We have the main takeaways and betting pointers from the latest Premier League action, featuring Aston Villa's impressive day and how Leicester and Manchester United did Liverpool a favour.
A good day for Liverpool
Liverpool didn't even play, and yet it was an excellent Boxing Day for the reigning champions.
The 12.30 kick-off between so-called title contenders looked a classic case of neither Leicester City or Manchester United wanting to lose.
The midfield was packed and both sides wanted to counter-punch. Leicester were forced to dominate possession but couldn't fashion many clearcut chances as United dropped deep, while the visitors only looked dangerous on the break and should have won the game after Marcus Rashford missed great opportunities in each half and Anthony Martial had a goal chalked off for a very close, but correct, VAR offside call.
Then it got even better for Jurgen Klopp, as Chelsea were ripped apart by relegation threatened Arsenal in the 17.30 game.
It now means Liverpool will move six points ahead of Brendan Rodgers's side, seven away from United and nine beyond Chelsea should they, as expected, beat second-bottom West Brom on Sunday.
Just one note here, once that game is done, Ole Gunnar Solskjær's outfit will have a game in hand.
Are Leicester better this season?
Leicester seem to be finally cracking the top six. I don't mean in terms of final league standings, after all the Foxes finished fifth last season and famously won the title in 2016, but in terms of being more competitive against their closest rivals.
The Boxing Day draw with Manchester United meant they've only been beaten once in their five matches against the 'Big Six' and that came against champions Liverpool.
They have thrashed Manchester City, and seen off both Arsenal (I'm still just counting them as 'Big Six') and Tottenham.
That's 10 points from five contests, with Chelsea next month the last of the six still to come. Last season, Brendan Rodgers's side managed just nine points from their 12 matches against those same opponents.
All those negative performances and results against their nearest, if not dearest, ultimately cost them as a 2020 collapsed culminated in Manchester United pipping them to a top-four finish on the final day.
This time around, should their upward trend against these opponents continue, those extra points might just be the difference between Europa League and Champions League in 2021/22.
It is a view shared by the Foxes boss, with Rodgers saying after the United draw: "We had some real authority in the game. It shows we are developing and able to compete at the highest level.
“When you play against huge clubs, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, they have that personality but we played with personality and authority in the game. We’re nowhere near in terms of budget but from a football perspective we were competitive."
Sunday previews and tips
Villa finally enjoy home comforts
Just 1-0 up and down to 10 men for an entire second-half, against a side that had won five out of six away. You'd forgive even the most positive Aston Villa fan for expecting a 45 minutes to forget.
After all, Dean Smith's side had only managed two league victories at Villa Park this season, failing to win any of their last four and losing three of those. Ironically, they'd not won at home since hammering Liverpool 7-2.
So to not to just hold on, but win 3-0 feels like a potential watershed moment; it's back-to-back 3-0 wins, and four consecutive clean sheets to boot.
That record sees them firmly in the top-six shake-up with 25 points after 13 matches. Last term it took until January 21 - 24 games in - to hit that mark.
That day it was a home win over Watford that saw the two clubs swap places, with Villa jumping out of the relegation zone at the time. 11 months on, such fears are a welcome distant memory.
Not such a pleasing Palace picture
Roy Hodgson will have expected a response from his Crystal Palace side following their 7-0 hiding by Liverpool. Conceding another three to an Aston Villa team who were a man light for 45 minutes was definitely not the response the former England manager had in mind.
Ten goals conceded in two matches, no wins in four, one victory in seven.
To say they need a win and need it soon is an understatement. Leicester, only defeated away from home by Liverpool this term and boasting their best ever away Premier League start, are next at Selhurst Park. Gulp.
Sheffield United at home on January 2 is probably more realistic right now, but then again this is the 2020/21 Premier League. They could easily beat Leicester and lose to the Blades.
Back unders with Fulham
It really seems a case of can't score, won't score for Fulham, whose last four results read 0-0; 1-1; 0-0; 1-1. It shows how quickly Scott Parker has toughened his side up and his players must take credit for learning so quickly and becoming so resolute after such a shaky start.
Defensively they are solid now. Remember they kept Liverpool to one - a penalty - Manchester City to just two, and silenced Jamie Vardy in their shock 2-1 victory at the King Power.
But they just cannot score. That's not a revelation for newly-promoted teams, even for one that had just a one-season hiatus in the Sky Bet Championship.
The fact that Craven Cottage didn't see a 0-0 Premier League result in nine years and now two have come along in a row tells the story.
In their Boxing Day draw with Southampton they carved the visitors apart on numerous occasions and dominated the shots stats. But time and again were let down by air shots, hesitation, taking the wrong option or just plain bad finishing.
Parker was watching from home due to Covid-19 protocols and must have found himself sounding like a fan at points just screaming at his TV 'shoot!'.
Infogol's excellent xG model has the Londoners with an Expected Goals (xG) per game figure of just 1.3 but, even worse than that, their actual ratio is just 0.9 per match.
Next up are Tottenham who, before Boxing Day, had only seen more than two goals in one of their last seven Premier League contests. Then it's Burnley, whose recent results have been equally measly on goals, at 2-1; 0-0; 1-0 and 1-1.
Impressive tackles on display at Craven Cottage
A bit of Christmas fun innuendo there for you, but it is actually true. We saw two players hit double figures at Craven Cottage.
Southampton's Kyle Walker-Peters topped the charts with 11, with Fulham's Andre Zambo Anguissa one behind and Ryan Bertrand making eight.
There were 68 tackles in total! For comparison, in Villa's 3-0 over Palace there were just 30.
Ralph Hasenhüttl's Southampton really do like a tackle.
Their 34-24 'win' over Fulham means the Cottagers join both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Sheffield United and Wolves of late in being out-tackled. Only Brighton have got the better of them in the run up to Christmas.
Follow Sporting Life on social - find us on Facebook here or tweet @SportingLifeFC
Related football content
- Sunday's Premier League tips
- Super Sunday tips: Liverpool v West Brom
- Sporting Life Best Bets for 2021
- Antepost Angle: FA Cup
- Latest football previews and tips
- Sporting Life's iOS & Android Apps
Responsible gambling
We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.
Further support and information can be found at GamCare and gamblingtherapy.org.
