil Foden, City are inching towards their familiar selves, albeit in a less obsessive configuration.

Arsenal needed to respond. The defeat to Villa in added time at the start of December followed draws at Sunderland and Chelsea, two points from nine on the road. Since the loss at Newcastle in November, City have strung nine wins in a row in all competitions, including a Champions League victory at Real Madrid.

This not only chopped Arsenal’s lead at the top to a slender two points, it resurrected that old feeling of drift, the impression that Mikel Arteta’s creation is one that melts. This was his response.

The wins were everywhere, not least in the presence of Noni Mandueke and Eberechi Eze on the bench. When Eze scored a stupendous hat-trick in the North London derby in November, he looked undroppable. Then he let Matty Cash run behind him in the defeat to Villa and did not see the light of night here. That is the standard required to make this team, episodic eruptions of excellence are trumped by elite reliability.

That message was rammed home by Leandro Trossard’s hard-edged diligence on the left, probing throughout and smacking a wonderful third goal. Madueke, who is still managing his recovery from injury, was given a token seven minutes at the end.

Eze and Madueke shared the bench with Kai Havertz, Myles Lewis-Skelly, Ben White, Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus. That is the real substance of Arsenal’s title challenge, high class back-up, readily demonstrated by Jesus, who scored Arsenal’s fourth with his first touch.

His cameo in place of Viktor Gyokeres, who continues to perform like a Manchester United solution to attacking shortcomings, over-priced mediocrity, felt as significant as winning sans Rice, a coping strategy that might yet yield the ultimate prize and a slew of biblical headlines in the spring.

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OLD TRAFFORD — It isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but body language can tell you so much about what a manager is thinking.

When Ruben Amorim oversees a rare Manchester United victory – 14 from 44 league games during his tenure so far – he tends to head straight down the tunnel, a short punch through the air towards supporters on occasion is about all he ever musters.

When United slump from one nadir to the next – a much more regular occurrence – Amorim wanders out onto the pitch upon the final whistle, chuntering to himself, trying to avoid making eye contact even with his own players and increasingly to a cacophonous soundtrack of boos.

Maybe he is questioning his life choices. Or perhaps he is slowly coming to the realisation that he is drowning, desperately out of his depth.

Wolves travelled up the M6 on the back of 12 successive defeats, the worst run in the club’s history. They had lost 25 league games in 2025, the most by any team in a calendar year since 26 by Ipswich in 1994.

Even this excuse for a United side couldn’t mess this one up, the restless locals wrongly assumed. Amorim is seemingly set on securing a doctorate in doing so.

In the transfer market, United have made great strides forward. Bryan Mbeumo and Senne Lammens appear to be top signings, while Matheus Cunha has shown flashes he is exactly what the club needs.

Yet, these improvements are being smothered by managerial calls that continue to defy logic. For the first time in Amorim’s reign, the rookie boss went for a four-man defence against Newcastle on Boxing Day, a system shift he had been working towards in training for several weeks.

So, after securing a hard-earned victory, what does Amorim go and do against only the second side in top-flight history to go 19 matches from the start of a season without winning, along with Bolton in 1902-03? Back to one of the most unsuccessful systems this once-great stadium has ever seen.

"Completely different from the last one"

Ruben Amorim says Manchester United lacked quality against Wolves pic.twitter.com/Y7PamXfZg6

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 30, 2025

Patrick Dorgu had his best game in a red shirt against Newcastle in an advanced role, on right wing, so what does Amorim do? Back to left wing-back for you, Patrick. But hey, at least Amorim got in his customary, utterly pointless defensive substitution in the second half.

Amorim said after the match he was going like-for-like with Wolves’ five-at-the-back system. At home. Against this level of opposition. How a team on two points from 18 matches sets up should not affect the game plan of any self-respecting Champions League chaser.

All match, Amorim was in deep conversation with himself on the touchline, a despondent crouched pose his viewing position of choice.

This is 14 months into the job. He still doesn’t seem to believe he is worthy. The answers to the Manchester United conundrum just aren’t coming to him.

United have taken six points from their last five home games against 10-man Everton, 18th-placed West Ham, a Bournemouth side without a win since October, Newcastle and now one of the worst sides in English top-flight history.

Africa Cup of Nations and injury absentees have been crucial to another United derailment, but they still had £150m of talent starting in the front line against Wolves. Everton players fought each other to leave them with 10 men for 73 minutes. They led against both West Ham and Bournemouth, the latter on three separate occasions.

