The Premier League table
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man City | 17 | 41 | 49 |
| 2 | Man Utd | 17 | 26 | 38 |
| 3 | Chelsea | 17 | 17 | 35 |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 17 | 16 | 31 |
| 5 | Liverpool | 17 | 14 | 31 |
| 6 | Burnley | 17 | 4 | 31 |
| 7 | Arsenal | 17 | 10 | 30 |
| 8 | Leicester | 17 | 4 | 26 |
| 9 | Watford | 17 | -3 | 22 |
| 10 | Everton | 17 | -8 | 22 |
| 11 | Southampton | 17 | -6 | 18 |
| 12 | Huddersfield | 17 | -17 | 18 |
| 13 | Brighton | 17 | -9 | 17 |
| 14 | AFC Bournemouth | 17 | -5 | 16 |
| 15 | Stoke | 17 | -17 | 16 |
| 16 | Newcastle | 17 | -10 | 15 |
| 17 | West Brom | 17 | -10 | 14 |
| 18 | Crystal Palace | 17 | -16 | 14 |
| 19 | West Ham | 17 | -18 | 14 |
| 20 | Swansea | 17 | -13 | 12 |
Match report: Tottenham 2-0 Brighton
Paul MacInnes was at Wembley to see Tottenham record a comfortable victory over Brighton.
Match report: West Ham 0-0 Arsenal
West Ham followed up their win against Chelsea by taking a point off Arsenal, writes David Hytner.
Match report: Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth
Romelu Lukaku struck to win all three points for Manchester United in a tightly fought contest against Bournemouth.
Match report: Liverpool 0-0 West Brom
Jurgen Klopp recalled his star forwards but they couldn’t manage a goal between them against West Brom.
Match report: Newcastle 0-1 Everton
Wayne Rooney took advantage of a Karl Darlow rick to prod home and win all three points for Everton. Newcastle have lost seven out of their past eight games.
Match report: Southampton 1- 4 Leicester City
Paul Doyle witnessed a triumphant return to Saint Mary’s for Leicester City manager Claude Puel, who was sacked by Southampton during the summer.
Match report: Swansea City 0-4 Man City
Ben Fisher was at the Liberty Stadium for the Guardian to witness another Manchester City masterclass.
Full time: Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth
Romelu Lukaku got the only goal of the game as Manchester United survived a late Bournemouth assault to clinch all three points.
Full time: West Ham 0-0 Arsenal
A great result for West Ham, but they could have nicked this game at the death. Javier Hernandez will be having nightmares about his late miss.
Full-time: Liverpool 0-0 West Brom
Jurgen Klopp gets criticised for only fielding two of his four star forwards against Everton. He dult picks them for a home match against West Brom and the match ends scoreless. Go figure.
Meanwhile in the FA Cup: It’s finished Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Blackburn in their second round replay.
SCENES AT THE LONDON STADIUM!!! West Ham substitute Javier Hernandez has somehow hit the cross bar from seven yards out after being teed up by Mark Noble in the wake of some hideously bad Arsenal defending. How did he miss? The ball bounced down, he tried to claim it crossed the line, but it was some way short.
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GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 Brighton
Christian Eriksen whips the ball to the near post from a free-kick and Hueng-Min Son flicks it home.
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Scottish Premiership full-times ...
Wins for Celtic, Rangers, Partick Thistle and Aberdeen ...
- Celtic 3-1 Hamilton
- Hibernian 1-2 Rangers
- Partick Thistle 3-2 Motherwell
- St Johnstone 0-3 Aberdeen
Disallowed goal at Anfield: Dominic Solanke gets the ball in the net for Liverpool, only for his effort to be disallowed for hand-ball. It wasn’t intentional but his arm was raised and the ball went in off it. He gets booked, which seems harsh. It remains Liverpool 0-0 West Brom.
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Full time: Newcastle 0-1 Everton
There was a late, late red card at St James’ Park, with Jonjo Shelvey getting a straight red for a clumsy tackle on Idrissa Gueye in the fourth minute of injury time. That’s his second of the season, while Newcastle have now lost seven of their past eight games.
Full time: Southampton 1-4 Leicester City
Claude Puel wins the Claude Puel derby, his Leicester City side trouncing the club that sacked him for being too boring during the summer.
Full-time: Swansea City 0-4 Manchester City
Manchester City set a new Premier League record with their 15th consecutive win, against a Swansea side that will stay anchored to the bottom of the table.
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Meanwhile in Scotland: Nervy times for bottom side Partick Thistle, who had led Motherwell 3-0. A Craig Tanner goal on 79 minutes means it’s now 3-2 and there’s one minute of normal time left.
GOAL! Swansea City 0-4 Manchester City
Sergio Aguero gets on the scoresheet for Manchester City, who are riffing, be-bopping and scatting all over Swansea City’s pain.
