The Wrap: What happened in Matchweek 18

Here we look back on an action-packed weekend, including significant wins for the top three.

There was no let-up in the title race over the weekend, with Arsenal, Manchester City and Aston Villa all continuing their winning streaks to reinforce their silverware aspirations.

League leaders Arsenal host Villa on Tuesday in a match that could have major implications at the top of the table.

Elsewhere, Liverpool maintained their good form to move fourth and capitalise on Chelsea’s defeat to Villa, while Manchester United beat Newcastle United and Tottenham Hotspur edged past Crystal Palace.

None of the bottom five clubs managed to win.

Here is everything you need to know about Matchweek 18.

For the first time in his Man Utd tenure, head coach Ruben Amorim used his defensive players in a back four and was rewarded with victory and only a second Premier League clean sheet of the season.

Amorim has stuck resolutely to his preferred back three since taking charge last year, but finally heeded many United fans’ wishes and switched to a different formation in a game that saw his side soak up repeated pressure and – in his own words – “suffer together”.

The hosts had just 33.4% possession (their lowest in a Premier League game this season), 10 shots to Newcastle’s 16, and 15 touches in the opponents’ box to Newcastle’s 44.

Yet, missing seven senior players through injury and international duty, Man Utd managed to secure victory through Patrick Dorgu’s first goal for the club.

“If you compared to other games, we suffered so much more today but in certain moments we put everything on the line,” said head coach Amorim. “If we always have this spirit, we are going to win so many games.”

Newcastle have won just one Premier League away game this season – a worse record than every top-flight side except Wolverhampton Wanderers.

“I think we can make an argument that we should have got something from today but obviously we have had that feeling too many times,” said head coach Eddie Howe.

The Frenchman provided a goal and an assist to help City notch their sixth successive Premier League win, with this the latest eye-catching performance from the winger who signed from Lyon in the summer.

Since the start of November, only Erling Haaland (eight goals, three assists) and Bruno Fernandes (three goals, six assists) have had more Premier League goal involvements than Cherki (one goal, seven assists).

In fact, no player in Europe’s top five leagues has provided more assists during that time.

“Always, when we sign a player, we expect the best, it’s true but in reality he made an incredible assist and the winning goal,” said manager Pep Guardiola.

“From day one with Rayan, there are moments I want to shout at him and moments I want to kiss him. I have that ambivalent feeling with him but I have to allow him to express his incredible talent.”

Defeat through Cherki’s 83rd-minute winner was tough on a Nottingham Forest side who fought hard and equalised through Omari Hutchinson, after Tijjani Reijnders had earlier given City the lead.

Sean Dyche has now failed to win any of his 17 Premier League meetings with Guardiola – the joint-most one manager has faced another without ever winning in the competition (alongside Steve Bruce against Sir Alex Ferguson).

Ahead of their huge showdown with fellow title-chasers Villa on Tuesday evening, Arsenal have some conundrums to mull over.

An ever-growing injury list – with Declan Rice used at right-back on Saturday – is one of them, but another is their inability to see off games.

In their last three dominant outings across all competitions, Arsenal have attempted a combined 65 shots, yet scored only five goals – and four of them were netted by opposition players.

Nine of their last 10 Premier League home matches have resulted in victory but the feeling is that a lack of ruthlessness could cost them.

“We were a big threat, so very pleased with that, but the margin should have been much bigger,” said manager Mikel Arteta.

“It should never be 2-1 but that’s the Premier League. We should have scored the third one and then it would have been different. We haven’t, so we have to suffer a little bit more.”

The hosts led through Martin Odegaard and a Georginio Rutter own goal, before Diego Gomez pulled a goal back to set up a tense finish.

Brighton & Hove Albion have now failed to win their last 11 games in the month of December.

The loss of defenders Dean Huijsen, Illia Zabarnyi and Milos Kerkez – all of whom departed over the summer – continues to be felt at AFC Bournemouth.

Adding in Brentford’s four goals here – three of which came courtesy of Kevin Schade – Andoni Iraola’s side have now conceded 22 times since the start of November.

No team in Europe’s top five leagues have let in more during that time, with Bournemouth winless in their last nine Premier League outings. From second in the table in October, Iraola now finds his team languishing in 15th.

The visitors were two goals down following a dismal first-half showing, before a spirited response after the break that ultimately counted for nothing.

“I’m concerned about our performance in the first half,” said head coach Iraola. “I accept you can lose games but in the second half we were perfect. We have to look at ourselves why we were 45 minutes late to start the game.”

Schade completed his hat-trick in stoppage time to take his season tally to six Premier League goals.

Brentford now sit eighth on 26 points – their highest Premier League points tally at the end of a calendar year.

A victory in this type of match is precisely what Burnley need if they are to avoid returning to the Championship.

Scott Parker’s side did more than enough to win the game, registering 16 attempts and finishing with an Expected Goal (xG) total of 1.65. But not a single one of those efforts was on target. A goalless draw leaves them six points from safety.

“I thought we were superb,” said head coach Parker. “We showed real endeavour, willingness and quality. You need to take your chances and that’s probably a frustration. It’s certainly something we can be critical of, but for the large part the team were very good.”

