Premier League New Year’s Edition: Liverpool Dominates Hammers; Gunners Swat Bees; Chelsea Swoon Continues; Nottingham Forest Wins Fifth Straight; Manchester City Ends Winless Run; Manchester United Sinks Towards Relegation; Wolves Claw Back At Spurs

Liverpool asserted its quality in dramatic fashion by smashing West Ham 5-0 at Anfield. Mohamed Salah notched a goal and two assists as his magical season continues. The Egyptian wonder has now recorded at least one goal and at least one assist in eight Premier League matches this season. No player had done that more than seven times in an entire season before Salah who leads the Premier League in both goals (17) and assists (13). The Reds won for the 14th time this season and lead Arsenal by six points in the Premier League standings with Liverpool having a game in hand. Woeful West Ham failed to record a single shot on target against the table leaders.

Arsenal then fired back on New Years Day with a 3-1 triumph at Brentford, handing the Bees their second consecutive home loss. After falling behind on Bryan Mbeumo’s 11th goal of the season, Arsenal’s comeback began with a goal from Gabriel Jesus, his sixth scoring strike in the Gunners last four matches. The former Manchester City forward has caught fire at an opportune time for the Gunners as they battle to overcome the extended injury absence of Bukayo Saka. Jesus’ equalizer was followed by second half goals from Mikel Merino and Gabriel Martinelli. The script was familiar for a Brentford side which has dropped more points after scoring first than any Premier League side since the beginning of last season.

Nottingham Forest is now third in the Premier league table after the Tricky Trees won their fifth consecutive league match in a 2-0 win at Everton while Chelsea dropped points for a third consecutive outing in an alarming 2-0 loss at relegation battler Ipswich Town. Everton had not allowed a goal in its three previous home matches before conceding to Nottingham Forest’s Chris Wood and Morgan Gibbs-White. Wood’s 15th minute ice breaker was his 11th goal of the season, and the New Zealander would then go on to assist on Gibbs-White’s second half insurance goal. Forest recorded a clean sheet for a third consecutive match.

A picture perfect Morgan Gibbs-White goal to send @NFFC up to second 🖼️ pic.twitter.com/DQNxoQwCYD

— Premier League (@premierleague) January 1, 2025

Chelsea has scored but one goal over what is now a three-match winless run after the Blues’ shocking loss at Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys prevailed for just the third time this season and recorded their first victory at home. The three points could prove critical for Ipswich Town’s survival chances amid a congested bottom of the table which sees the two clubs below and above the relegation line separated by no more than three points.

Southampton would seem the only club whose destiny is certain as the Saints remain on six points, 10 points from safety, after a 2-1 loss at Crystal Palace.

Manchester United, meanwhile, could soon join the relegation discussion after the Red Devils fell for the fifth time in their last six Premier League matches in a 2-0 loss to Newcastle. The loss at Old Trafford on Monday marked the first time that Manchester United had lost three straight matches at the historic venue in 45 years. Manchester United suffered five league losses in December as shell-shocked manager Reuben Amorim became the club’s first manager to lose five of his first eight matches in charge in more than 100 years. Newcastle is just three points outside a top four berth after a fourth consecutive win which saw Alexander Isak find the net for a sixth consecutive match. The Swedish forward now has 12 goals on the season. Four clubs are within two points of the Magpies with Manchester City just a point behind Newcastle in sixth position after the defending champions ended a four-match winless league run with a 2-0 victory at Leicester.

Savinho had a goal and an assist for Manager Pep Guardiola’s beleaguered title defenders and Erling Haaland scored his 14th goal of the season in a match which marked Guardiola’s 500th match in charge. The Citizens won for the first time in their last 14 tries across all competitions.

The next five teams, after Manchester City, were all involved in draws. Bournemouth drew at Fulham and Aston Villa drew at Brighton in pairings that pitted clubs no more than two points distant from each other and did little to differentiate the sides.

Tottenham Hotspur, however, shared the points with Wolverhampton in a match at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium which highlighted both the current struggles of Spurs and the rising tide which is Wolves under new Manager Vitor Pereira. Tottenham Hotspur’s only Premier League win in its last seven matches is over lowly Southampton and the north London side finished 2024 outside the league’s top seven for the first time since the 2008/09 season. Wolverhampton, meanwhile, has climbed out of the relegation zone and is unbeaten in three matches under its new manager after an 87th minute goal by substitute striker Jorgen Strand Larsen provided the equalizer on Sunday.