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Arsenal regain top spot, Villa extend winning streak
AP • December 28th, 2025 9:00 am
Martin Odegaard gave Arsenal the lead against Brighton with his first EPL goal of the season | Photo: AP
Arsenal have resisted a late fightback from Brighton to reclaim top spot in the Premier League but title rivals Manchester City and Aston Villa remain in hot pursuit.
City briefly held top spot after a 2-1 win at Nottingham Forest earlier on Saturday, but when Arsenal later beat Brighton by the same score they returned to the summit with a two-point advantage over Pep Guardiola's side.
Villa are now just a point further back in third after extending their remarkable winning run to 11 games in all competitions.
It came via a superb comeback 2-1 victory at Chelsea in the late game on Saturday (Sunday AEDT) thanks to two goals from super-sub Ollie Watkins.
"Amazing is the word to sum it up," Watkins told Sky Sports UK.
Joao Pedro put the home ahead from Reece James' corner but Watkins levelled on 63 minutes, shortly after coming on before heading his second six minutes from time.
Ollie Watkins has scored a double to help Aston Villa beat Chelsea in the Premier League | Photo: EPA/DAVID CLIFF
Earlier, Martin Odegaard gave Mikel Arteta's team a 14th-minute lead with a low shot from the edge of the area. And when Brighton's Georginio Rutter headed a wicked Declan Rice corner into his own net seven minutes into the second half, Arsenal looked fully in control.
But nerves began to spread around the Emirates Stadium when Diego Gomez pulled a goal back against the run of play in the 64th minute.
Yankuba Minteh then hit a shot that was destined for the top corner until Raya stretched an arm to push it away and ensure his side took all three points.
"With the amount of situations and open chances that we generated, it should never have been 2-1. But that's the Premier League," said Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.
Mikel Arteta celebrates after the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Brighton | Photo: EPA
For Manchester City, Rayan Cherki kept their title challenge powering on with a late winner at Forest.
The France forward's 83rd-minute strike made it six league wins in a row for Guardiola's team.
"Today is a big win," Cherki told TNT Sports. "I'm proud of the team because this game is very complicated to win."
It was Cherki's second goal in three games and he also provided an assist for Tijjani Reijnders to put City ahead three minutes into the second half.
Omari Hutchinson equalised for relegation-fighting Forest, who were holding out for a crucial point until Cherki's winner.
Florian Wirtz scored his first Liverpool goal as the Reds held out to beat Wolves 2-1 | Photo: AP
Liverpool's resurgence continued with a 2-1 victory against bottom-placed Wolves, who set a new Premier League record for the longest winless run from the start of a season.
Florian Wirtz scored his first EPL goal since joining the defending champions when doubling Liverpool's lead before halftime after Ryan Gravenberch had opened the scoring at Anfield, although Wolves halved the deficit through Santiago Bueno after the break.
Elsewhere, Kevin Schade scored a hat trick in Brentford's 4-1 rout of Bournemouth.
Antoine Semenyo was on target for Bournemouth ahead of the January transfer window when he is reportedly a target for some of the Premier League's top clubs, including Man City.
And West Ham's relegation fight was dealt a further blow as Raul Jimenez scored in the 85th to seal a 1-0 win for Fulham, while second-to-bottom Burnley drew 0-0 with Everton.
"We are all disappointed and sad, but we stick together," said Hammers boss Nuno Espirito Santo.
