Football writer Alex Keble highlights the hot topics and tactical lessons from Matchweek 19, including:
- Onana's injury helps Arsenal pull away as Gunners send powerful message
- Maresca's final Chelsea match was his tenure in a nutshell
- Amorim's surprising tactical choices put him back under the spotlight
- Substituting Wilson swung the game, and it could be a big moment for Nuno
- Newcastle have Burnley to thank for an optimistic outlook for 2026
- Man City's winning run is halted at the perfect time for Arsenal
- Palace's winless run could get worse before it gets better
- Brentford's European credentials must be taken seriously
- Liverpool's toothless attack is a worrying sign for Arne Slot
- Everton's attacking fluency returns at a crucial moment
Onana's injury helps Arsenal pull away as Gunners send powerful message
History won’t remember that an even first half at the Emirates Stadium ended with Aston Villa as the happier of the two teams at the break, or that Amadou Onana's withdrawal was the reason for their midfield collapsing in the second half, as our analysis detailed.
What matters is the way Arsenal accelerated away in that second period, thumping Villa to potentially end their long shot at a title challenge and, more importantly, show everybody that this is a newly confident Gunners.
"Confident" probably doesn’t go far enough. This was a swaggering, arrogant, egotistical performance, and that is meant as a compliment.
Arsenal played like they believe – like they know – they are title ready, cutting through a supposed rival with ease in front of their own supporters.
As senior players return from injury, and as Arsenal ramp back up after a mini-wobble that proved so small to spot, they didn’t even lose, there is renewed energy to their title bid.
On Tuesday evening a powerful message was sent. This is not the brittle or anxious Arsenal of campaigns past. This is a team with the quality, depth and spirit to go the distance.
Maresca's final Chelsea match was his tenure in a nutshell
Enzo Maresca's departure on New Year’s Day came as a shock, with few realising Chelsea’s 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge would be his last match in the dugout.
If we’re looking for reasons why it went wrong for Maresca then, fittingly, his swansong neatly summed it up. Here was the entire tenure in microcosm; the best and the worst of Maresca's Chelsea.
Starting with the positives, Chelsea played some excellent attacking football in this game and looked like they would score every time they went forward, dominating possession and, as ever, looking tactically sophisticated when on the ball.
But the defensive issues were all-too familiar. Chelsea conceded twice from throw-ins on Tuesday, which is hardly a surprise considering they have conceded the joint-highest Expected Goals (xG) from set-pieces in the Premier League this season (10.00).
Both throw-ins involved some calamitous defending and there were a couple of errors that could have led to further Bournemouth goals, again in keeping with Maresca's time in charge: since his first game, Chelsea have made 41 errors leading to a shot and 18 leading to a goal, on both counts the third most in the division.
It doesn’t stop there. Chelsea took a 2-1 lead in this game but could not hold out; since Maresca was appointed, they rank fourth for most points lost from a winning position (30).
Finally, Maresca started a back four that have not played together in the Premier League this season.
It was his seventh different back-four combination of 2025/26, and for 11 of the 19 matches in the competition so far, Maresca has made two or more changes to the back four.
Young and inexperienced defenders making mistakes, too many changes at the back to create stability, difficulty defending set-pieces, and failure to hold onto a lead: it was Maresca's Chelsea in a nutshell.
Amorim’s surprising tactical choices put him back under the spotlight
“This isn't right,” was co-commentator Gary Neville’s analysis on Sky Sports, just 20 minutes into Tuesday's game at Old Trafford.
“I've watched enough of Manchester United over the last five or six weeks to know what looks right and what isn't right.”
Ruben Amorim had changed to a 4-2-3-1 formation for the 1-0 victory over Newcastle United at the weekend and yet despite its success, he surprised everyone by moving back to his usual 3-4-3 formation against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
The result was another confused, stilted, and underwhelming performance, or, to use Neville’s words: “That was the baddest of the bad, that.”
Man Utd just couldn’t move the ball quickly enough to break down the Wolves defensive shell, but perhaps most damningly they just didn’t have enough attackers on the pitch to put the visitors under pressure.
Amorim caused more furrowed brows in Old Trafford when he decided to substitute goalscorer Joshua Zirkzee for 18-year-old midfielder Jack Fletcher in the second half, and then for making only like-for-like substitutions in defensive positions after that.
Injuries and AFCON call-ups have made Amorim’s job significantly more difficult of late, but the Man Utd head coach's unusual decision-making is adding unnecessary pressure.
Substituting Wilson swung the game, and it could be a big moment for Nuno
The boos that greeted the 63rd-minute substitution of Callum Wilson for Crysencio Summerville spoke volumes.
West Ham United supporters want to see attacking football and there appears to be increasing frustration with Nuno Espirito Santo’s more pragmatic instincts.
Certainly on this occasion the supporters were proved right; West Ham created very little after Wilson was withdrawn.
Nuno reportedly wants to prioritise signing a striker in the January window to replace the departed Niclas Fullkrug, and although that is entirely reasonable, it remains surprising that Wilson is not given more game-time.
Wilson’s start on Tuesday evening was his first since 4 December, despite the 32-year-old scoring three goals in his previous four Premier League starts.
West Ham are now on an eight-match winless run as they go into two games against relegation rivals and former Nuno teams: Wolves and Nottingham Forest.
