Premier League: Matchweek 16 Round-Up

The latest weekend of action in the 2024/25 Premier League season was enthralling, and here we review the action from Matchweek 16.

The final Premier League matches of the 2024 calendar year are upon us, with football clubs up and down the country very busy with fixtures in a variety of competitions throughout the festive period. This is a crucial time in the season, with the quick succession of matches for all clubs being a great chance to put a run of form together and create some momentum going into the new year in 2025.

Plenty was at stake for clubs across the Premier League at the weekend. Arne Slot’s Liverpool were looking to extend their gap at the very top of the current league table with victory against Fulham, whilst the Cottagers’ West London rivals Chelsea looked to strengthen their grip on second place, whilst also potentially closing the gap to their Merseyside rivals with a win against fellow London Club Brentford at Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, Spurs were looking to narrow the gap between themselves and the top four with a win away from home against relegation threatened Southampton on the South Coast at the Saints’ St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday evening.

Aston Villa was looking to re-enter the top four with a crucial win at the City Ground against high flying Nottingham Forest, whilst Manchester City went face to face with Manchester United in the latest iteration of the iconic Manchester Derby at the Etihad Stadium. Pep Guardiola’s side were also looking to make their return to the top four.

In the end, there was an emphatic 5 – 0 victory for Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham Hotspur, whilst Enzo Maresca and his Chelsea side managed to earn a deserved 2 – 1 win at home against Thomas Frank’s Brentford at the weekend.

Here, we will review these two matches, as well as the rest of the games that took place in the 2024/25 Premier League on what was Matchweek 16.

Southampton 0 – 5 Spurs (St. Mary’s Stadium)

Ange Postecoglou and his Spurs side were looking to return to winning ways when they made the long trip to the South Coast of England to take on Russell Martin’s Southampton at the Saints’ St. Mary’s Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

As previously mentioned, this was an emphatic, ruthless, and thoroughly deserved 5 – 0 victory for Tottenham, with all of these goals being scored in the first half. The goal scorers for the visitors from North London on that day came courtesy of a brace from James Maddison (1’, 45+5’), as well as goals from Son Heung-Min (12’), Dejan Kulusevski (14’), and Pape Matar Sarr (25’).

The result sees Spurs rise up to 10th place in the Premier League table, now with a grand total of 23 points to their name from their 16 matches to date this term. The Lilywhites are now just a point adrift of seventh place, 2 points adrift of Aston Villa in 6th place, whilst they are just 5 points off surprise package Nottingham Forest in the final UEFA Champions League Qualification Spot in fourth place.

It was Spurs who had the most possession with no less than 58.4% of the ball, whilst Southampton had 41.6%. Tottenham had 9 shots on target compared with the Saints’ 3.

Tottenham’s next game will see Spurs take on Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United in the Quarter Finals of the 2024/25 Carabao Cup in a 20:00 Kick-Off on Thursday 19th December 2024. They will then take on Arne Slot’s Liverpool when the North London outfit welcomes the Reds to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in what will be a 16:30 Kick-Off on Sunday 22nd December 2024.

Chelsea 2 – 1 Brentford (Stamford Bridge)

The next game that we are taking a look back at is the tie between Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea and Thomas Frank’s Brentford at Stamford Bridge back on Sunday afternoon.

It was a deserved 2 – 1 victory for the Blues in West London that day, finding the back of the Bees’ net thanks to goals from Marc Cucurella (43’) and Nicolas Jackson (80’) either side of the half time break. It was Bryan Mbeumo who was able to score the sole goal for the visitors (90’) in what was a vital win and three points for Chelsea on that day.

The win for the Blues sees them strengthen their grip on second place in the 2024/25 Premier League table, with them now on 34 points from their 16 matches in the English Top Flight to date. They are now just 2 points adrift of the league leaders Liverpool following the results from this weekend.

It was Chelsea who had the most possession with no less than 61.7% possession compared with the 38.3% for Brentford. It was also Enzo Maresca and his Blues side who had the most shots on target with 8, whilst Brentford had 4.