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A howler from Petr Cech: Arsenal’s goalkeeper makes a complete dog’s breakfast of an attempted clearance, punching the ball but succeeding only in sending it spinning up in the air and dropping for Marko Arnautovic. With a practically open goal gaping, he doesn’t get much purchase on his scuffed shot, allowing Nacho Monreal to get across and hack the ball off the line. Woeful goalkeeping and a shocking miss from Arnautovic.
Lacazette warming up at the London Stadium: Arsenal’s French striker Alexandre Lacazette made way for Olivier Giroud tonight, but is warming up with extreme prejudice on the touchline at the London Stadium. He’ll be on soon.
Arsenal go close: It’s still scoreless at the London Stadium, where the rain is bucketing down and Arsenal have West Ham under siege but just can’t score. Mesut Ozil misses two good chances in quick succession, putting the second one inexplicably wide of the upright when he should have scored.
GOAL! Southampton 1-4 Leicester
A fourth for Leicester on the counter-attack, with Okazaki getting his second as he fires home after getting on the end of a cross from Riyad Mahrez. That’s his first ever Premier League brace.
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Meanwhile in Scotland
- Celtic 3-1 Hamilton
- Hibernian 1-2 Rangers
- Partick Thistle 3-1 Motherwell
- St Johnstone 0-3 Aberdeen
David should have been bald forever 😂😂😂 what a player 😍
— Benjamin Mendy (@benmendy23) December 13, 2017
GOAL! Southampton 1-3 Leicester City
From a corner, Mayo Yoshida pulls a goal back for Southampton against Leicester at St Mary’s although Dusan Tadic may have got the final decisive touch. Interestingly, the last time Leicester City led anyone 3-0 at half-time was against Wolves, in – I think – 2004. They ended up losing 4-3.
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More goals in Scotland: Ryan Bowman scores his seventh of the season to pull a goal back for Motherwell against the Scottish Premiership’s bottom placed side, Partick Thistle. It’s 3-1 at Firhill Stadium.
From the Guardian's Paul doyle at St Mary's
He’s going out on a limb and making a big prediction on this one, is Doyler! He’s never been afraid to make the big calls.
Leicester continuing to rip Saints apart. No telling what the score will be here, but an away win is guaranteed ....
— Paul Doyle (@Paul_Doyle) December 13, 2017
GOAL! Swansea City 0-3 Man City
Raheem Sterling and David Silva combine for the latter to lift the ball over Lucasz Fabianski and extend Manchester City’s lead against the drowning Swans.
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Hmmm! Jurgen Klopp was much maligned for leaving two of his Fab Four – Philippe Coutinho and Roberto Firmino – on the bench against Everton at the weekend. All four members of the quartet are playing against West Brom tonight and they’ve mustered the sum total of no shots on goal in 44 minutes of the first half.
GOAL! Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Brighton
Serge Aurier scores with a complete fluke - a cross that drifts high over Mathew Ryan and in at the far post.
40 - @Serge_aurier grabs his first Spurs goal in bizarre fashion as his cross evades everyone and flies into the far corner!
— Tottenham Hotspur (@SpursOfficial) December 13, 2017
⚪️ #THFC 1-0 #BHAFC 🔵
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Scottish Premiership half-times
- Celtic 3-1 Hamilton
- Hibernian 1-2 Rangers
- Partick Thistle 3-0 Motherwell
- St Johnstone 0-2 Aberdeen
FA Cup second round replay
- Crewe Alexandra 0-1 Blackburn Rovers
Two quick goals for Rangers: Anything Celtic can do, Rangers can do not quite as quickly: Josh Windass and Alfredo Morelos score a quick-fire double to put their side 2-1 up against Hibs.
Celtic score two in two minutes: Brendan Rodgers’ side now lead Hamilton Accies 3-1, with James Forrest and Scott Sinclair scoring their second and third goals in the 40th and 41st minutes.
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GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Bournemouth
Romelu Lukaku has ended his goal drought, firing Manchester United ahead against Bournemouth. He leapt higher than anyone else to head home Juan Mata’s cross.
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GOAL! Southampton 0-3 Leicester City
Another goal in the Claude Puel Derby: Claude Puel is making the Southampton staff and supporters who were so sniffy about his style of football that they handed him his P45 during the summer look very, very silly indeed. Puel is winning the Claude Puel Derby at a canter, with Andy King putting Leicester 3-0 up after 38 minutes.
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Aberdeen double their lead: Kari Arnason makes it St Johnstone 0-2 Aberdeen, heading home from close range at a corner after 33 minutes.
GOAL! Swansea City 0-2 Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne makes it 2-0 as Manchester City pile the hurt on Swansea City, who could conceivably be four or five goals down already.