Failing to win these games is down to a mental fragility created by one man.

As a consequence of last year’s dire campaign, Amorim usually has a full week to work with the players on the training ground, a chance to instil some belief in his battered and bruised footballing principles.

But failure to beat Wolves, having been forced back into Amorim’s beloved 3-4-3, suggests whatever is being said is not being taken on board by players yet to retain any faith the new regime can raise this sleeping giant from its slumber.

Boos at half-time, full-time and even for Amorim’s substitutions suggest supporters are in a similar boat.

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Saudi Pro League clubs’ interest in signing Mohamed Salah has cooled, The i Paper has been told.

Salah’s startling comments after being left on the bench again for Liverpool’s trip to Leeds earlier this month led many to believe his dream transfer to the Middle East would finally come true.

But Saudi clubs have noted how his remarks worked towards a reconciliation – he was back in the team a week later, with support from teammates.

The squad has actually been given a jolt into life as a result of Salah’s outburst – Liverpool have won four from four since.

Alexander Isak’s injury also lessens the competition for places.

Why have the Saudis lost interest in Salah?

“For now, Mo seems to have got his way,” one source who works with the Saudi Pro League tells The i Paper.

“It is nothing we haven’t seen before – he likes to stir the pot to get his way. 

“There is certainly less faith here that a January move could happen as a result.”

A senior official at a top Saudi club, who wished to remain anonymous, believes a signing like Salah, while being preferential, is not the potential difference-maker as it would have been before.

“I would say the top teams here, like Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr, would get into the Premier League top six in England with their current squads, top four in Spain. Higher in Italy,” he tells The i Paper.

“Look at the players we have, in their prime. Ruben Neves, Joao Cancelo, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Kingsley Coman, Joao Felix – all elite European players who turned down top European clubs.

“Salah would be great, but the way we are growing our scouting networks, analytics, ability to attract younger players – Al-Hilal just signed a 22-year-old Brazilian for £40m from Benfica – we are almost there in our development. This must remain our focus.”

Could he still move to the Middle East?

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, which owns 75 per cent of the league’s top four clubs, will almost certainly at least try for Salah again next month.

Even before the 33-year-old decided to make his disgruntlement public, there was a growing feeling Liverpool would sell for a cut-price deal, given Salah’s loss of form and apparent expendability while remaining on the bench.

Salah has always been interested in hearing what the Saudis have to say, admitting as such outside Elland Road.

Yet, with his words having the desired effect, he could equally stay put, knowing he has unfinished business on Merseyside.

What made the Saudis change their minds?

The Saudis will always be waiting, but perhaps not with the revolutionary vision for Salah in the Middle East as before.

“We are able to attract players for other reasons than money now,” the senior figure adds.

“These big names are always telling me how great their family life is here. We live in gated compounds, with numerous pools for kids to play in. It’s 20 degrees in November.

“One international told me his family refused to travel with him on the recent international break, such was the fun his kids were having. Family life here for Europeans is great.

“These players are then telling others with young families how great life is. The league is getting more competitive, fans are more demanding than at top European clubs. Our issue is the gap between the best and worst in the Pro League is huge. Bottom teams are League Two standard.

“The development means clubs are improving all the time, though, making the league more appealing to European players seeking a fresh challenge. We have foreign quotas to ensure local top talent is given a chance, with two Under-21 players in each side. The focus on foreign big stars coming here to finish their career has almost gone.”

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For the first time in almost 25 years, Wrexham AFC are the highest-placed Welsh club in English football. At the time of writing, the gap is only five points. That’s as much as a mile when you have waited a quarter of a century to crow like this.

Then, Welsh football was in a state of malaise. In 2001, Wrexham finished 54th in the pyramid to lead the way, with Cardiff City in the fourth tier, Swansea City heading there and Newport County mid-table in the Southern League Premier. No club football team in Wales averaged more than 8,000 at their home games.

Now, two of them are riding the celebrity train. Five days after I watched Swansea City beat Wrexham in their final match before Christmas, US lifestyle guru Martha Stewart joined rapper Snoop Dogg as a Swans investor and they’re not even the Welsh club with the famous owners. As one headline read in July: “Snoop Dogg unveils Swansea kit in dig at Ryan Reynolds and Wrexham”. By no measure are these normal times, but non-normal is here to stay.

While Swansea assemble a new team of celebrity minority investors (that also includes Luka Modric), Wrexham are now entering the second age of their own project. There is no doubting the speed or success of their rise under the R.R. McReynolds Company.

