Liverpool solidified their position at the top of the table with a 7-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace in the latest round of Premier League fixtures, whilst Manchester United stated their case to be considered as challengers after dismantling Leeds at Old Trafford.
Elsewhere Aston Villa ensured Sam Allardyce’s reign at West Brom got off to the worst possible start, Arsenal’s faltering fortunes worsened at Everton and Leicester produced an impressive performance on the road to secure three points at Tottenham.
It’s that time of the week again where we bring you some interesting stats from the weekend’s action with the help of Opta data.
• 16 – David Moyes is without a win in any of his 16 Premier League visits to Stamford Bridge (D7 L9), the joint-highest tally of any manager never to win at a stadium in the competition, equalling his own record (16 games at Anfield).
• 2 – Tammy Abraham has scored his first brace for Chelsea across all competitions since September 2019 (hat-trick v Wolves), with just 101 seconds separating Abraham’s two finishes.
• 3 – Since the start of 2018-19, Wolves have failed to win any of their three Premier League away games against Burnley (D1 L2) – indeed, only against Liverpool at Anfield have they suffered more away defeats in the competition in this period (P3 L3).
• 2 – Burnley have scored twice in a Premier League game at Turf Moor for the first time since February (3 v Bournemouth), netting as many in this game as in their first five home games this season combined (2).
• 3 – Liverpool are the first side to sit top of the English top-flight table at Christmas in three consecutive years since the Reds themselves also did so from 1978-1980 under Bob Paisley.
• 22 – Aston Villa’s return of 22 points after 12 games is their best in the Premier League at this stage since the 2001-02 season, when they finished eighth (also 22 points).
• 6 – Jack Grealish has assisted his sixth Premier League goal in 12 games this season; he has never assisted more in a full league season in his professional career, matching his tally from both 2018-19 (in 31 apps) and 2019-20 (36 apps).
• 8 – West Brom is Sam Allardyce’s eighth different managerial role in the Premier League. Allardyce has only lost his first Premier League game in charge of a team on one occasion (W5 D1 L1), losing with Sunderland in October 2015 (0-1 v West Brom).
• 6 – This is the first time a club team managed by Marcelo Bielsa has conceded six goals in any competitive match since his Newell’s Old Boys side lost 0-6 to San Lorenzo in the Copa Libertadores in February 1992.
• 4 – This is the fourth Premier League game this season to see as many as five first-half goals (also Liverpool v Leeds, Aston Villa v Liverpool & Man Utd v Spurs); this only happened three times in the whole of 2019-20.
• 3 – Manchester United have gone 3-0 up within 20 minutes against Leeds, the earliest they have scored three times from the start of a Premier League game since August 2006 v Fulham (16 mins).
• 3 – Scott McTominay is the first player in Premier League history to score twice in the first three minutes of a match.
• 2 – Leicester City will be in the top two places of the top-flight at Christmas in consecutive seasons for the first time in their history.
• 2 – Tottenham have both conceded a penalty goal and an own goal in the same Premier League game for only the second time, and the first since March 2000 in a 2-1 defeat to Arsenal.
• 0 – Sheffield United are winless in their last 12 Premier League away games (D2 L10), losing each of the last eight in a row.