Chelsea’s next game will see them take on Irish outfit Shamrock Rovers on the sixth and final matchday of the 2024/25 UEFA Conference League’s League Phase at Stamford Bridge in what is a 20:00 Kick-Off on Thursday 19th December 2024.

Then, the Blues’ next Premier League game will see them take on Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday 22nd December 2024 in a 14:00 Kick-Off. Chelsea’s next home league match will see them face their West London rivals Fulham at Stamford Bridge in a 15:00 Kick-Off on Thursday 26th December.

Manchester City 1 – 2 Manchester United (Etihad Stadium)

We now move on to the weekend’s highly anticipated Manchester Derby between Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City and Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United at the Etihad Stadium on the afternoon of Sunday 15th December 2024.

It was a very entertaining game, where there was plenty of late drama in what was a 2 – 1 win for Manchester United and Ruben Amorim. City took the lead late on in the first half thanks to a free header from their Croatian central defender Josko Gvardiol after he had met a deflected cross into the box from Kevin De Bruyne (36’).

Then, in the latter stages of the second half, a successfully converted spot kick from midfielder Bruno Fernandes brought the Red Devils back onto level terms at 1 – 1 at the Etihad Stadium (88’). Just two minutes later, Amad Diallo, who had been excellent all game, scored the winner in emphatic style in the dying embers of what was a highly engrossing contest (90’).

The possession on the day was dominated by Man City, who had slightly more of the ball, with 51.8% compared with United’s 48.2%. With three, both clubs had the same number of shots on target, with both also having 10 shots overall.

This result saw City drop down to 5th place following Nottingham Forest’s comeback victory against Aston Villa, whilst United remained in 13th place despite the win in the derby. The Red Devils are now just 2 points adrift of 7th place, and 3 adrift of the aforementioned Aston Villa in 6th.

Manchester City’s next game will be an away trip to Villa Park to face Unai Emery’s Aston Villa in B6 on Saturday 21st December, in what will be a 12:30 Kick-Off in the Second City. City’s next home game will see them face Sean Dyche’s Everton at the Etihad Stadium on Thursday 26th December in what is a 12:30 Kick-Off.

Liverpool 2 – 2 Fulham (Anfield)

We will now move on to the fixture between Arne Slot’s Liverpool and Marco Silva’s Fulham at Anfield on the afternoon of Saturday 14th December in what was an enthralling 2 – 2 draw on the Red Side of Merseyside.

Fulham’s Brazilian midfielder Andreas Pereira gave the visiting side the lead early on in the first half with barely more than ten minutes having elapsed on Merseyside (11’). Andy Robertson’s sending off saw Liverpool go down to ten men just a few moments later (17’).

Cody Gakpo put the Reds on level terms with a goal early on in the second half (47’), before Rodrigo Muniz looked as if he might have scored the winning goal for the Cottagers late on in the second half (76’) before they managed to find a crucial equaliser thanks to a late goal from Diogo Jota (86’).

The result ensured Liverpool’s spot at the summit of the current 2024/25 Premier League table with a 2 point gap separating them from current runner-up Chelsea. The Reds now have a total of 36 points to their name so far. As for Fulham, they have risen up to 8th place with a total of 24 points overall with just a four point gap separating them from the top four.

It was Liverpool who had the most possession of the ball with 61.3% compared with 38.7% for the visitors that day at Anfield. The hosts also had the most shots on target in the game with 4, whilst Fulham had 3.

Liverpool’s next face Southampton away from home in the Quarter Finals of the 2024/25 Carabao Cup on a 20:00 Kick-Off on the evening of Wednesday 18^th December. Then, Arne Slot’s Reds will take on Tottenham Hotspur at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a 16:30 Kick-Off on Sunday 22^nd December 2024.

The next home game in the Premier League for Arne Slot’s Liverpool face Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s newly promoted Leicester City side at Anfield in what is going to be a 20:00 Kick-Off on Thursday 26^th December.

Arsenal 0 – 0 Everton (Emirates Stadium)

We now come to the draw between Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal and an Everton team led by Sean Dyche in the 2024/25 Premier League season at the Emirates Stadium in North London on the afternoon of Saturday 14th December 2024 in what was a 0 – 0 draw.

