After Christmas, the first matchday saw a series of upsets for the top four Premier League clubs. Among them, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Tottenham all suffered defeats, while reigning champions Manchester City surprisingly dropped points. The biggest winner was undoubtedly league leaders Liverpool, who have effectively eliminated any title race suspense.
[Manchester United 0-2 Wolves]
In the first half, neither team managed to score. However, shortly after the break, Bruno Fernandes received a second yellow card, reducing Manchester United to ten men. Soon after, Cunha scored from a corner kick to give Wolves a 1-0 lead. Despite manager Amorim making several substitutions and using all five available changes early on, United's attack remained ineffective. In the final minute, Cunha provided an assist for Hwang Hee-chan to seal the victory, securing a 2-0 win for Wolves at home.
As a result, Manchester United has now lost three consecutive matches and four out of their last five, significantly impacting their chances of finishing in the top four. They only hold an eight-point lead over the relegation zone.
[Chelsea 1-2 Fulham]
Following a goalless draw with Everton in the previous round that ended their eight-match winning streak in all competitions, Chelsea's performance against Fulham was also lackluster. In the 16th minute of the first half, Palmer scored for Chelsea to take a 1-0 lead. However, in the second half, Colwill's goal was ruled offside. In the dying moments of the game, Chelsea's defense collapsed, with substitute Wilson heading in a goal in the 82nd minute to level the score for Fulham. Then, in the 95th minute, Lukic's cross assisted Muniz to score the winning goal, completing a 2-1 comeback victory for Fulham.
This defeat ended Chelsea's unbeaten run of 12 matches across all competitions. With 35 points, they remain in second place but are now three points behind Liverpool, having played two more games.
[Tottenham 0-1 Forest]
Recently, Tottenham's form has been inconsistent, following a 5-0 victory over Southampton with a 3-6 defeat to Liverpool. In this round, Tottenham faced Nottingham Forest away from home and conceded a goal in the 28th minute when Gibbs-White set up Ilanga for a successful one-on-one finish. Throughout the rest of the match, Tottenham struggled to create scoring opportunities and failed to equalize. In the closing stages, they were reduced to ten men as Spence received a second yellow card, ultimately losing 0-1 and gifting Nottingham Forest their fourth consecutive win.
Statistics show that Tottenham has lost four out of their last six league matches and is now ten points adrift of the top four, making their pursuit of a top-four finish increasingly challenging.
[Manchester City 1-1 Everton]
As defending champions, Manchester City faced Everton, who had recently shown impressive defensive strength. Playing at home, City took the lead first with a goal from Bernardo Silva in the 14th minute. After missing two good chances, City was pegged back by Everton, with Ndoye scoring with the outside of his foot in the 36th minute. In the second half, Savigno earned a penalty, but Haaland's spot-kick was saved, and his follow-up shot was ruled out for offside. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with City recording a poor recent record of one win, three draws, and nine losses in their last 13 matches across all competitions.
According to statistics, City has only accumulated five points from their last nine matches over the past two months, falling out of the top six and effectively exiting the title race.