The plan was always to reach the Championship and see what happened from there, but nobody expected the ascent to be so swift. In 2025, Wrexham became the first team in the history of English football to go from the fifth tier to the second in consecutive seasons.

Off the pitch, Wrexham’s revenue went stratospheric thanks to the Disney documentary series. In April, Wrexham announced annual revenues of £26m, up £16m year-on-year. For the first time ever, more than half of the revenue of a club in English football was generated outside Europe.

That is the brilliance of this project: global revenue streams underpinned by an understanding from those in charge that hyperlocalism is the secret. You help a football club and a town to grow bigger and better and engineer more pride and that becomes the plot of the documentary coverage because North America likes nothing more than a perceived underdog story and small English towns and cities.

Wrexham have coped well in the Championship. Currently, they are the highest-placed promoted club. Fears that rapid promotion may produce an inability to cope in the second tier appear entirely unfounded, partly due to investment in the playing staff and partly due to Phil Parkinson’s gritty realist tactics.

But the Championship also provoked a shift in strategy. This was always the plan, eventually, as with Reynolds’ other ventures: you grow the business before inviting outside investment, staying on as the face but enabling continued growth led by other experts.

Earlier this month, Wrexham announced – although with no concrete financial details yet – investment from Apollo Sports Capital, the sports and entertainment arm of a global investment firm that has around $800bn of managed assets. Apollo is the new majority owners of Atletico Madrid so, yes, this is not small-fry stuff. 

Apollo’s initial role will be to provide capital to Wrexham AFC to increase their playing budgets but also overhaul the Racecourse, the world’s oldest surviving international football stadium, and the facilities around the stadium that will become an asset of increased community value.

Apollo is also going to get some help. In November, it was announced that Wrexham AFC would receive almost £18m in non-repayable Government grants to fund the redevelopment of the stadium and local transport centres. That figure, ostensibly paid by the taxpayer, is nine times higher than state aid received by any other club detailed in disclosures.

Stefan Borson, a football finance expert, has questioned why such projects would be an appropriate use of public money given a) Wrexham’s own valuation, b) the wealth of the majority owners and c) the forthcoming investment from one of the biggest asset managers in the industry.

“This looks like an £18m non-repayable subsidy to a privately owned business now flirting with a £350m valuation,” Borson said at the time.

“Its existing owners are US-based and very wealthy and liquid private individuals. The club, and its owners, will benefit from the stand for the next 50 years, yet at no point would the taxpayer be repaid or directly profit from the club’s rise.”

You can see the point, particularly at a time when local government budgets are diminishing, councils are struggling and services are crumbling. But then that is the dilemma here: the growth of Wrexham AFC, and their newfound dominance over everyday life in the local area, is almost unprecedented.

Whether or not you agree that a handout is appropriate, the economic uplift to the city is undeniable. Wrexham and Wrexham AFC are tied together like never before. This is more than a football club.

On one point we can all agree: Wrexham are not going to slow down. Internally, there is an acceptance that they could never skip through the Championship as they did the other two EFL divisions because of parachute payments and lingering Premier League budgets.

But this club has become wedded to relentless self-improvement on and off the pitch. The invitation to a major investment portfolio is proof that ambition never sleeps here.

Fairy tale? Ask that question and you get a dozen different answers across a spectrum. Some are fuelled by jealousy, others by the sense that a media darling is being helped along the way; multimillion-pound grants only pour fuel on that fire. It is a question asked across English football with varying inflections: “Why them?”

But honestly, who really cares? English football is the playground of the rich. To be a millionaire owner in the Premier League is to be a pauper. If that’s utterly depressing and unsustainable, go shout at late-stage capitalism rather than a club in north Wales. Spending time in the place on matchday, as someone who came here before, is to see a place transformed beyond anybody’s expectations.

They’re not bothered anyway; there’s a new series of Welcome To Wrexham coming out in 2026. There is building work to be done. There’s a new highest mountain to climb.

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Oh Jack, it’s almost 2026 not 1976. Being out on the lash at Christmas was a bad idea then. Had you been drinking lemon and ginger tea into the early hours last week, mind and body would hardly have been saying thanks boss, that’s me raring to go against Burnley.

When George Best was hacking about the capital at 30 years old looking to keep the night rolling, the game was already up. Had Best walked through a different sliding door, he might still have been knocking them in for Manchester United at his peak. 

