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Huge games in the relegation battle with the whole landscape changing once again at the bottom of the table and even bigger games at the top of the table with Arsenal and Tottenham dropping points, Chelsea and United fighting for fourth spot and Liverpool pulling away with a 14 point gap between them and second place Manchester City with a game in hand. Here are the results:
Sheffield United vs West Ham 1-0
Crystal Palace vs Arsenal 1-1
Chelsea vs Burnley 3-0
Newcastle vs Wolves 1-1
Leicester City vs Southampton 1-2
Manchester United vs Norwich 4-0
Everton vs Brighton 1-0
Tottenham vs Liverpool 0-1
Bournemouth vs Watford 0-3
Aston Villa vs Manchester City 1-6
And here are the grades:
SHEFFIELD UNITED 8/10
Close win but another hard earned one. Still in contention for Top Six and could keep this up all season the way they are playing.
WEST HAM 5/10
Unfortunate not to equalise but that’s the current law unfortunately and VAR inconsistencies are not aiding this poor rule. Moyes has transformed this team that probably would have lost this game 3-0 earlier this season. Let’s see if he can get them going.
CRYSTAL PALACE 7.5/10
Good enough to equalise and controlled the game after the red card for a well earned point but they needed to score and capitalise on the ten man situation. Zaha also needs to improve but I said this last time.
ARSENAL 4/10
Weak performance which was not helped by the red card. They may have played well against United but it will take time to perform consistently and win regularly. They can make a statement against the Blades and the Blues after as these are games they lost earlier in the season.
CHELSEA 9/10
Massive win to get back into the swing of things and they remain five points clear of United. They are yet to play against any of the big six reverse games yet. February will be a big month for the Blues and if they can get out of it unscathed, they will be able to comfortably secure their position.
BURNLEY 3/10
They have slumped right now and need to snap out of it soon or they are in trouble and could be in a Bournemouth situation. Tough asks against Leicester and United could send them into the relegation zone if they are unlucky.
NEWCASTLE 5/10
Poor result as defensive errors cost them again. They need a striker and a central defender fast.
WOLVES 6/10
Managed to salvage a point but their form is not the best. They will want a result against United at Old Trafford to cause an upset but have a tough few weeks ahead and could lose their position in the league due to it.
LEICESTER CITY 4/10
They have had some bad form recently and this was a huge shock. They have lost their second place position for now but will come up against an equally out of form Wolves side next and will want a win and a statement that their form is not dead.
SOUTHAMPTON 8.5/10
Massive win as they continue their hot streak. Pulled themselves out of the drop zone in recent weeks and look set to continue their good form with some potential signings in January.
MANCHESTER UNITED 9/10
Massive morale booster after a three game winless run. A brace for Rashford and goals for Martial and Greenwood with Mata pulling the strings from the right. They will want to win emphatically against Wolves and end the hoodoo against them before a massive game at Anfield that hopefully includes a certain Portguese playmaker…
NORWICH 2/10
Woeful again as their philosophy to play attacking football causes them to falter even further behind and now six points behind Watford. They need signings or a change in philosophy but it looks like they will be a Championship side next season. Shame really.
EVERTON 8.5/10
Another massive win for Ancelotti and a lovely finish from Richarlison. Against better teams they need to kill the game off or they could drop points easily.
BRIGHTON 5/10
Kept in the game but no result again. Massive game against Villa next which they have to win.
TOTTENHAM 4/10
Also kept in the game but should have put the chances they had away with Son and Lo Celso the guilty parties. Not a bad loss but they have a big game they have to win against Watford.
LIVERPOOL 8/10
They are unstoppable right now and should win the title by a bigger margin than City did in 2017/18 which shows how much Liverpool have progressed. They can make a statement against a weakened United side but will have to work hard as United will defend deep and Liverpool are susceptible to the counter attack.
BOURNEMOUTH 2/10
Awful again. Eddie Howe could leave with a massive relegation game coming up away to Norwich. They have to win but if they don’t he should leave and get in a defensive manager to keep them up.
WATFORD 9/10
Another massive win for Watford and are inching ever further away from the relegation zone and with the team they have, they should never have been near it.
ASTON VILLA 1/10
Woeful performance at home that send their fans leaving before 30 minutes. Grealish looked so isolated with El Ghazi offering very little as well. They look already relegated and have to beat Brighton and Watford to keep in the running for staying up.
MANCHESTER CITY 10/10
Magnificent performance bar the last few seconds. Mahrez was stunning, Aguero was in record-breaking form and De Bruyne pulled the strings from a deeper role and still managed two assists. Back to second but far, far away from Liverpool and will hope that United can do them a favour and knock some points off the Reds.