Whether it’s Wilson or a new arrival this month, Nuno desperately needs a No 9 to start scoring goals. There is no time to lose.
Newcastle have Burnley to thank for an optimistic outlook for 2026
Newcastle and Eddie Howe will happily wave goodbye to 2025 and use the New Year to wipe the slate clean.
UEFA Champions League qualification in May was a huge achievement but things haven’t gone right since then, and yet, remarkably, Newcastle are only seven points off Liverpool in fourth, meaning they begin 2026 with optimism for the year ahead.
For that they can thank Burnley.
Newcastle only won two of their six Premier League matches in the month of December and both were against Scott Parker’s side.
The first, a 2-1 victory, was aided by a goalkeeping error and Lucas Pires’ first-half red card, and the second was courtesy of some dreadful defending that allowed Newcastle to race into a 2-0 lead within seven minutes of kick-off.
Without those home and away wins over Burnley, Newcastle would be in the bottom half and feeling sorry for themselves.
Instead, they can pretty much forget about the first half of the 2025/26 Premier League season and look forward to another charge on the Champions League spots.
Man City’s winning run is halted at the perfect time for Arsenal
Although Manchester City’s Expected Goals (xG) of 2.36 tells us that Sunderland rode their luck at times, the hosts thoroughly deserved a point for a battling and stoic performance at the Stadium of Light.
Man City’s failure to convert any of their chances ended their six-game winning streak in the Premier League and completed a perfect midweek for Arsenal, who are now four points clear at the top of the league.
Timeline of the Expected Goals (xG) for Sunderland and Man City
To cap it off, fears that Arsenal had made a costly error in conceding late to draw 2-2 at the Stadium of Light are no more, not after their result was only matched by Pep Guardiola’s side.
As for Man City, the dropped points come at a bad time given the fixtures ahead of them. An air of invincibility would have been helpful before they host Chelsea and Brighton & Hove Albion, ahead of a derby trip to Old Trafford.
In the space of 24 hours, the title-race narrative has changed dramatically. Man City no longer look quite so ominous. Arsenal are very much back in the driving seat.
Palace’s winless run could get worse before it gets better
A flat and disappointing game at Selhurst Park ended Crystal Palace's three-game losing streak but the manner of the performance will have left their supporters, and head coach Oliver Glasner, all-too aware of the difficulties they face in 2026.
Palace look very tired, and indeed with injuries and a small squad it is no secret they have struggled to cope with UEFA Conference League football.
“It's not a lack of confidence, we can see the legs are getting fatigued, the mind is getting a little bit fatigued and we know this,” Glasner said after the game.
Unfortunately for Palace, their six-game winless run in all competitions could go on for a while yet.
Their next four games are Newcastle (A), Villa (H), Sunderland (A) and Chelsea (H); four matches against high-energy opponents who will look to capitalise on the exhaustion that is dragging Palace towards the bottom half.
Brentford’s European credentials must be taken seriously
Brentford’s season has been so good that a draw at home to Tottenham Hotspur might not even be perceived as a positive result by supporters.
They are fourth in the Premier League on home form alone, losing just one of their ten matches, and contrary to all expectations their form is only improving as the season progresses.
Keith Andrews’ side are undefeated in their last four matches, conceding just two goals in that time, and are now firmly in the top half of the table. Just two points separate Brentford from Sunderland in seventh, which is likely to be a European spot.
Brentford are nowhere near a relegation battle, nor are they even destined for a commendable mid-table finish. Ambitions of a place in Europe should be taken seriously.
Liverpool’s toothless attack is a worrying sign for Arne Slot
Liverpool simply have to win games like these. Leeds United manager Daniel Farke chose to rest several key players, including in-form Dominic Calvert-Lewin, almost as if he did not think his players could cope with the hectic schedule and did not expect a result at Anfield.
But he got one and it was fully deserved, the Leeds defence comfortably keeping at bay a Liverpool attack that, for the first time in a while, looked like it was missing Mohamed Salah.
Breaking down deep defences has been an issue for some time, however. Liverpool are on their longest winless run against newly promoted sides since April 2021, having drawn their last three meetings with that type of opponent.
An unusual round of Premier League matches, with no fewer than seven draws, means Liverpool have not lost ground on their rivals, but qualifying for the Champions League will be a struggle if this setback is a sign of things to come.
A trip to stubborn Fulham this weekend is a good test. With so many of Liverpool's attacking players out injured – Slot started a right-back and a central midfielder as his two wingers on Thursday – opposition boss Marco Silva will be quietly confident.
Everton’s attacking fluency returns at a crucial moment
Everton went 299 minutes without scoring a Premier League goal between their home game against Forest at the beginning of December and James Garner’s opener at the City Ground on Thursday.
The absences of Iliman Ndiaye, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jack Grealish had understandably limited Everton’s creative output until Garner stepped up in midweek, supported by Dwight McNeil, who got his first Premier League assist of the season with a smart through-ball.
Even better, Thierno Barry, who also scored in the reverse fixture, bagged his second goal for the club. Barry failed to score with any of his first 15 shots for Everton in the Premier League but has since scored with two of his last three.
The timing is perfect. Everton host Brentford and Wolves in their two matches, both winnable games that could – if the attack is firing – propel David Moyes’ side as high as fifth.