If Manchester United could bottle their end-of-year form, perhaps their struggles over the past decade would have long been consigned to history.
Substitute Marcus Rashford's goal gave United a 1-0 victory over Wolves on Saturday, continuing a theme of strong form at this time of year.
The Red Devils have not lost their final league game in a calendar year since suffering a 3-2 defeat to Blackburn Rovers in 2011, winning eight and drawing three of their 11 matches since.
Here, Stats Perform looks at United's impressive run, as Erik ten Hag aims to mastermind a resurgence for the team who were last champions of England in the 2012-13 season.
Blackburn's birthday blues for Ferguson
Alex Ferguson turned 70 on December 31, 2011. His team neglected to deliver a worthy present, though, as they stumbled to a 3-2 home defeat against Blackburn, who began the day at the foot of the Premier League.
United would have gone top with three points, usurping neighbours Manchester City, but Yakubu's two goals put Blackburn into a shock 2-0 lead, and although Dimitar Berbatov replied with a double, Grant Hanley headed a winner for Steve Kean's team.
Of those involved that day, two players remain at United, with David de Gea still first choice as goalkeeper. Phil Jones, the other survivor, was a player United picked up from Blackburn, expecting great things. He is still at United, but you would hardly know it, given Jones has not made a first-team appearance this season.
Come the end of the 2011-12 campaign, Manchester City took the title on goal difference from United, a first English league crown in 44 years, while Blackburn were relegated.
Ferguson's birthday and New Year's Eve celebrations began on a bum note, and United have made sure to finish the year in a more assured manner ever since.
Signing off on a high
Ferguson's last Christmas and New Year stretch as United boss saw his team harvest 10 points from four games from December 23 to January 1.
On their final outing in 2012, an own goal from Gareth McAuley and a late clincher from Robin van Persie secured a 2-0 win at home against West Brom on December 29.
That was the beginning of the 11-game unbeaten stretch in year-ending league games for United, and it was another important stepping stone on their march to winning the title by 11 points.
Since then, United have had year-end league wins against Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Bournemouth, Burnley (twice) and Wolves (twice), while managing draws against Tottenham, Chelsea and Southampton.
Is United's run a record?
It's not even a club record. United had a run of 13 unbeaten year-end league games between 1955 and 1967, so Ten Hag's team have some way to go to beat that tally.
Manchester City put together a 14-game unbeaten streak in their final Premier League fixture of the year from 2002 to 2015. It came to an end on New Year's Eve in 2016, when Georginio Wijnaldum's early header earned Liverpool a 1-0 win over Pep Guardiola's men at Anfield.
Bayer Leverkusen 2-3 Leipzig: Visitors fightback halts unbeaten streak for Alonso's side
Bayer Leverkusen suffered their first defeat in 36 Bundesliga matches, as Leipzig came from behind to stun Xabi Alonso's side 3-2 at BayArena.
Lois Openda struck twice for Marco Rose's, who recovered from 2-0 down to make it two wins from two and move to the summit of the table.
It looked like business as usual for the reigning Bundesliga champions when they scored twice in the last seven minutes of the first half through Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo.
However, Leipzig replied deep into first-half stoppage time with Kevin Kampl reducing the deficit.
Openda then brought the visitors level in the 57th minute, before a stunning long-range strike completed the turnaround 10 minutes from time, condemning Leverkusen to their first league defeat in 15 months.
Data Debrief: Leverkusen's long streak comes to a shuddering halt
Leipzig became the first side to beat Leverkusen in a Bundesliga match since Bochum achieved the feat a staggering 462 days earlier.
The visitors have begun a Bundesliga season with two wins from two for only the second time, also doing so in 2019-20.
They are also now unbeaten in 13 league matches, their longest such streak since Rose took charge.
As for Leverkusen, their invincible streak is officially history, as is their 29-game unbeaten run on home soil.
Sancho given fresh start with Chelsea loan move
Jadon Sancho has secured a move away from Manchester United, having joined Chelsea on Deadline Day on a season-long loan.
The deal includes an obligation to buy for between £20-£25 million at the end of the loan, according to widespread reports, meaning that the 24-year-old will not be returning to Old Trafford next summer.
Work to complete the transfer came late on Deadline Day, with a deal sheet being submitted to ensure the signing could go through after the 11pm deadline.
Chelsea were able to get the deal over the line, confirming the move was complete on Saturday evening.
"I’m really excited to be here," Sancho said. "London is where I grew up and I’m happy to be back.
"The manager spoke to me about the project and, for a young player, it's exciting. Hopefully I can bring goals and assists to the Bridge."
It brings an end to a three-year spell at Old Trafford for Sancho. The winger originally joined United on a five-year contract in 2021 but, following a public falling out with manager Erik ten Hag, found his first-team opportunities limited.
Sancho made 83 appearances in all competitions for United, but his last start for the club came against Manchester City in the 2023 FA Cup final. He made three substitute appearances in August 2023 before moving back to Dortmund on loan in January, where he scored three goals in 21 appearances.
His final outing in a United shirt came off the bench in their Community Shield defeat to Manchester City, but he was not included in the squad for the first two league games.
Sancho joins a club with plenty of competition for attacking places, with Cole Palmer, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Pedro Neto, Joao Felix and Noni Madueke among their roster.
Chelsea did also manage to move some players on during Deadline Day. Raheem Sterling secured a loan move to Arsenal on Deadline Day, while Trevoh Chalobah joined Crystal Palace, Armando Broja moved to Everton and Djordje Petrovic was loaned by Strasbourg.
'We really let ourselves down' - Coleman slams Everton after late Bournemouth collapse
Seamus Coleman acknowledged Everton "really let ourselves down" and must "look at ourselves in the mirror" following their spectacular late collapse against Bournemouth.
Sean Dyche's side, who were seeking their first points of the season, led 2-0 in the 87th minute at Goodison Park through goals from Michael Keane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
However, the hosts were undone by three crosses in the latter stages, with Antoine Semenyo pulling a goal back and Lewis Cook levelling, before Luis Sinisterra completed a sensational turnaround in the sixth minute of stoppage time.
Boos rung around Goodison Park as the Toffees remained pointless and rooted to the foot of the Premier League table, and Coleman echoed the supporters' frustrations.
"We really let ourselves down in front of our fans," the skipper said. "We cannot take our foot off the gas at this level. Unfortunately, we did that.
"We cannot be conceding the goals that we did. We have to look at ourselves in the mirror."
Meanwhile, Dyche bemoaned the lack of responsibility amongst his players, as they became the first side in Premier League history to lose a game after leading by two or more goals in the 87th minute.
"We did so much right until they scored their first goal," the Everton head coach said. "The game should have been out of sight. We conceded one and then threw it away. I can't put my finger on it right now.
"They kept raining it forward and got their reward in the end. They were playing it forward and crossing it into the box, and we didn't deal with it. Simple stuff, but we threw it away. It is the third game we have thrown away this season.
"Everyone was looking at someone else to deal with things and that is when there is trouble. You could see the body language change. You have to see games through, and we have enough experience to do that, but today we didn't."
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola added: "It was the worst game we played this season. Everton deserved to win today, but the players kept pushing.
"I always have hope because this team has spirit. We have done it before and had some good comebacks. The spark of the first goal made us believe we could do it again."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