But no, he thought he could sleep it off, leave the hangover on a peg in the dressing room. Instead of Old Trafford he was running out for Dunstable Town, Stockport County and Cork Celtic before Fulham gave him a home at the same age Grealish is now.

Everton is hardly slumming it. There is not a finer setting in the Premier League than the new Hill Dickinson Stadium, bathed as it is in cutting edge design. The football, however, you know, the point of it all, is somewhat removed from the Manchester City experience, where Rayan Cherki is filling his boots, essentially being Jack Grealish.

Was it the “virus” that kept Grealish out of Everton’s game at Turf Moor or was his absence against Burnley the considered action of a coach wondering how a trip to a London strip club 24 hours after losing at Arsenal might be considered in his and the club’s best interests?

The alleged details revealed in The Sun read like a retro kiss and tell, “sources” revealing how Grealish had treated his mates to dinner in a Mayfair restaurant before heading to neighbouring Leicester Square, host to Platinum Lace, a club where punters pay women to peel off their own kit.

There is no suggestion Grealish was indulging his masculine proclivities. Indeed, reports touchingly referenced how Jack the lad did not cast a glance at the women wrapped around poles or dancing on laps.

This will have been met with huge relief back at base, where his childhood sweetheart Sasha Attwood was tucked up with their daughter, Mila Rose, after the family had earlier visited Lapland UK.

Presumably Attwood was just as surprised as Moyes to discover Grealish would later be repairing at lap dance UK. No harm done, eh Jack? It was just a night out. It didn’t mean anything.

Grealish fits easily into the “good lad” category, universally liked, generous and charming. His problem is understanding the requirements of the modern-day athlete. Best was a footballer on Saturday afternoons and a playboy Monday to Friday.

In his defence, Best was locked into the culture of the day acting in accordance with convention. They were all playing the same game. Tommy Docherty was not checking the scales a la Pep Guardiola after time off. The medical staff at Old Trafford were not measuring the biomarkers in blood, monitoring energy levels, recovery and muscle health.

The performance of the modern footballer is measured not just in goals and assists but heart rates and heat maps. Today’s heroes are the most optimised humans on earth, primed for peak physical output. Miss a minute’s sleep at City and Pep is on the phone demanding to look at smart watch sleep traces.

Grealish is remembered as much for the celebrations of City’s 2023 Treble as for his contributions he made on the pitch. He was not alone, of course, but the blood metrics don’t care about that, and his team-mates did not all have his party CV.   

Grealish was talked about as a Ballon d’Or candidate back then. Thirty months on he is on loan at Everton, his impact waning in World Cup year. Two goals and four assists is the sum of it thus far.

Thomas Tuchel, it appears, has already called time on Grealish’s England career. Or maybe he recognises that Grealish has called time on himself.

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Evolution in January before the summer revolution.

That is Everton’s January transfer window blueprint as club sources suggest they will utilise loans rather than dip into a market that insiders believe is characterised by high prices and very little value.

While David Moyes is keen to strengthen a squad that has been stretched by injuries, there’s alignment with a transfer committee that sees little point in paying a premium for squad fillers. If the right player comes up at the right price they’ll move – but it’s more likely they’ll move for a couple of loans to cover gaps in defence and their problem right-back slot.

The smart money is on “two or three” new arrivals in January. They also have the option to recall Harrison Armstrong from his loan at Preston, which has been a resounding success so far.

If that caution seems counter-intuitive with the Premier League’s European slots opening up invitingly, the club want to “go again” and invest in long-term targets in the summer. They also anticipate haggling with Manchester City over a fee for Jack Grealish, who is keen to turn his loan into a permanent deal.

“The reality is this was always a multiple window strategy to get us where we want to be,” one insider told The i Paper. Everton’s modest five-year aim is to be an established top 10 club – although owners the Friedkin Group remain more ambitious than that.

“If something comes up we’ll be ready to do it but we won’t just invest for the sake of it.”

What names are interesting the club?

Everton’s recruitment philosophy is unlikely to veer significantly from what we saw in the summer: a mix of plug in and play options with Premier League experience and up-and-coming recruits who can “go on the journey with us”.

Of the loan options out there, several high-profile names stick out. The i Paper has been told by sources at Old Trafford that Everton are among the clubs showing an interest in midfielder Kobbie Mainoo and striker Joshua Zirkzee. But deals for either would be complex and expensive and Manchester United are undecided about whether to leave either out.