It was a goalless draw between these two teams, with neither club managing to find the back of their opponents’ net to take home all three points. This point sees Arsenal remain in third place with a total of 30 points to their name, with a 4 point gap separating them from their London rivals Chelsea in second place, whilst the Gunners are also just 6 points adrift of league leaders Liverpool.

It was Arsenal who completely dominated the game overall, with the most possession out of these two teams on the day at the Emirates Stadium, with no less than 76.6% of the ball compared with Everton’s 23.4%. The Toffees also failed to register a shot on target, whilst the Blues’ opponents Arsenal had 5 on target.

The next game for Arsenal will see them face fellow London Club Crystal Palace, led by their Austrian Head Coach Oliver Glasner in the Carabao Cup Quarter Final in what will be a 19:30 Kick-Off on Wednesday 18^th December. They then face Palace again in the Premier League, this time at Selhurst Park, in a 17:30 kick-off on the evening of Saturday 21^st December 2024.

The next home Premier League game for the Gunners will see them face Kieran McKenna’s newly promoted Ipswich Town side at the Emirates Stadium in a 20:15 Kick-Off on Friday 27^th December. This will be a game where Mikel Arteta’s side will be looking for yet another vital three points.

Nottingham Forest 2 – 1 Aston Villa (The City Ground)

Finally, we now move on to the game between Nuno Espirito Santo’s Nottingham Forest and Unai Emery’s Aston Villa at the City Ground in the East Midlands on the evening of Saturday 14th December 2024.

In the end, it was to be a narrow 2 – 1 defeat for visiting Villa. They did take the lead midway through the second half through an emphatic header from Jhon Duran (63’). Villa Stopper Emiliano Martinez did manage to make a world-class save from an effort from Nicolas Dominguez, whilst an effort from Chris Wood was ruled out for offside with less than ten minutes to go in the game (85’).

Nikola Milenkovic did eventually give Forest their goal to equalise against Villa, putting them on level terms late on in this tense contest (87’). It was Anthony Elanga who scored his first of the season to seal the win for the hosts Forest with them securing all three points deep into second half stoppage time in the dying embers of this game.

Aston Villa’s next home game sees Unai Emery’s side come face to face with the reigning Premier League Champions Manchester City at Villa Park in what is a 12:30 Kick-Off on the afternoon of Saturday 21^st December 2024.

Other Results

Below are all of the other results from the most recent weekend of enthralling action in the 2024/25 Premier League season:

• Brighton 1 – 3 Crystal Palace (Amex Stadium) – Marc Guehi OG (87’); Trevoh Chalobah (27’), & Ismaila Sarr (33’, 82’).
• Newcastle United 4 – 0 Leicester City (St. James’s Park) – Jacob Murphy (30’, 60’), Bruno Guimaraes (47’), & Alexander Isak (50’).
• Wolves 1 – 2 Ipswich Town (Molineux) – Matheus Cunha (72’); Matt Doherty OG (15’) & Jack Taylor (90+4’).

There is only one match to go on Matchweek 16, which will see Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth take on Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham United at the Vitality Stadium on the South Coast in a 20:00 Kick-Off on the evening of Monday 16^th December.

Carabao Cup Quarter Final

Ahead of the Premier League action this weekend, a number of clubs from the Premier League will be competing for a Semi Final place in their Carabao Cup Quarter Final ties in midweek. All of the fixtures are below:

• Arsenal vs. Crystal Palace (Emirates Stadium) – Wednesday 18^th December, 19:30 Kick-Off.
• Newcastle United vs. Brentford (St. James’s Park) – Wednesday 18^th December, 19:45 Kick-Off.
• Southampton vs. Liverpool (St. Mary’s Stadium) – Wednesday 18^th December, 20:00 Kick-Off.
• Tottenham vs. Manchester United (Tottenham Hotspur Stadium) – Thursday 19^th December, 20:00 Kick-Off.

Excitement and anticipation are building ahead of the start of the latest round of action to get underway in the 2024/25 Premier League season across the country this weekend.

There is no better way to watch world-class football than with an Eventmasters VIP Hospitality Package. Book now to avoid disappointment!