Chelsea once again downed Tottenham at Stamford Bridge in the headline clash of the weekend's Premier League fixtures.
Fellow title hopefuls Liverpool, who still have a game in hand, closed the gap on leaders Manchester City to nine points with victory over Crystal Palace in south London.
Staying in the capital, Arsenal were held to a goalless draw by lowly Burnley as they lost ground in the race for the top four, while Leicester City shared the points with Brighton and Hove Albion.
With the action all over for a couple of weeks, Stats Perform unpacks the pick of the data from Sunday's fixtures.
Crystal Palace 1-3 Liverpool: Reds down Eagles again as Robertson delivers
Liverpool reduced Manchester City's advantage at the top to nine points after a 3-1 victory over Palace, who have lost each of their last 10 league meetings with the Reds.
Virgil van Dijk placed Jurgen Klopp's side in control after just eight minutes at Selhurst Park with his 10th headed goal in the competition – only Sami Hyypia (17) has scored more headers for the Reds in the Premier League.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain added a second after the half-hour mark as he scored in back-to-back top-flight matches for the first time since February 2020.
Both of those goals were created by Andrew Robertson, who now sits joint-second with team-mate Trent Alexander-Arnold (both 43) for the most assists in the league since the start of the 2017-18 season, with only Kevin De Bruyne boasting more (52).
Odsonne Edouard halved the deficit in the second half, but Fabinho secured three points with Liverpool's 169th Premier League spot-kick – the joint-most awarded to a team in the competition's history along with Manchester United.
Arsenal 0-0 Burnley: Gunners fail to fire against Clarets
Arsenal have failed to win any of their opening five games of a calendar year for the first time since 1995 after being held to a 0-0 draw by Burnley.
Nick Pope was in excellent form, while Alexandre Lacazette spurned a glorious open-goal opportunity, as the Clarets conceded 20 shots – the most they have faced in the Premier League without conceding since May 2021 (21 versus Fulham).
Lacazette's profligacy meant the Gunners have failed to score in four consecutive matches across all competitions for the first time since December 2005.
Arsenal will be desperate to improve upon their torrid run of form to challenge for the top four, with this stalemate being the first time the Gunners have failed to beat the team starting the day bottom of the table at home for the first time since October 2008.
Leicester City 1-1 Brighton and Hove Albion: Foxes tamed by away specialists
Leicester remained unbeaten at home to Brighton in the Premier League, though Brendan Rodgers may feel they should have claimed victory after a 1-1 draw.
Patson Daka broke the deadlock as he became just the second Foxes player to score in each of his first three home starts in the competition, after Leonardo Ulloa in the 2014-15 season.
The Zambia striker found the net just 26 seconds after the interval, the quickest goal scored in the second half of a top-flight game since February 2020.
However, Danny Welbeck levelled things up as he scored his fourth goal against Leicester in the Premier League, only bettering that haul in games with Aston Villa (five).
Neither side could find a late winner, ensuring the Foxes remain unbeaten at home to the Seagulls in the top flight since December 1980, while Graham Potter's side have only lost one of their last 11 away leagues games – a joint-low with Manchester City.
Chelsea 2-0 Tottenham: Blues make London derby history
Chelsea registered their fourth win in all competitions this season – and third in January alone – over London rivals Tottenham with a 2-0 triumph at Stamford Bridge.
Harry Kane thought he had struck first before the break but a slight push on Thiago Silva saw his finish ruled out before Hakim Ziyech expertly curled in his fifth league goal for Chelsea – all five of those having come at different venues.
Silva added a second soon after as he became the oldest player (37 years, 123 days) to score in the Premier League since February 2013 to condemn Antonio Conte to his first top-flight defeat as Spurs head coach.
The defender's header was set up by a free-kick from Mason Mount, who provided his 20th assist since the start of the 2019-20 campaign – the most by any Chelsea player across all competitions in that period.
Spurs were unable to breach the Blues' goal, meaning they have now gone six matches across all competitions since last scoring against Chelsea, who became the first side to collect 500 points in Premier League London derby matches (501 points from 272 derbies).
Lasse Sorensen ready to swap studying fairytales for writing own in Carabao Cup
Lasse Sorensen has been studying fairytales after going back to school – now he is ready to write his own against West Ham.
Online lessons, assignments and a six-hour exam has made the Lincoln midfielder an expert.
The works of Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen, which include the Emperor’s New Clothes, the Ugly Duckling and the Princess and the Pea, have been the focus.
Enrolling in the Voksenuddannelsescentre, adult education courses, Sorensen completed his Danish literature class in the summer, all part of the 23-year-old’s plan to earn the qualifications he missed growing up.
It is apt, playing for a club known for its recent romantic cup stories, as Lincoln target another against the Hammers in the Carabao Cup on Wednesday.
“The school takes it right back to analyse fairytales, novels and old scripts from 300 years ago,” Sorensen tells the PA news agency, ahead of the third-round tie at Sincil Bank.
“So all the very boring stuff that I don’t think anybody really finds interesting, I certainly didn’t! I’ve done every fairytale Hans Christian Andersen has written.
