The Wrap: What happened in Matchweek 17

For a few hours on Saturday afternoon, the Premier League briefly had new leaders after Manchester City’s victory over West Ham United. But Arsenal promptly edged past Everton later that evening and normal service at the top was resumed. 

Victory for Aston Villa over Manchester United, and a draw for Chelsea at Newcastle United, meant the top four remained the same as at the start of the weekend. Liverpool extended their unbeaten league run to five games by seeing off Tottenham Hotspur to move within goal difference of Chelsea in fourth. 

At the other end of the table, Leeds United’s victory over Crystal Palace widened the gap to safety for the bottom three, who are all now at least five points adrift. 

Here is everything you need to know about Matchweek 17.

When the players headed for a half-time break in the weekend-opening fixture, thoughts of Chelsea taking anything from it seemed fanciful. 

In an utterly dominant opening half that saw them lead 2-0 thanks to an early Nick Woltemade double, Newcastle had five shots on target to Chelsea’s none, six big chances to none, and 1.97 Expected Goals (xG) to Chelsea’s 0.24. 

Yet by the end, Chelsea might have wondered how they did not take all three points. With goals from Reece James and Joao Pedro, the visitors’ second-half dominance was evident in their four shots on target to Newcastle’s none, and on xG of 1.02 to 0.29. What is it they say about football being a game of two halves? 

It means Newcastle have now dropped a league-high 13 points from winning positions this season. 

“It’s difficult because we played so well,” said their head coach Eddie Howe. “It was an outstanding performance, especially in the first half. It was a reminder of how good we can be. It’s further evidence that we’re improving.  

“Dropping two points is painful, but this was further evidence that we’re moving in the right direction.” 

It was not pretty – and they rode their luck considerably – but Burnley finally ended their seven-game winless run with a dramatic late point at AFC Bournemouth. 

The visitors were second-best throughout, not managing a single shot until the 86th minute, ending the game with four attempts to Bournemouth’s 16, and an xG of just 0.38 to the Cherries’ 1.71. But all that mattered was Armando Broja’s 90th-minute header that prevented another loss. It was Broja’s first Premier League goal in 810 days, ending a run of 39 appearances without scoring. 

Watch: Broja's late equaliser v Bournemouth

“There is no denying there was massive pressure on us down to the run we had been on,” said Burnley boss Scott Parker. “We needed to stop that, really, so a massive result for us.” 

It was a tough result to stomach for a Bournemouth side who remain winless in eight Premier League games. The hosts were dominant, Antoine Semenyo serving as the driving force for countless attacks before scoring their goal midway through the second half. 

“Antoine is massive for us,” Andoni Iraola said of Semenyo, who has been linked with a January move to a number of big Premier League clubs. “I think he’s our top scorer and assister, and with his physicality, he helps us a lot. I hope he continues in the same way because he is playing well.” 

No team have been as affected by players departing for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) as Sunderland, but the surprise package of this Premier League season showed they can survive without their missing quintet of stars with a battling draw on the south coast. 

Noah Sadiki, Chemsdine Talbi, Reinildo Mandava, Bertrand Traore and Arthur Masuaku are all on international duty for the next few weeks, but Sunderland remained resolute in securing their sixth clean sheet – as many as they managed in their whole last top-flight campaign in 2016/17. 

“The players who didn’t play before will need time to step up, but they showed they are ready to go,” said Regis Le Bris. “We have to ride the wave.” 

Brighton were only two points off third heading into December, but they have now not won in four games. 

Injuries forced Fabian Hurzeler into a number of changes, with his starting XI the youngest in the Premier League this season. Their average age was 23 years and 240 days. 

For a brief period on Saturday afternoon – until Arsenal’s victory at Everton later in the day – City sat top of the Premier League for the first time since September. 

Pep Guardiola’s side have won seven games in all competitions, and this was their fifth successive league win during that time. Incredibly, they have scored at least three times in all five of those triumphs, while keeping clean sheets in the last three. 

Yet while his side continue to apply pressure to Arsenal, Guardiola’s demands do not lessen. “Some moments, some things really good, other things no,” he said. “But that’s nice, we have margin to improve. Defensively so good in many aspects, aggression. But with the ball we are still away from what we have to do.” 

As is so often the case, Erling Haaland led the goalscoring way. The Norwegian’s double took his Premier League tally this season to 19 – the joint-most by a player before Christmas, alongside Andrew Cole (1993/94), Kevin Phillips (1999/00) and Luis Suarez (2013/14). 

City have not lost any of their last 20 league games against West Ham, who remain in the relegation zone, winless in their last six matches. 

The unwanted landmarks keep on coming for Wolverhampton Wanderers. After 17 matches of a season, no team in the entire history of English league football have ever sat on fewer points than Wolves’ current two. 

This defeat was their 10th in a row, making them only the fourth side in the Premier League ever to reach double figures for successive losses, alongside Villa in 2016 (11), Norwich City in 2021 (16) and Sunderland in 2005 (20). Rob Edwards’ side are already 16 points from safety. 

“We can’t give up,” said Edwards. “We have to keep believing and hope that things will turn. Let’s see, moving forward, how that goes. I’m well up for the challenge.” 

