🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Liverpool rolls on with comeback win over Leicester City | OneFootball

The Premier League returned with a bang on Boxing Day with eight games to enjoy.

Liverpool remain on song in comeback win

Scorers: Gakpo 45+1', Jones 49', Salah 82'; Ayew 6'

Arne Slot's Liverpool can now boast a seven-point lead at the top of the Premier League table thanks to a 3-1 comeback win over faltering Leicester City.

An unexpected start on Merseyside saw the Foxes take an early lead thanks to André Ayew's close-range finish in the seventh minute, but Ruud van Nistelrooy's men were unable to build on any momentum before the Reds took control.

Mohamed Salah hit the bar in the closing minutes just before added time, only for Dutch international Cody Gakpo curled his effort into the top corner to level the scoreline at one-all.

Curtis Jones scored from close range with a deft touch to finally give Liverpool the lead in the 49th minute after Alexis Mac Allister's cut-back (his second assist of the night) found the England midfielder inside the six-yard box to set Slot's men on course of an eighth consecutive Boxing Day win.

Salah sealed all three points on the night with an inch-perfect finish less than eight minutes from full-time, ensuring that Liverpool pounced on Chelsea's misfortunes earlier today.

Pereira in dreamland as Wolves win again

Scorers: Cunha 58', Hwang 90+9'

Vítor Pereira will be jubilant at the sight of a consecutive three-point haul since his Premier League arrival as Wolves dispatched ten-man Manchester United by a 1-0 scoreline.

Matheus Cunha continued his brilliant 2024-25 league campaign with his tenth goal of the season to separate the two sides at the Molineux, while Ruben Amorim will no doubt be left frustrated after captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off.

Both sides maneuvered well in the opening 45 minutes but went into the interval level at nil-nil before the Portuguese star was sent off for a second yellow just after the restart.

Though Man Utd have worked incredibly hard to try to level the scoreline despite going down a man and a goal, Wolves were able to hold on to the full allotment of points on offer, climbing out of the bottom three in the process and sealing all three points with a final kick of the ball from Hee-chan Hwang's close-range finish.

With that, Pereira has become the first Wolves manager since Sammy Chung in August 1977 to win his first two top-flight matches in charge.

Chelsea defeated by Fulham

Scorers: Palmer 16'; Wilson 82', Muniz 90+5'

Fulham staged a late comeback to sink Chelsea at Stamford Bridge as Rodrigo Muniz came off the bench to seal three points for Marco Silva's side.

It was the visitors that dominated the ball in the early stages, the Blues took the lead after 17 minutes through talisman Cole Palmer.

Beating two Fulham challenges, the Englishman rolled the ball into the bottom corner from 20 yards out to put his side in front.

Despite their advantage, the two sides remained well matched heading into the half time interval, with Maresca's side unable to find that all important second goal.

Fulham continued to probe for an equaliser, with Marco Silva's side edging the shot count across the second half despite not having any real clear cut opportunities.

Finally though, their persistence was rewarded as substitute Harry Wilson tapped in at the back post after Timothy Castagne nodded the ball back across goal, bringing his side level in the process.

There was still time for both sides to find a winner, but Bernd Leno kept a point for his side with an excellent save to deny Jadon Sancho from close range.

That save proved crucial as, five minutes into added time, another substitute Rodrigo Muniz pounced to seal all three points for Fulham.

Tottenham lose to Nottingham Forest

Scorers: Elanga 28'

Nuno Espirito Santo got one over his former side at the City Ground as Anthony Elanga scored the only goal of the game to move his side up to third in the Premier League

It was an open start to the game as Heung Min-Son tested Matz Sels. but just before the half hour mark, Nottingham Forest took the lead as Morgan Gibbs-White produced an inch-perfect pass for Anthony Elanga, who poked past Fraser Forster to hand the hosts the lead.

Tottenham remained a threat, with Sels forced into an excellent save by Brennan Johnson, but they headed into the interval behind.

The even nature of the game continued after the break, with Fraser Forster called into action to keep the scoreline at just 1-0, before Sels again denied Johnson what seemed a certain eqaliser.