Al-Ahli striker Ivan Toney could do with a move to the Premier League to catch Thomas Tuchel’s eye and Everton would be a good fit but sources have played down that move.

Recruitment sources feel that Grealish’s decision to move to Everton – and the adoration of the support – could be a big part of the club’s sales pitch to high-profile players in the future. “He’s the one who has opened doors for Everton and it wouldn’t surprise me if others follow him,” one insider says.

What is the PSR position?

Sources are confident Everton will be compliant with PSR – and there’s a feeling that squad cost ratio rules coming down the track might help the club. They are heavily centred on revenue and the move to Hill Dickinson Stadium should turbo-charge revenue.

“The stadium is a game changer,” Professor Rob Wilson, a football finance expert and programme director at the University Campus of Football Business, tells The i Paper.

“It will give them some wiggle room but it’s more likely that wiggle room will take effect from the 26-27 or 27-28 seasons. The stadium will drive a huge amount of revenue.

“In terms of January we’re not in the zone of them not having anything to spend or needing to sell because of compliance.

Wilson believes the noises coming from Everton are unlikely to be a bluff.

“From a compliance perspective, not buying in January means they don’t get forced into a sale, they can plan out their trading strategy, which is what smart clubs do,” he says.

“If the right thing pops up at the right price, they could do it – but I’d expect them to be quiet.”

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As you were at the top, as the three probable title challengers all won 2-1 in different ways: Arsenal with a two-goal lead and then conceding, Manchester City by being pegged back before winning it late and Aston Villa coming from behind at Chelsea.

The same is true at the foot of the Premier League, bar Burnley’s not-wildly-helpful point at home to Everton. That’s because Nottingham Forest, West Ham and Wolves all lost, although Leeds’s point and performance at Sunderland takes them a little further clear.

The only other shifts were Fulham and Brentford bouncing into the top half, the latter against a Bournemouth side that are suddenly in danger of getting dragged into trouble. If Burnley and West Ham can actually start winning, that is…

Here is one piece of analysis on each of the top flight clubs who played this weekend (in reverse table order)…

This weekend’s results

• Man Utd 1-0 Newcastle
• Nott’m Forest 1-2 Man City
• Arsenal 2-1 Brighton
• Brentford 4-1 Bournemouth
• Burnley 0-0 Everton
• Liverpool 2-1 Wolves
• West Ham 0-1 Fulham
• Chelsea 1-2 Aston Villa
• Sunderland 1-1 Leeds
• Crystal Palace 0-1 Tottenham

Will Edwards survive the season at Wolves?

I think we can all agree that Rob Edwards made a terrible decision to join a ship sinking so quickly that his feet were wet as soon as he walked through the door. But what’s more interesting, given that Wolves have lost every match since, is whether Edwards survives this season.

Presumably, the new manager was appointed in part to oversee a promotion campaign next season. Which is fine, apart from the fact that it rarely ever works that way. A rot has set in at Molineux that will take an extraordinary deep clean over the course of next summer.

If Edwards picks up, say, 14 points from 27 matches this season (and even that now appears optimistic) will he not be thoroughly tainted by the experience and thus unable to shift the mood?

Burnley set new records for all the wrong reasons

I think Scott Parker has got plenty wrong this season, but sometimes as a manager you shake your head and wonder exactly which karmic imbalance you are paying the price for.

Over their nine-game winless run in the league, Burnley have scored seven goals from a total xG of 9.6. They don’t create enough chances for their defensive record and, unlike earlier in the season, they aren’t finishing the chances that they do create.

That came to a head on Saturday, when Burnley had 16 shots without getting one on target. They cannot afford to be this profligate and keep their heads above water.

Why are West Ham playing without a striker?

We mentioned this last week, but the notion that West Ham, after poor results against fine opposition, would immediately switch and pick off lesser sides seemed deeply flawed. They huffed and puffed against Fulham but lost at home again. The next three fixtures – Brighton (h), Wolves (a), Nottingham Forest (h) – now require seven points or West Ham are in big trouble.

I can’t quite work out the attacking plan. Nuno Espirito Santo got Forest firing by using Chris Wood as a target man striker who feasted upon the service of wingers and held up the ball effectively. Nuno inherited Callum Wilson and Niclas Fullkrug, but Fullkrug is seemingly off in January and Wilson has been on the bench for each of their last four games, used as a substitute each time.

West Ham are likely to sign a striker in January and the success of that deal may determine whether they stay up or not. But I don’t understand why Wilson isn’t being used as a starter with Jarrod Bowen right and Crysencio Summerville left in the meantime.

