Chelsea are top at Christmas, and will stay top of the Premier League tree, gutless Arsenal cannot stomach the fight… and Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan is not dead: 11 things we learnt this weekend
Blues secured an ELEVENTH straight win with victory at Crystal Palace... as Antonio Conte's boys look set for a very happy New Year
ANTONIO CONTE'S Chelsea will be sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League tree on Christmas Day.
And after securing an ELEVENTH straight win with a hard-fought victory at Crystal Palace on Saturday, they might be in for a very happy New Year too.
The relentless Blues are now seven points clear of second-placed Manchester City - after Pep Guardiola's boys left Arsenal's title dreams in tatters at the Etihad on Saturday.
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And only Liverpool can shorten the gap with a Merseyside derby win on Monday night.
Elsewhere, Manchester United beat West Brom, Leicester pinched a draw at Stoke and West Ham edged out Hull - with more than a little help from the woodwork -
Southampton won the El Clasi-coast at Bournemouth, Spurs came from behind to beat Burnley, Sunderland stung Watford and Middlesbrough smashed Swansea.
But what can we take from all the madness? Here are the 11 things we learnt this weekend...
1) No Christmas blues for Conte
YOU might not believe this, but Chelsea lost 3-0 to Arsenal in September.
The week before that, they lost 2-1 to Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. They even drew with Swansea.
But then Antonio Conte worked his magic.
The Italian boss has dragged the Blues out of last season’s shock slump, got Eden Hazard firing and reminded us that (when it suits him) Diego Costa is the most effective striker in the Premier League.
An eleventh win in a row, 1-0 at Palace, means Chelsea will be at least SIX points clear on Christmas Day.
They have gone on to win the title every time they have been top when entering the festive period.
And nobody is going to stop them this year either.
2) Gutless Gunners can't stomach the fight
ARSENAL’S soft under-belly has been well and truly exposed.
And, worryingly, two of three months EARLIER than their customary spring-time capitulation.
The gutless Gunners’ capitulation against striker-less Manchester City was the second time in a week they had thrown away a 1-0 lead.
Their star names went AWOL at the Etihad – with Mesut Ozil, once again, the biggest culprit.
Arsene Wenger’s side are now NINE points behind leaders Chelsea, and it’s not even Christmas.
This is not going to be their year. Not that you ever really believed it would be.
3) Goal-run is vintage Zlatan
WE all thought Zlatan Ibrahimovic was too old to cut in the Premier League when he scored just once in 11 games earlier this season.
But how wrong we were.
Zlatan’s match-winning brace against in-form West Brom on Saturday made it an incredible TEN goals in nine games for the super Swede.
He later claimed: “The older I get, the better I get — like red wine!”
And who are we to argue?
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4) Foxes fight back?
TWO-NIL down, and reduced to ten men, it looked like another miserable away day for the Premier League’s fading champions.
But Leicester are finally starting to show the sort of fight that helped them shock the football world last season.
The fairytale has come to an abrupt halt this campaign with the Foxes’ shocking away form leaving them much closer to the bottom than the top of the Prem ladder.
But goals from Leonardo Ulloa and Daniel Almartey in the final 15 minutes helped Claudio Ranieri’s side earn a creditable point at Stoke.
And showed us that maybe, just maybe, Leicester are not a one-season wonder after all.
5) Diego's in the Christmas spirit
DIEGO COSTA has been a reformed man in recent weeks.
The hothead Chelsea striker has been the key man in Antonio Conte's Stamford Bridge revolution - netting thirteen times to lead the Blues to the top of the Premier League.
He had even gone an impressive 84 days - the entirety of Chelsea's 11-game winning run - without picking up a yellow card.
That was until a lazy flick at Joe Ledley's legs in the last game before the Blues' Boxing Day clash with Bournemouth.
A fifth booking of the season means the Spain star is suspended for the festive fixture.
Enjoy your turkey, Diego.
6) No money? No problems
DAVID MOYES promised he is not going to walk away from his mammoth challenge at the Stadium of Light.
And his players have showed they’re not going to go down without a fight either.
Ellis Short spun a yarn when he convinced the Scot to join Sunderland in the summer.
Moyes admitted he was “disappointed” to be told he will not be given any money to spend this January.
Sunderland’s squad is certainly in need of a revamp – and has been for some time now.
But, after FOUR wins in their last seven league games, maybe this bunch can pull off yet another unlikely escape.
7) Forgotten man's timely reminder
JAY RODRIGUEZ is the forgotten man of English football.
The Southampton striker was on the cusp of a place in the World Cup squad in 2014 when his dreams were cruelly dashed by a cruciate knee ligament injury.
After spending a full season on the sidelines, it looked like the once-capped frontman would never recapture the same sparkling form.
But Charlie Austin’s injury has handed Rodriguez a career lifeline – and boy has he taken it.
A stunning double in the 3-1 win over South Coast rivals Bournemouth gave us a timely reminder on the 27-year-old’s quality.
And with England’s strikers looking anything but prolific in the Prem this season, you can bet Gareth Southgate is paying attention.
8) Vard price to pay
REFEREE Craig Pawson was slammed for his decision not to send off Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo for a two-footed lunge on Wednesday.
And Jamie Vardy looks to have paid the price three days later.
Only Pawson knows why he deemed that the Leicester star’s lunge on Mame Biram Diouf was worthy of a straight red, when Rojo’s wasn’t.
But it would be no surprise if Vardy decides to appeal the decision.
Two wrongs don’t make a red.
9) Hull hit post, Hammer must hit sales
WEST HAM’S goal lived a charmed life this weekend.
Hull incredibly hit the Hammers’ publicly-funded woodwork THREE times during their 1-0 defeat at the London Stadium on Saturday.
And it did not go unnoticed by home fans who overwhelmingly voted the post as their man-of-the-match after the game.
But the Hammers’ form is no laughing matter.
Narrow home wins over a pair of promoted sides last week – each via a Mark Noble penalty – have only papered over the cracks.
Slaven Bilic’s scattergun approach in the summer transfer policy has left his side dangerously short of goals.
And the Croatian needs to sort it out in January if he wants to avoid a relegation fight.
10) Bob's Swan-song?
SWANSEA’S travelling fans serenaded Bob Bradley with chants of “you’re getting sacked in the morning” during their latest away drubbing.
The Welsh club were embarrassed 3-0 at the Riverside on Saturday. And wasteful Middlesbrough could have had half a dozen more.
The Swans’ new American owners must have known it was a risk to appoint their countryman as Francesco Guidolin’s successor in October.
And, after six defeats and just two wins in his first 10 games, it already looks to have backfired.
Bradley insists he is not going to quit. And any manager deserves more than just 11 weeks to implement his ideas.
But, with Swansea only off the bottom of the table on goal difference, the clock is ticking.
11) Ilkay Gundogan is NOT dead
WHEN Manchester City's players walked onto the Etihad pitch for their clash with Arsenal decked in Ilkay Gungoan tribute shirts, the footballing world feared the worst.
Fans flooded Twitter to question whether the crocked midfielder had kicked the bucket.
Fortunately, it emerged Pep Guardiola's side were simply showing their support for Gundogan after he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee ligament injury.
The German later confirmed his well-being with a Tweet reading: “PS: Don’t worry – I’m still alive.”
Rest easy City fans.