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Meanwhile in Scotland: Hamilton have equalised against Celtic, with Daniel Redmond equalising for the Accies after 29 minutes. It’s 1-1 at Celtic Park.
GOAL! Southampton 0-2 Leicester City
Shinji Okazaki doubles Leicester’s lead from point-blank range after Fraser Forster elects to save a low drive with his feet, inadvertently teeing up the Leicester striker.
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West Ham have a goal disallowed against Arsenal: A completely unmarked Marko Arnautovic sends a downward header past Petr Cech and appears to open the scoring for West Ham, prompting wild celebrations from David Moyes. He was half-a-yard offside so it won’t count. A let-off for Arsenal.
GOAL! Newcastle 0-1 Everton
Wayne Rooney prods home his 10th of the season and fifth in four games, pouncing to capitalise on a mistake from Karl Darlow, who dropped the ball and gifted Everton their opener.
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GOAL! Swansea City 0-1 Manchester City
Swansea gift possession to Manchester City while trying to play the ball out of defence and seconds later David Silva flicks home to put Manchester City a goal to the good.
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Another goal in Scotland: Adam Rooney has fired Aberdeen ahead of St Johnstone. The Irishman was last spotted comparing the size of his “bawballs” with those of James T Kirk on Twitter a day ago. No, really ...
🤔Would it be ‘naff to tell @17AdamRooney that my bawbells are bigger than his? #sizematters 😝 https://t.co/LSA954nJYo
— William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) December 12, 2017
😂😂 you may have the bigger bawballs but it’s the size of the tree they’re dangling from that counts!! 👀🌲 #CheckYerBawballs
— Adam Rooney (@17AdamRooney) December 12, 2017
Another goal in Scotland: Partick Thistle have taken the lead against Motherwell, with Blair Spittal doing the honours in the 16th minute. Meanwhile south of the border, all tonight’s Premier League matches are now being played.
A couple of goals in Scotland: Lewis Stevenson has volleyed Hibs in front against Rangers, while Celtic lead Hamilton 1-0 courtesy of an Olivier Ntcham strike in the 12th minute.
GOAL! Southampton 0-1 Leicester City
Riyad Mahrez scores the first Premier League goal of the night, beating a couple of defenders and finding the far corner for Leicester from all of 25 yards in the 11th minute.
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A penalty shout at St James’ Park: Everton full-back Cuco Martina brings down DeAndre Yedlin on the edge of the box, prompting Rafa Benitez to appeal for a penalty from Martin Atkinson. It’s outside the area and Newcastle have to settle for a free-kick. Nothing comes of it.
More rotation from Jurgen Klopp
Jurgen Klopp is fielding his Fab Four of Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino, Moahmed Salah and Philippe Coutinho, but Lorius Karius is in goal for the injured Simon Mignolet. James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Jordan Henderson are on the bench, while Emre Can, Georgino Wijnaldum and Trent Alexander-Arnold all start.
For West Brom, still looking for their first win under Alan Pardew, Hal Robson-Kanu, Grzegorz Krychowiak and James McClean all come into the starting eleven, with Jay Rodriguez and Sam Field among those making way.
Our 7.45pm (GMT) kick-offs are under way ...
It’s game on between ...
- Newcastle v Everton
- Southampton v Leicester
- Swansea City v Manchester City
Erik Lamela starts for Spurs
The Argentinian starts his first game for Tottenham in more than a year after putting a hip problem behind him. Moussa Sissoko starts in midfield, while Danny Rose and Serge Aurier start against Brighton as full-backs. Dele Alli is on the bench, rested alongside Mousa Dembele, Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton makes five changes from the side that lost against Huddersfield at the weekend: Tomer Hemed, Gaetan Bong, Beram Kayal, Anthony Knockaert and Jose Izquierdo are in. Bruno, Pascal Gross, Glenn Murray, Isaiah Brown and Markus Suttner are out.
Jack Wilshere in for Arsenal
The midfielder makes his first Premier League start since May last year, as one of four changes in the Arsenal team that drew with Southampton at the weekend. Ainsley Maitland-Niles starts his first Premier League match for Arsenal, while Alex Iwobi and Olivier Giroud are also in. Alexandre Lacazette, Sead Kolasinac, Per Mertesacker and the injured Aaron Ramsey make way. West Ham manager David Moyes fields the same XI that started against Chelsea last Saturday.
Liverpool v West Brom line-ups
Liverpool: Karius, Alexander-Arnold, Lovren, Klavan, Robertson, Wijnaldum, Can, Coutinho, Salah, Firmino, Mane.
Subs: Milner, Gomez, Henderson, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Mignolet, Ings, Solanke.
West Brom: Foster, Nyom, Hegazi, Evans, Gibbs, Livermore, Yacob, Krychowiak, Robson-Kanu, Rondon, McClean.