In a match that took until the 29th minute for either side to test a goalkeeper, Everton were notably blunt, which was little surprise given the absences of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Iliman Ndiaye, Jack Grealish and Idrissa Gueye.

Everton have now not scored in their last three matches.

“I wouldn’t have wanted to come and watch that myself,” said manager David Moyes. “I really hoped we’d play much better than we did. That was probably as poor as we played in some games where football wasn’t good enough.”

A third successive league win for Liverpool means the reigning champions have now taken more points (nine) in their last three matches than the eight they claimed in their previous 10 games.

There were emotional scenes at Anfield, where Diogo Jota was remembered in the first meeting between the late forward’s two English clubs since his death in July.

Jota’s sons Dinis and Duarte and other young family members, were mascots for the match.

Ryan Gravenberch and Florian Wirtz both scored in a dominant first half for the hosts. Wirtz’s goal was his first since joining Liverpool in the summer.

“I thought he was special in a lot of moments,” said head coach Arne Slot. “I think he is getting better and better.”

Wolves improved after the break and pulled a goal back through Santiago Bueno. But they are the first top-flight team not to win any of their first 18 league games since Bolton Wanderers in 1902/03.

“I’ve just said to the lads that I’m getting fed up with this,” said head coach Rob Edwards.

Relegation concerns are starting to feel very real for West Ham United.

This defeat extended their winless run to seven matches and means they have won just 13 points from their opening 18 Premier League matches – their fewest at this stage since the 2010/11 season, when they went on to finish bottom of the Premier League.

Their form at London Stadium has been a major concern, with Raul Jimenez’s goal for Fulham inflicting their 11th Premier League home defeat of 2025, equalling their club record. West Ham have also not kept a clean sheet since August.

“We are all disappointed and sad, but we stick together,” said head coach Nuno Espirito Santo. “We have to react, the good part is we play another game in two days’ time. It’s another chance to give back to our fans.”

In a game of few clear-cut chances, Fulham claimed a third successive league win for the first time since January 2023.

“A third win in the Premier League in a row is not something that is easy to achieve,” said manager Marco Silva. “It was a tough game, we knew it was a very, very important one for them.”

As much as Unai Emery is determined to downplay them, Aston Villa’s title chances continue to grow with this 11th successive win, equalling a club record that has stood for more than a century.

Ahead of Tuesday’s trip to league leaders Arsenal, Villa sit three points off top spot. It is a remarkable position given they failed to win any of their first five Premier League games.

Since then, they have taken more points than any other side.

Asked about the club’s title hopes, head coach Emery said: “We are not going to speak about our target in the league until we are in game 34 because there are teams contending with a huge power to get points like Liverpool, like Chelsea.

“Of course we are performing very well, we are winning matches, we are competing fantastic. There is still another 20 matches to play.”

Emery’s substitutions were key in Villa overturning a 1-0 first-half deficit after Joao Pedro had put the hosts ahead.

Ollie Watkins came off the bench to score twice, with Villa earning more points (54) from losing positions than any other Premier League side over the past three seasons.

Conversely, Chelsea have now dropped 11 points from winning positions at home this season as inconsistency continues to plague them.

Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s extraordinary goalscoring run now stands at seven goals in six games, as the Leeds United striker became the first Englishman to score in six successive Premier League outings for more than four years.

Calvert-Lewin found an equaliser straight after half-time, when he rounded off a move that saw all 11 Leeds players touch the ball uninterrupted – only the second Premier League goal this season to involve all 11 players (after Rio Ngumoha’s goal for Liverpool v Newcastle).

The draw means Leeds are unbeaten in their last five Premier League games, picking up more points (nine) than the eight they managed in their previous 12 fixtures.

“We showed great mentality to come back from a losing position,” said manager Daniel Farke.

“Sunderland are difficult to open up so it’s a good point on the road but I had a gut feeling we could win and, if we’d been a bit more clinical, we would have done.

"It’s another step forward but we could have made it a huge step forward. That’s why I’m not dancing on the table tonight.”

Having been left out of the Ivory Coast squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, Simon Adingra put Sunderland ahead with his first goal since joining the club in the summer.

They could not hold on for victory but remain undefeated at home in the Premier League this season.

Archie Gray’s first senior goal in his 112th appearance inflicted a third successive defeat on Palace to ease some pressure on a Spurs side whose attacking troubles nonetheless continue to cause concerns.

Thomas Frank’s side had only 38% possession here and attempted eight shots to Palace’s 15.

Crucially, Gray’s header went in.

It means Spurs have scored 9.8 goals this season more than their total xG of 17.2 would suggest – the biggest positive differential in the Premier League so far in 2024/25. Conversely, Palace have scored 8.4 goals fewer than their 29.4xG – the largest negative differential.

“In the end we got over the line,” said head coach Frank. “It was a good win, it instilled things in the character of the team which is important because that will get you through bad spells but there is so much more we can improve.”

Palace continue to pay the price for poor finishing, with Jean-Philippe Mateta now goalless in seven games across all competitions.

“Very disappointing result,” said manager Oliver Glasner. “It’s a little bit like many games this year – if you don’t score, you can’t win. It’s not that we don’t create the chances, we just miss them right now.”