Forest’s goalkeeper change is an interesting move

Nottingham Forest were unfortunate to lose to Manchester City on Saturday and, combined with West Ham’s home defeat against Fulham, that made it a “step forward” weekend even in defeat. Beating Everton on 30 December is now a priority to keep their heads above water.

But one very interesting thing has happened at the City Ground: Matz Sels, the best goalkeeper in the Premier League last season, has been dropped to the bench and Brazilian John Victor brought into the team.

This may only be a temporary measure. Sels picked up and injury, John did nothing wrong and so has kept his place until he does something wrong (and he hasn’t yet), but it’s still a bold change from a typically safety-first manager to leave out one of the best shot stoppers in the country at a crucial time. All eyes will be on the Brazilian while he stays in the team.

Leeds’ second-half intensity was genuinely astonishing

Leeds may not have won at Sunderland, but then nobody wins at Sunderland anymore. If Daniel Farke’s team continues playing like this, they will finish far enough above the bottom three that you won’t know what everybody was worried about. It is a remarkable transformation.

Leeds’ performance between minutes 45 and 75 was one of the best periods I’ve seen in the Premier League this season from any team. They were relentlessly intense without possession, constantly hoovering up the ball. And then they were precise and smart when they got it, the much-maligned Brenden Aaronson the pick of the bunch.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is UNSTOPPABLE! pic.twitter.com/xk6MQhOAs5

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 28, 2025

This was the most touches in the penalty area that Leeds have recorded in a Premier League match since December 2020, when they beat Newcastle United 5-2. Given the difference between Marcelo Bielsa and Farke’s assumed styles, that is a remarkable statistic.

There is trouble brewing at Bournemouth

Bournemouth are now officially in trouble while this hideous run continues. Antoine Semenyo might be leaving, Andoni Iraola’s contract is up at the end of the season and there are clear signs that the uncertainty over the manager’s future has seeped into the minds of the players.

Nor is this merely a short-term issue. Since mid-February, Bournemouth have taken 35 points from their last 31 Premier League games; only Tottenham, West Ham and Wolves have fewer points of the ever-present Premier League teams over that period.

Worse still is Bournemouth’s away record – again, the Brentford result was hardly an aberration. Over that same period, no ever-present Premier League team has taken fewer points on the road than Bournemouth (12 from 15 matches). This season, they are conceding away goals at a rate of three per game, comfortably more than any other team in the division.

Howe will go if Newcastle’s away record doesn’t improve

Eddie Howe retains the support of most local journalists, and I fully understand why: when you end a trophy drought it buys you time. But in the same month that David Hopkinson, Newcastle’s new chief executive, spoke about being the “biggest club in the world” by 2030, we have to ask how long the patience will last with the repeated inability to produce intense performances away from St James’ Park.

Manchester United, with all their absentees and a change of formation, seemed ripe for the taking. But Newcastle failed to produce enough of note in the first half and then couldn’t convert possession and territory into clear chances when tasked with chasing the game. They do lack a high-class goalkeeper and a No 10, but it still be true that Howe should be getting more out of this squad, given the summer spend.

Burnley, Leeds and Wolves are the only three teams with fewer away points than Newcastle this season. Wolves are the only team with fewer away wins. Newcastle have scored seven away goals and four of those came in 57 minutes against Everton. None of this is good enough.

Brighton’s inconsistency is bad news for Hurzeler

Brighton’s biggest issue last season was lurching between extended runs of good and poor form. They went seven games unbeaten, eight games without a win, won six in a row, went six without a win and went five unbeaten all in the space of one campaign.

Now, Fabian Hurzeler can’t find any consistency at all. Only in November (when they beat Brentford and Forest) have Brighton had two identical results in succession. Outside of that November double, their league results read: DLWLDWDWLWDLDLDL. The end result, unsurprisingly, is a definitively mid-table team but it is intensely infuriating for supporters.

And it must be annoying the club’s hierarchy, too. After taking 61 points and finishing in the top eighth (thus being the highest-ranked team without European workload), Brighton looked set to push on again in 2025-26, particularly given the retention of the manager. Instead there’s a danger of everything drifting a little. That would be bad news for Hurzeler.

Please Everton, give Moyes some attacking full-backs

Everton’s make-do full-back solutions in 2025-26 were easy to overlook when first Jack Grealish, then Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and always Iliman Ndiaye were creating chances. But with none of them in the team at Turf Moor, the lack of attacking impetus from full-back was painfully obvious.

