Moving into the festive and busiest run of games in the Premier League, Boxing Day football kicked-off at Vicarage Road where Watford hosted Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace, only recently had a change in managerial duties as Sam Allardyce replaced Alan Pardew to ascertain Crystal Palace’s league survival. Yohan Cabaye scored the opener for Crystal Palace, and Christian Benteke won himself a penalty soon after, but a poor kick made sure Gomes saved it. Crystal Palace was left to regret the penalty miss as Troy Deeney scored from the spot in the second half to bring Watford level; his 100th goal for Watford after a long barren spell of 10 games.

The game was followed by 6 simultaneous kick-offs. Swansea City hosted West Ham United, where André Ayew scored the opener on his return to Swansea, and West Ham United ran rampant with 3 more goals in the second half as Fernando Llorente scored a late consolation goal for Swansea City. Manchester United hosted Sunderland as David Moyes made his return to Old Trafford as Sunderland manager. Goals from Blind, Ibrahimovic and Mkhitaryan gave Red Devils a 3-1 win in a match that was filled with eye-catching goals. Champions Leicester City hosted Everton, where defensive frailties proved costly as goals from Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku handed Everton the victory; and the champions continue their struggling title defence which now sees them fighting for league survival. Burnley hosted Middlesbrough and came out victors with a late goal from Andre Gray.

In the build-up to the title race, of the 6 simultaneous kick-offs, London clubs Chelsea and Arsenal hosted Bournemouth and West Bromwich Albion respectively. Bournemouth could not take the advantage of Diego Costa and N’Golo Kanté’s absence, and lost 3-0, Chelsea’s twelfth consecutive win. Pedro scored on either side of Eden Hazard’s penalty. Whereas on the other side of London, Olivier Giroud made his return to the starting XI, his first start in the league this season, and brought Arsenal back to winning ways after 2 consecutive defeats. West Bromwich Albion’s tight defence made it difficult for Arsenal to penetrate, and Mesut Özil on his 100^th Arsenal appearance set up Giroud’s winning goal, a goal that was long overdue in the match. 

In the late fixture of the day, Hull City played host to Manchester City. Strong resilience from Hull City proved hard to break, but goals flowed once Manchester City won a penalty. Yaya Touré opened the scoring from the spot in the second half, and the goal was followed by Kelechi Iheanacho minutes later, doubling the tally. Curtis Davies scored a stoppage-time own-goal to wind-up the game, with the final score of 3-0. And Manchester City climb to 2^nd in the league.

In the remaining fixtures, Liverpool hosts Stoke City tonight, where a win could see them take back the 2^nd position in the league, and for Stoke City, a win could see them enter the top-half of the table. And Southampton hosts Tottenham Hotspur the next day, a defeat would see Tottenham trail Chelsea by 13 points, and for Southampton, trail Manchester United at 6^th position by 9 points.

Results

Watford 1-1 Crystal Palace

Swansea City 1-4 West Ham United

Manchester United 3-1 Sunderland

Leicester City 0-2 Everton

Burnley 1-0 Middlesbrough

Chelsea 3-0 Bournemouth

Arsenal 1-0 West Bromwich Albion

Hull City 0-3 Manchester City