Arsenal cemented their title hopes by going top of the table at the turn of the New Year with a comfortable 2-0 win at home to Bournemouth, bouncing back from their dismal 4-0 away defeat at Southampton on Boxing Day.
The gunners needed to bounce back and they did, confirming their chances of lifting the Premiership with teams around them slipping up each week. Bournemouth are not safe but have given themselves a 4 point gap above the relegation zone after some recent impressive results!
Leicester City however could go top but face a tricky trip to Manchester City midweek. Leicester finally were stopped by Liverpool, who won 1-0 at home to halt Leicester's impressive 2015 form. Leicester will now have a tough job of holding onto their impressive stars as they look to cement a top half finish this year.
Liverpool in contrast are still mid table and are close to the European places as a handful of teams occupy the cluttered mid table positions. Klopp hasn't had it all his own way since joining the Merseysiders but will now face a tough January period to try to break into the European places.
Manchester United have continued their woeful form with a 0-2 loss to Stoke on Boxing day followed by a 0-0 home draw to Chelsea to pile on the pressure for the outspoken Van Gal. United are now dangerously outside the Champions League places. Their form of late is a concern for the fans who can't see a way to get consistently good results and many now doubt whether they can make Champions League cut.
Boxing Day saw some fantastic matches, as Chelsea & Watford played out an entertaining 2-2 draw whilst Spurs dispatched Norwich 3-0 at the Lane. Everton had a hard fought 1-0 win at Newcastle while Villa and West Ham played out a 1-1 draw. Manchester City maintained their good form with a 4-1 thumping of second last Sunderland in Manchester whereas Bournemouth and Crystal Palace both took a share of the spoils in the South East.
Monday's midweek round was tough as all teams had to back up from Boxing Day. Stoke and Everton played out a blockbuster at Goodison Park, with Stoke winning 4-3 to go above Everton in the ladder. Norwich dispatched of Villa 2-0 to leave Villa stranded at the foot of the table whilst Palace played out another scoreless draw, this time at home to struggling Swansea. West Brom defeated Newcastle 1-0 in the midlands and Spurs won again to go third on the table away over the impressive Watford.
Arsenal | 19 | 39 |
Leicester | 18 | 38 |
Tottenham | 19 | 35 |
Man City | 18 | 35 |
Crystal Palace | 19 | 31 |
Man Utd | 19 | 30 |
West Ham | 19 | 29 |
Watford | 19 | 29 |
Stoke | 19 | 29 |
Liverpool | 18 | 27 |
Everton | 19 | 26 |
Southampton | 19 | 24 |
West Brom | 19 | 23 |
Chelsea | 19 | 20 |
Norwich | 19 | 20 |
Bournemouth | 19 | 20 |
Swansea | 19 | 19 |
Newcastle | 19 | 17 |
Sunderland | 18 | 12 |
Aston Villa | 19 | 8 |
Wesley Tronson is a bank manager in Brisbane CBD and lived in England for seven years to 2010 in banking and soccer.
Wesley Tronson's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/wesley-tronson.html