Arsenal Hold Liverpool To Seal Premier League Top Spot At Christmas, Manchester United Misery Mounts

Arsenal will spend Christmas Day on top of the Premier League after they held title rivals Liverpool to a pulsating 1-1 draw at Anfield on Saturday, while Manchester United crashed to a dismal 2-0 defeat at West Ham that piled pressure on Erik ten Hag. Mikel Arteta's Arsenal took an early lead through Gabriel Magalhaes, but Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level before the interval. A draw was arguably the right result after both sides flexed their muscles to show why they have emerged as the leading contenders to win the title. Chasing a first title since 2004, Arsenal sit one point clear of second placed Liverpool heading into the festive period. The team that has topped the Premier League at Christmas has gone on to win the title in six of the past 10 seasons, but the draw on Merseyside was also a boost to the chasing pack.

Third placed Aston Villa are level on points with Liverpool, fourth placed Tottenham are three points further back, while champions Manchester City are six points adrift of the leaders with a game in hand.

"An unbelievable game of football, one of the most intense I've witnessed in 20 years in this league. For many moments we were on top, in the last 20 minutes we wanted it more, but a draw is a fair result," Arteta said.

"I'm happy to be where we are. Tomorrow we have a beautiful dinner with our families, then back to work."

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp added: "Arsenal are really exceptional but for those 20 minutes we had them, we shattered them slightly.

"We felt that they were shaky and we should have used that."

At the London Stadium, Ten Hag's United side were blown away by late West Ham strikes from Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus, condemning the visitors to an eighth Premier League loss