Vitaliy Mykolenko and Jake O’Brien, the two starters this season, have created eight chances each in 31 combined matches, making them joint-134th by all Premier League players.

Moyes has done well to keep Everton largely solid with this pairing, but he would surely like a more attacking option (particularly on the right) to give his team a little more impetus on the flanks.

Tottenham’s sad clown of the division

Poor Richarlison, forever destined to get the rough end of every deal. I don’t know the statistics for goals ruled out for offside and goals celebrated in vain, but I’d be very surprised if anyone in Premier League history matches up. You can picture it now, that desperately forlorn face when VAR signals that his latest moment of jubilation has been wrenched away from him.

Richarlison has the ball in the back of the net again, but it's ruled out for offside AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/e7QqwjHiND

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 28, 2025

At Palace, two perfect examples of the art. I don’t think anyone has ever had three goals ruled out for VAR interventions, but even Richarlison knows that he will be the first eventually. Fair play to him for continuing to celebrate rather than shaking a couple of hands and then screaming in righteous glory when the game actually kicks off, but it must eat away.

As one wag on social media said on Sunday, if I were Richarlison I’d wait until I’d watched the goal on Match of the Day before going wild.

Read more: Even Tottenham’s triumphs are now excruciating

Fulham’s weird run comes to an end

Very simple one, this. After the victory at West Ham on Saturday, every post-match interview with players and manager mentioned the satisfaction at winning three league games in a row. Fulham had three straight festive fixtures against teams below them in the table; sink or swim time. Fulham swam all the way to the top half.

But it’s more than that, because now ends one of the weirder runs in the Premier League. Before Saturday, the last time that Fulham won three consecutive top-flight matches was January 2023.

In the three years since, Fulham had won two in a row on 11 separate occasions but never converted. Now they are safe again and laughing.

You can see why Glasner is fed up at Palace

In the space of 10 days, Palace drew in the Conference League to give them two extra games, lost 4-1 at Elland Road, went out of the Carabao Cup on penalties and then lost 1-0 at home to Tottenham.

It has been a festive period to hammer home what we already knew: this squad isn’t big or deep enough to be all its manager wants it to be. Perhaps there will be unexpected January action or promises made to the manager about summer ambition, but both seem unlikely.

Oliver Glasner is in one of those Football Manager saves where you do all you can, take a club beyond its wildest dreams and, rather than open up a new world of spending, squad-building opportunity, realise that life at the club will pretty much carry on exactly as it did before. If he leaves in May, I don’t blame him for a second and nor will most supporters.

Goal-sharing proof of Brentford’s growth

It says everything about this ludicrous Premier League season so far that everybody can fret about Brentford being dragged into the relegation fight and, two games later, they can end the day in the division’s top eight, three points off a potential Champions League finishing position. Keith Andrews, to his credit, had always urged for calm and faith and that promise has been fully validated.

What is most pleasing for Brentford is how their other forwards are now getting – and taking – chances in the final third. It’s an underappreciated aspect of an in-form striker: Igor Thiago has been so dangerous that inevitably he draws the attention of central defenders, who stay narrow as a result. That creates one vs one situations for the wingers.

Against Wolves, it was Keane Lewis-Potter who benefitted with two goals. Against Bournemouth, Kevin Schade scored his first Brentford hat-trick. Thiago scored in neither game and it matters not a jot.

Adingra gets his instant shot at redemption for Sunderland

On commentary, there was a lovely line from the excellent Seb Hutchinson: “Football always gives you a second chance soon.” He’s absolutely correct.

Simon Adingra was bitterly disappointed to be omitted from Ivory Coast’s squad for AFCON, but it also created an immediate opportunity. With other players missing, Adingra started only his sixth league game of the season.

The pass. The finish.

Simon Adingra scores his FIRST goal for Sunderland! pic.twitter.com/XcjMxNWLfN

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 28, 2025

The joy in his goal celebration was infectious. It was a beautiful run, control and curled finish from a young winger who has lost his way a little but clearly has the talent to dash in behind defences and pick out forwards with either foot.

Has Amorim finally accepted a compromise at Man Utd?

All it took was months of tepid – at best – results, selling his left wingers and Bruno Fernandes getting injured. Ruben Amorim, who for so long was told by pundits, writers, ex-players and supporters that he should shift from his three-man defence, has finally done so.