But despite Spurs piling on the pressure, they could not find a way past the Nottingham Forest defence, before Djed Spence saw red in stoppage time to leave Spurs with yet more personnel problems for their upcoming clash with Wolves.

It meant that the home side held onto a result that moved them up third place in the Premier League, and left Spurs with their ninth defeat of the season..

10 man Aston Villa lose to Newcastle

Scorers: Gordon 2', Isak 59', Joelinton 90+1'

Newcastle United flew out of the blocks at St James' Park, with Anthony Gordon putting them ahead inside two minutes as the forward found the far corner from the edge of the penalty area.

Villa never really got going, and their afternoon went from bad to worse just before the half-hour mark when striker Jhon Duran saw red for a adjudged high follow through against Fabian Schar.

Despite Newcastle's man advantage and dominance though, they could not find a second goal as Alexander Isak forced Emi Martinez into a smart save.

Minutes later it was Isak's turn to get the better of Martinez though as he turned home a cutback from Jacob Murphy to double the home side's advantage.

Bruno Guimaraes saw a third goal ruled out 10 minutes from time, but the points were put beyond doubt by fellow Brazilian midfielder Joelinton, who smashed the ball into the top corner in injury time to leave Aston Villa well and truly beaten.

Juric loses first game at St Mary's

Scorers: Bowen 60'

Ivan Juric's first game as a Premier League manager ended in defeat as Jarrod Bowen ensured all three points for West Ham at St Mary's.

It was West Ham who began the game the brighter, racking up several efforts without testing Aaron Ramsdale.

The Saints improved though, with Mateus Fernandes and Paul Onuachu both going close to opening the scoring.

Meanwhile, Loperegui's side were forced into early changes as Max Kilman was forced off before a lengthly stoppage ended with Fabianski being stretchered off just after the half hour mark.

VAR came to West Ham's rescue after it overturned a red card for Guido Rodriguez just minutes into the second half.

Though they combined for 19 shots across the first half, the two sides were forced to wait until the hour mark for the 20th shot.

But when it came it broke Southampton hearts as Jarrod Bowen pounced on a flick on from Niclas Fullkrug after the Saints failed to clear a corner, putting the visitors a goal to the good just before the hour mark.

Though the Saints were better than they had been under Russell Martin, they could not find a way past the Hammers defence in the final half hour despite dominating the ball and having several golden chances, leaving them eight points away from safety, and Juric with a mountain to climb.

Bournemouth draw with Crystal Palace

Bournemouth are looking to continue their strong form against Crystal Palace, and the two were evenly matched in the opening stages as the game took on a scrappy look.

Neither side could assert any real dominance on proceedings, with Bournemouth having more efforts on goal but Crystal Palace arguably having the more clear cut opportunities as they headed into the break level.

The second half continued in much the same vein, with both sides looking to their benches in an attempt to break the deadlock.

But neither side could find a way through, and both were forced to settle for a point on the south coast.

In the lunchtime fixture...

City fall short again

Scorers: Bernardo 14; Ndiaye 36'

Manchester City's Premier League woes continued with a 1-1 draw against Everton.

Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Ederson were notable absentees for the hosts as they sought to arrest a slump of nine defeats in their previous 12 games.

Bernardo Silva handed the hosts an early lead on 14 minutes by slipping the ball past Jordan Pickford after being threaded clear down the left-hand side.

Sean Dyche's side hit back with a sublime strike from Iliman Ndiaye, who prodded a half-volley past Stefan Ortega when Abdoulaye Doucouré found him in the box.

The fallen champions appeared set to retake the lead after Vitalii Mykolenko conceded a penalty shortly after the half-time interval for a foul on Savinho.

But Jordan Pickford kept the Toffees in the contest with a low save from the spot to deny Erling Haaland, whose headed follow-up found the net in an offside position.

Pep Guardiola's move up to sixth after failing to win a fourth top-flight game in succession while Everton edge into 15th after a third successive stalemate.

📸 PAUL ELLIS - AFP or licensors