It was a game that struggled to come to life. The three first-half shots – two from Wolves and one from Brentford – were the fewest in the opening 45 minutes of any Premier League match for five years. 

Keane Lewis-Potter then scored twice after the break, while Jorgen Strand Larsen saw his penalty saved by Caoimhin Kelleher. The Brentford goalkeeper has stopped three of the five penalties that he has faced in the Premier League, with his 60 per cent save rate the highest of any goalkeeper to have faced five or more penalties in the competition. 

A bizarre conclusion to a chaotic game saw Liverpool clinging on for victory against the nine men of Spurs. 

“I thought against nine we would be able to keep them away from goal,” said Liverpool boss Arne Slot. “But it looked like we were down to nine and they had 11.” 

The hosts saw their first player dismissed after just 33 minutes, when Xavi Simons’ yellow card for a challenge on Virgil van Dijk was upgraded to red after a review by the Video Assistant Referee. 

Liverpool made their numerical advantage tell through goals from Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, but Spurs hit back late on through Richarlison. Cristian Romero was then shown a second yellow card in stoppage time. 

It means Spurs have lost an outright club-record 11 home league games in 2025, but their head coach Thomas Frank insisted: “I’m extremely proud of the players and the team. I think they gave everything, showed unbelievable mentality and worked very hard on how to deal with setbacks.” 

Of considerable concern for Liverpool was an injury suffered by Isak when tackled by Micky van de Ven in the process of scoring the opening goal. The striker had only been on the pitch for 11 minutes after coming on at half-time, but was swiftly forced off and reports suggest a fracture of the lower leg. 

Arsenal are Christmas No 1. Victory here saw them return to the summit after Man City’s earlier win, to make it a fifth Christmas Day as Premier League leaders (after 2002/03, 2007/08, 2022/23 and 2023/24). Ominously, they have failed to win the title on any of those occasions. 

Mikel Arteta’s side were not at their best in a game that saw only three shots on target between both teams. But they triumphed courtesy of a Viktor Gyokeres penalty after Jake O’Brien had handled Declan Rice’s 27th-minute corner. Since the start of the 2023/24 season, Gyokeres has converted all 19 league penalties he has taken for Sporting and Arsenal. 

Leandro Trossard and Martin Zubimendi both hit the woodwork in the second half for Arsenal, who have now won all 19 games in which they have scored first this season across all competitions. 

“It gives me belief and confidence, the level of performance and the consistency of that,” said Arteta. “It is very difficult to do that in this league. We are going to have to go to difficult places but we have to enjoy the process of winning.” 

The Dominic Calvert-Lewin show keeps on going. With a first-half double here, the Leeds striker became the club’s first player to score in five successive Premier League appearances since Mark Viduka in August 2003. 

After starting his Leeds career with just one goal in 13 prior to the current run, it is a remarkable upturn in form for a player who last represented his country in 2021, but may well now be dreaming of an international recall. With seven goals, he is now the highest-scoring English player in the Premier League alongside Phil Foden, Danny Welbeck and Morgan Rogers. 

“The numbers don’t lie, he’s in red-hot form at the moment,” said his manager Daniel Farke. “One of the best English strikers in this league. He has proved it before, whenever he was fit, he has shown his quality. Right now he’s on a path to be a top, top-class player for Leeds United.” 

Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach also scored for the hosts, with all four Leeds goals coming from set-pieces (two throw-ins, one corner and one free-kick). Leeds are now unbeaten in their last four Premier League games. 

Watch Stach's superb free-kick 

Despite fielding an entirely different starting XI to their UEFA Conference League game on Thursday, Palace have managed to win just one of their eight games after playing in Europe this season. 

Villa's title challenge shows no sign of abating. This win – powered by a second double by Rogers in as many matches – was Villa’s 10th successive victory across all competitions and a seventh in a row in the league. Not since 1914 have they reached double figures for consecutive wins as a top-flight team. 

As has become customary this campaign, they lost the xG head-to-head, finishing with 1.02 to Manchester United’s 1.31. But goals from Rogers either side of half-time were sufficient to render Matheus Cunha’s equaliser redundant. 

Only once before, in 2023/24, have Villa had more points on Christmas Day than their current 36. 

United, meanwhile, have kept just one clean sheet in the Premier League this season – their joint-fewest after 17 games of a top-flight campaign. 

They will also now be without talismanic captain Bruno Fernandes, who departed at half-time with a muscle injury that will likely mean several games on the sidelines. Now in his seventh season at United, he has previously only missed two games through injury and one through illness. 

“I think it’s soft tissue so it’s going to be a while,” said his boss Ruben Amorim. 

Fulham continued their recent good from, claiming a fourth win in their last six Premier League games to move up to 13th and 10 points clear of the relegation zone with this narrow victory over Nottingham Forest.

Once referee Anthony Taylor pointed to the spot for Forest midfielder Douglas Luiz's foul on Fulham winger Kevin at the end of the first half, the opening goal was in no doubt. Fulham striker Raul Jimenez had converted his previous 10 Premier League penalties and duly dispatched his 11th to equal Yaya Toure's 100 per cent record.

Watch: All ELEVEN of Raul Jimenez's penalties

Forest's threat on the road is something manager Sean Dyche needs to address. They have failed to score in four of their last six away Premier League games and in five of their last eight.