New Delhi: Boxing Day always brings us a lot of excitement and a lot of drama in the Premier League and this year’s was no less. With the majority of Matchday 18 fixtures having been played on the day after Christmas, there have been some movements up and down the league the table. Nottingham Forest produced a memorable 1-0 win over Tottenham at home that saw them climb up to third, placing them between the two London clubs.
Arsenal, who are yet to play their Matchday 18 fixture, do hold the chance to reclaim third spot though if they see off Ipsiwch Town on Friday night. Meanwhile, Newcastle United’s big win over Aston Villa sees them break into the top five as goals from Antony Gordon, Alexander Isak and Joelinton earned them a comfortable 3-0 win over the West Midlands side, who slipped down to ninth cause of the defeat.
It was also a huge night for Wolves as new manager Vitor Pereira’s home debut got off to a flying start as his side beat Manchester United, and moved out of the bottom three of the Premier League for the first time this season. Wolves move out of the relegation zone and sit in 17th place with 15 points now. Replacing them in the relegation zone are Leicester City, whose 3-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool sends them to 18th in the table.
All three promoted teams sit in the bottom three and if the league were to end today, hypothetically, all three of the promoted teams would be going straight back down to the Championship. Southampton, who occupy the bottom spot ended the boxing day in even more trouble than they were in earlier as another loss, this time at the hands of West Ham, sees the gap between them and safety move up to nine points.
Position | Teams | Matches | Win | Draw | Loss | Goal Difference | Points |
1 | Liverpool | 17 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 42 |
2 | Chelsea | 18 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 35 |
3 | Nottingham Forest | 18 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 34 |
4 | Arsenal | 17 | 9 | 6 | 2 | 18 | 33 |
5 | Newcastle United | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 29 |
6 | Bournemouth | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 29 |
7 | Manchester City | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 28 |
8 | Fulham | 18 | 7 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 28 |
9 | Aston Villa | 18 | 8 | 4 | 6 | -3 | 28 |
10 | Brighton and Hove Albion | 17 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 25 |
11 | Tottenham Hotspur | 18 | 7 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 23 |
12 | Brentford | 17 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 23 |
13 | West Ham United | 18 | 6 | 5 | 7 | -7 | 23 |
14 | Manchester United | 18 | 6 | 4 | 8 | -3 | 22 |
15 | Everton | 17 | 3 | 8 | 6 | -7 | 17 |
16 | Crystal Palace | 18 | 3 | 8 | 7 | -8 | 17 |
17 | Wolves | 18 | 4 | 3 | 11 | -11 | 15 |
18 | Leicester City | 18 | 3 | 5 | 10 | -18 | 14 |
19 | Ipswich Town | 17 | 2 | 6 | 9 | -16 | 12 |
20 | Southampton | 18 | 1 | 3 | 14 | -26 | 6 |