Manchester United were hardly perfect against Newcastle, albeit with a host of absentees. But the three central defender system didn’t work because the wing-backs seemed out of position, the defenders got stretched and the midfield seemed imbalanced.

Amorim’s explanation post-game was that he felt more able to adapt from a position of strength with United in the top seven; fair enough. But if this does indeed prove to be the more logical tactical option, surely it was worth exploring it at least once during the manager’s first 13 months in charge?

Read more: Man Utd’s little giant can make or break Ruben Amorim

Why are Chelsea losing leads at home?

Over the last three months, Chelsea have led at home against Brighton and lost, led at home against Sunderland and lost, led at home against Arsenal and drawn and led at home against Aston Villa and lost. Those 11 squandered points represent the difference between sixth (where they are currently) and joint-second and in the title race.

There are two theories (and both probably carry some weight). The first is that Chelsea have invested so much in young players that they lack experience and/or leaders off the bench. Villa’s used substitutes on Saturday were Watkins, Onana, Digne, Sancho and Bogarde. Chelsea’s were Gusto, Estevao, Gittens and Delap. The oldest of those is 22.

But there is also an accusation against Enzo Maresca that he is too slow to react – and too prescriptive when he does react – to opposition managers changing the game. Unai Emery shifted the course of the match with his changes. Did Maresca not also do the same by leaving too much space in front of the defence?

Liverpool’s quasi-Salah replacement

Calling a right-footed right-back the replacement for a left-footed right-sided forward may seem faintly ludicrous, but hear me out. On Saturday, Jeremie Frimpong played behind Federico Chiesa, overlapped effectively and produced a fine pull-back for his first Premier League assist. In the second half, he played as a right-sided forward with Conor Bradley introduced.

But what about a mix of the two? If Arne Slot picked Dominik Szoboszlai on the right (as he has recently), the Hungarian could tuck in when appropriate and allow Frimpong to overlap from right-back.

But he has also played right-back himself, so could offer cover in-game when it made more sense for Frimpong to stay high. Stretching the game wide will only create more space for Florian Wirtz, as evidenced by Saturday.

Why Aston Villa are the comeback kings

Villa were rotten for most of the first half at Stamford Bridge, unable to escape the press and merely inviting more pressure. They were fortunate to be 1-0 down at the break.

Cut to Ollie Watkins for the insight: “He changed our system because Chelsea were playing man-to-man, but they had an extra centre-back when we went long. So when I came on in the second half, he brought Jadon Sancho and Morgan Rogers out wide and moved Youri Tielemans into the No 10 role. That gave us an extra player in that area.”

These are the secrets to Villa taking 15 points from their last five away games when they have trailed. Emery has the answers to change games at half-time and during the second half. And Villa’s players are so invested in this that their comebacks have become self-fulfilling.

Cherki steps up for Man City

Thirty-six players in this Premier League season have contributed more than 40 shot-creating actions or more. Thirty-five of those players have between 10.4 and 18.0 complete matches in terms of minutes played.

The exception is Rayan Cherki, who has played 7.1 complete matches and has created 48 chances. Only one regular starter has more chances created per 90 minutes. That’s Jeremy Doku.

A huge moment!

Rayan Cherki is left with space in the box and restores Man City’s lead. @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK pic.twitter.com/s4FchxHFvy

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) December 27, 2025

And that’s why Manchester City are at it again. Doku – alongside Phil Foden – started this new surge of creativity and in Doku’s absence Cherki has continued it. Pep Guardiola has made City deliberately narrower without Doku, playing Foden and Cherki behind Haaland. It’s working because they are two of the best players in the world at finding passes in tight spaces.

Rice’s new role for Arsenal

Arsenal’s defensive injury crisis may be eased by Gabriel Magalhaes coming off the bench to end his own absence, but the lack of right-backs and Riccardo Calafiori hurting himself in the warm-up forced Declan Rice into another new role: emergency right-back.

What was interesting is how Arsenal used Rice in the role. I wondered whether Mikel Arteta might ask Rice to invert, stepping into his usual midfield position when Arsenal had possession. In fact, Rice’s heat map showed him staying very wide but not being afraid to get forward and make runs beyond Bukayo Saka.

One of those runs created Arsenal’s opening goal. Rice underlapped when Saka had the ball wide left, taking a defender with him. That created more space for Martin Odegaard on the edge of the box. Should we really be surprised that Rice is tactically disciplined and talented enough to play this role too?

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