On Tuesday, Liverpool beat struggling Burnley 2-0 to move back into the top spot in the Premier League, while Manchester United rallied to win 3-2 at Aston Villa on Boxing Day.
Newcastle United, however, suffered a shock 3-1 defeat at Nottingham Forest, with Chris Wood scoring three goals.
In the day’s biggest match, Luton Town triumphed 3-2 at Sheffield United thanks to own goals, while Bournemouth held on to stay in the top half.
Juergen klopp’s team have now won all three of their Premier League games on Boxing Day, and although it always looked like they were going to win 3-0 over Burnley, it was Jota’s stoppage-time goal that sealed all three.
Klopp’s side got things off to a flying start as Darwin Nunez made it 1-0 after six minutes with his first goal for almost two months.
Cody Gakpo saw a goal ruled out for offside, while Harvey Elliott saw a goal also ruled out after VAR was triggered, and Mohamed Salah blazed over as Burnley continued to dominate.
Burnley, who are 19th in the league, fought back in the second period and Jota scored late on after a sweeping move saw him slot home from close range.
With this win, Jurgen Klopp’s side have moved ahead of Arsenal into first place on goal difference with 42 points after 19 games. The Gunners have 40 points ahead of Thursday’s London derby against West Ham United.
“No matter what anyone thinks, it’s a really intense atmosphere, and to come here and play the way we did is absolutely fantastic,” Klopp said.
It is also remarkable that we did not score more goals. In fact, we did, but for various reasons they were denied.
“It’s really nice to be top of the table,” said Klopp. “It’s really nice because the first half of the season is over and it was really good. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good.”
HOJLUND DELIGHT
It was Forest’s first victory under new management and leaves them in 17th place, five points above the bottom three, while Newcastle’s fourth loss in five league games leaves them in eighth on 29.
The Magpies took the lead on the stroke of half-time through a penalty converted by Alexander Isak.
Newcastle loanee Wood, who joined Forest on a permanent basis in January, equalised just before the half-hour mark, tapping in from close range after an Anthony Elanga cross.
On the hour mark, Forest took the lead as a result of a counter-attack that ended with Wood coolly slotting home.
The New Zealand international then made it three goals in as many games, rounding Dubravka before slotting home.
Sheffield United lost 3-2 to Luton in the basement battle as Jack Robinson scored an own goal in the last 13 minutes.
The hosts, who are 17th in the league, had taken a 1-0 lead through Alfie Doughty’s first-half goal, but goals in the second and third halves of the second half saw Luton take a 2-1 lead into the break.
Sheffield United let a 2-0 lead into the second half of the second half, allowing Luton to take a 3-2 lead through goals in the first and third minutes of the second half.
After Alfie Doughty put Luton ahead, goals in the 59th and 60th minutes of the game were cancelled out by goals in each of the second and third minutes of stoppage time.
Both goals were scored by Anis Ben-Slimane, while goals in the 79th and 90th minutes were also converted.
The result leaves Luton just one point away from 17th-place Everton, who are 18th in the league.
However, Robinson turned the ball inside his own goal, and Slimane looped a header over the keeper.
Bournemouth 3-0 Fulham: Justin Kluivert, Dominic Solanke and Luis Sinisterra saw the Cherries leapfrog the Hammers to the top of the table for the first time this season.
