Arsenal respond to Man City challenge with narrow win, Villa remain in title race

LONDON, Dec 27 : Manchester City threw down ‌the gauntlet for the second successive weekend and Arsenal proved undaunted as they kicked off their festive fixtures with a narrow 2-1 defeat of Brighton & Hove Albion to stay as Premier League leaders on Saturday.

City won 2-1 at Nottingham Forest with Rayan Cherki grabbing a goal and an assist to briefly move top of the pile.

But Arsenal, just as they had done last week by beating Everton after City's earlier win over West Ham United, were unwavering as captain Martin Odegaard scored his first goal of the season for Mikel Arteta's side.

Arsenal also needed an own goal and a spectacular save by keeper David Raya to preserve their lead as the halfway point in the Premier League season looms.

The London side have 42 points from 18 games with City on 40.

Aston Villa remain in the thick of the title race in third with 39 points thanks to Ollie Watkins' double in a 2-1 comeback win over Chelsea. Villa ‌equalled their all-time club record of 11 consecutive wins across all competitions. 

Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 2-1 ‌on an emotional Anfield afternoon when both sets of fans remembered the late Diogo Jota who died in a car crash in July.

Wirtz doubled Liverpool's lead shortly after Ryan Gravenberch had put them in front although Wolves rallied in the second half and Santiago Bueno pulled a goal back.

Reigning champions Liverpool moved fourth on 32 points while the misery for bottom club Wolves goes on.

They have now broken the Premier League record for winless starts to a season and have two points from 18 games and are 16 points behind fourth-from-bottom Nottingham Forest.

"We're trying," Wolves boss Rob Edwards said. "The players are