Liverpool head off on their FIFA Club World Cup adventure sat comfortably on top of the Premier League after an entertaining round of fixtures.
Mohamed Salah’s brace from two counter-attacks proved enough to see off bottom placed Watford, who were playing their first game under Nigel Pearson.
Leicester saw their eight league match winning run ended after Norwich dug deep for a hard fought point at the King Power Stadium, leaving them ten points adrift of Liverpool as the Reds are now assured of the Xmas no.1 spot.
Teemu Pukki gave the Canaries a 26th minute lead when he slotted in Emiliano Buendia’s through ball, before a fracas broke out minutes later when Leicester’s Kelechi Iheanacho didn’t concede possession after a collision between Ricardo Pereira and Pukki.
Jamie Vardy soon rescued the Foxes a point when he headed in James Maddison’s corner, although Tim Krul got the final touch to unluckily concede an own goal as Norwich stay second-bottom.
Embed from Getty ImagesManchester City reduced their gap to the Foxes to four points after a Kevin De Bruyne double, either side of Raheem Sterling’s tap-in secured a comfortable away win at Arsenal.
Chelsea are still clinging onto fourth after Dan Gosling’s late lob secured a surprise win for Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge.
Embed from Getty ImagesTottenham round out the top five after Jan Vertonghen’s late header secured a huge win at Wolves, who had equalled through Adama Traore after Lucas Moura had initially put Spurs ahead in the eighth minute.
Down at the bottom, Sebastien Haller’s strike saw West Ham edge past Southampton, who consequently stay third bottom, rounding out the relegation zone.
Embed from Getty ImagesElsewhere, Manchester United snatched a point through Mason Greenwood’s second-half strike, having initially fallen behind to a helpless own goal from Victor Lindelof putting Everton ahead in the 36th minute.
John Fleck netted a second-half brace as Sheffield United dispatched Aston Villa to go seventh, keeping themselves within touching distance of fifth by a single point margin.
A hard fought M23 derby finished level after Wilfried Zaha rescued Crystal Palace a point to cancel out Neal Maupay’s opener for Brighton.
Finally, Chris Wood’s 58th minute header gifted Burnley a narrow win over Newcastle in a scrappy encounter at Turf Moor.