Subs: Brunt, Myhill, Burke, Rodriguez, McAuley, Field, Ferguson.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Lancashire)
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West Ham v Arsenal line-ups
West Ham: Adrian, Zabaleta, Reid, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Obiang, Noble, Arnautovic, Lanzini, Masuaku, Antonio.
Subs: Carroll, Sakho, Hernandez, Collins, Ayew, Hart, Rice.
Arsenal: Cech, Bellerin, Koscielny, Monreal, Maitland-Niles, Wilshere, Xhaka, Iwobi, Ozil, Sanchez, Giroud.
Subs: Lacazette, Ospina, Chambers, Welbeck, Kolasinac, Coquelin, Elneny.
Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire)
Tottenham Hotspur v Brighton line-ups
Tottenham Hotspur: Lloris, Aurier, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Sissoko, Winks, Lamela, Eriksen, Son, Kane.
Subs: Trippier, Vorm, Llorente, Dembele, Alli, Foyth, Davies.
Brighton: Ryan, Schelotto, Duffy, Dunk, Bong, Propper, Stephens, Knockaert, Kayal, Izquierdo, Hemed.
Subs: Saltor, Gross, Murray, Goldson, March, Krul, Brown.
Referee: Robert Madley (West Yorkshire)
Manchester United v Bournemouth line-ups
Man Utd: De Gea, Valencia, Smalling, Jones, Shaw, Mata, Matic, Martial, Lingard, McTominay, Lukaku.
Subs: Lindelof, Ibrahimovic, Blind, Young, Rashford, Romero, Ander Herrera.
Bournemouth: Begovic, Adam Smith, Francis, Ake, Daniels, Callum Wilson, Gosling, Arter, Fraser, Stanislas, King.
Subs: Boruc, Steve Cook, Surman, Afobe, Lewis Cook, Defoe, Ibe.
Referee: Graham Scott (Oxfordshire)
Southampton v Leicester City line-ups
Southampton: Forster, Cedric, van Dijk, Yoshida, Bertrand, Romeu, Lemina, Tadic, Davis, Boufal, Austin.
Subs: Stephens, Long, McCarthy, Ward-Prowse, Gabbiadini, Redmond, Hojbjerg.
Leicester: Schmeichel, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Fuchs, Ndidi, King, Mahrez, Okazaki, Chilwell, Vardy.
Subs: Gray, Albrighton, Hamer, Dragovic, Amartey, Iborra, Ulloa.
Referee: Chris Kavanagh (Lancashire)
Newcastle United v Everton line-ups
Newcastle: Darlow, Yedlin, Lascelles, Lejeune, Manquillo, Shelvey, Merino, Ritchie, Diame, Atsu, Gayle.
Subs: Elliot, Clark, Murphy, Hayden, Aarons, Perez, Joselu.
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Holgate, Williams, Martina, Gueye, Lennon, Schneiderlin, Rooney, Sigurdsson, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Keane, Jagielka, Niasse, Davies, Vlasic, Lookman, Robles.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
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Swansea City v Manchester City line-ups
Swansea: Fabianski, Naughton, van der Hoorn, Mawson, Olsson, Ki, Roque, Carroll, Ayew, Dyer, Bony.
Subs: Fer, Abraham, Narsingh, Clucas, Rangel, Mulder, Fernandez.
Man City: Ederson, Danilo, Mangala, Otamendi, Delph, De Bruyne, Fernandinho, Silva, Sterling, Aguero, Bernardo Silva.
Subs: Bravo, Walker, Gundogan, Sane, Gabriel Jesus, Alexander Zinchenko, Toure.
Referee: Anthony Taylor (Cheshire)
Meanwhile in Scotland ....
There’s a busy night of top flight fitba action, with league leaders Celtic entertaining Hamilton Academical and hoping to take their unbeaten domestic run to 69 games.
It’s a fairly remarkable record, even it has been punctuated with some embarrassing shellackings in Europe. One can’t help but feel these hidings might not happen with such regularity if Celtic were tested by better quality opposition in the Scottish Premiership on a more frequent basis.
Elsewhere, second-placed Rangers travel to Hibs, while bottom-placed Partick Thistle entertain Motherwell. St Johnstone, down in seventh take on third-placed Aberdeen. In last night’s fixtures, Hearts beat Dundee to go fifth, while Ross County and Kilmarnock drew 2-2 at the Global Energy Stadium.
Tonight's Premier League action ...
We have seven top flight games to stay across tonight, with ... er, second place in this year’s Premier League still being hotly contested as we approach the halfway point of December. Runaway leaders Manchester City travel to Swansea City, where all available evidence suggests they are unlikely to meet much resistance, while Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are also in action. The first matches start 7.45pm (GMT), so stay tuned for team news and build-up ahead of kick-off.
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