The Premier League weekend brought more moving and shaking at the top of the table as Arsenal took pole position and Liverpool climbed to second with a dramatic 4-3 win over Fulham.
Manchester City’s enthralling 3-3 draw with Tottenham saw the champions drop to third in the table, three points ahead of Ange Postecoglou‘s side in fifth.
Unai Emery, meanwhile, is continuing to work his magic at Villa Park, as Aston Villa struck late to draw 2-2 with Bournemouth and keep hold of fourth spot.
Finally, Newcastle’s impressive 1-0 win over struggling Manchester United put them within touching distance of a top four spot, just three points behind Villa.
But where will the current top five finish in the Premier League when it’s all said and done next summer? Mail Sport’s Isaan Khan has his say.
Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham and Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City shared the spoils on Sunday after an enthralling 3-3 draw at the Etihad brought attacking football from both sides
Trent Alexander-Arnold’s late winner for Liverpool fired the Reds into second in the league
Unai Emery’s Aston Villa stay in fourth despite drawing 2-2 with Bournemouth at the weekend
Arsenal: (FINISH: 2ND)
Arsenal are top, as it stands, heading into Christmas.
Mikel Arteta’s men are fast starters, just like last season. Plus, they have been impressive on the whole and certainly in contention for the title. Arguably, they are Manchester City’s biggest threat.
Being top by January doesn’t mean too much in terms of the title – they are four points worse off than this time last season where they were eventually tripped up by City.
What could well be the defining factor is the January transfer window.
If the Gunners buy a centre forward capable who fits the ’20-goal-a-season’ criteria, the odds start to swing their way.
Arsenal head into the busy festive period at the top of the Premier League after Saturday’s win
Liverpool: (FINISH: 3RD)
An exciting team to watch thus far. On their day, the Reds are some handful and have a real fighting spirit.
This could be seen on Sunday as they clawed Fulham back to win 4-3. Their 1-1 draw with City less than two week ago also reflected the quality they possess.
However, it does feel that, as a team, the Reds are still developing.
They began the rebuild from very little in the last campaign. To get to where they are now is impressive in its own right.
I think they…