“In Denmark you need subjects like Danish, maths, history and physics before you can do anything in later life. So I took Danish, the equivalent to A-Levels in England, so if I want to go to Uni one day, I can.
“When you play senior football a lot of it is games, games, games. There’s so much football.
“So, sometimes the best thing to do is leave and get your head off it. I was thinking ‘what can I do which can be beneficial?’ I’m a thinker so if something happens I’ll sit and think about it a lot, good or bad.
“I’ll sit and think if I don’t have anything else do to, so why not go back to education?
https://x.com/itvfootball/status/1649865138101420032?s=20
“It can never be bad and the main thing was just to get my brain off football sometimes. Otherwise, on your CV, you’ve got a little bit to say you’ve played football for a few years and done nothing else.”
Leaving his home town, Vejen, and first team Esbjerg to join Stoke in 2016 Sorensen’s education took a back seat.
At just 15 he moved to England without any qualifications and, while there were English lessons at the Potters, football was the focus.
“Because I was Danish, I was just studying the language. I came to the club and then had to quickly learn as much as I could,” says the midfielder, who made eight appearances for Stoke before joining Lincoln in 2021.
“So on the Wednesday, which was normally when the English lads used to do the education, I spent my time learning English.
“The hardest bit of going back to school was just starting and getting your head around it.
“As much as I’ve enjoyed getting my mind off other things, it’s never the most exciting thing to sit down and do.
“But that was the good thing as well because you’ll say to yourself ‘you need to get it done otherwise you won’t get it.’
“It was disciplined, the hardest and the best thing was I had to be disciplined about it.”
His online studies culminated in the exam back in Vejen this summer with Sorensen’s graft paying off as he scored 10 – the equivalent to an A.
“I had to sit with 100 people in a big school hall with my laptop for six hours, you couldn’t speak either of course. It was a bit different to what I’ve done for the last eight years,” says the Denmark Under-20 international, who is also planning to start a financial advisor course.
He is now in a break from his studies as he prepares to start a maths course in a few months. Football remains the priority and the immediate one is another Premier League scalp.
Last season Lincoln reached the Carabao Cup last 16, where they lost to Southampton, as they added to the club’s cup pedigree after their impressive run to the FA Cup quarter-finals in 2017 while still in the National League.
A shoot-out win at Sheffield United last month earned the Imps a crack at the Europa Conference League holders and Sorensen knows Mark Kennedy’s side can write another chapter.
He said: “It’s always 11 v 11. Some might be the favourites and some the underdogs but if you want it more than the others, you are the ones who win it.
“They’re a really, really good team, they are quality players, but it’s not actually won yet.
“It’s been shown before, we beat Sheffield United in the last round so we’ve got a growing belief we could do it again.
“You’ve always got to believe in yourself to do the thing most people think you can’t.”
Duncan Ferguson appointed Inverness boss on three-year deal
Duncan Ferguson has been appointed as Inverness manager.
The former Dundee United, Rangers, Newcastle and Everton striker has signed a three-year contract.
The job is Ferguson’s second in management after a brief spell at Forest Green last season. Rovers only won one of the 18 games the former Scotland forward took charge of and were relegated from Sky Bet League One.
The ex-Everton coach succeeds Billy Dodds, who lost his job months after leading Caley Thistle to the Scottish Cup final. Inverness are bottom of the cinch Championship with one point from five games.
Inverness said the appointment came after an “extensive recruitment process which involved some truly excellent candidates”.
A club statement added: “Duncan has worked alongside some of the most respected and outstanding football coaches in the world in recent seasons and we are proud to have him join ICTFC as our new manager.
“His professionalism, commitment and dynamic leadership skills shone through in our discussions, making him the standout candidate.
“Everyone at the club is looking forward to supporting Duncan as the hard work starts now and we hope every Caley Jag will now get right behind him and the team in what we are sure will be a thrilling journey.”
Football rumours: Jadon Sancho urged to end stand-off with Erik ten Hag
Jadon Sancho has been urged by players at Manchester United to end his dispute with manager Erik ten Hag, according to the Daily Mirror. The Times reports that the PFA has offered to help the England winger, 23, settle his differences with ten Hag.
Arsenal are gearing up to grab Ivan Toney, with the Daily Mirror reporting Brentford have valued the 27-year-old at £60 million ahead of a likely move for him in the January transfer window.
Jesse Lingard has ended his one-month training stint at West Ham to move to Saudi Arabia, with the Daily Mirror reporting club manager David Moyes insisting the club is comfortable with Lingard’s decision.
The Daily Telegraph reports that Chelsea secretly parted ways with Bruno, who joined Craven Cottage under former manager Graham Potter’s watch and was a first-team coach under Mauricio Pochettino.
Social media round-upPlayers to watchRomelu Lukaku: Roma are keen to turn the 30-year-old striker’s loan from Chelsea into a permanent move.
Mohamed Salah: Negotiations between Liverpool, Saudi Arabia and the striker’s agent are becoming the subject of a Harvard study.
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