Opta’s Festive Hamper

THE Christmas period is by far the busiest time of the year with regards to the domestic season, with little time between games offering plenty of thrills and spills to the merriment, or disgruntlement, of fans.

The festive period is also seen by many as the first true milestone of a season when it comes to the league standings, roughly falling in and around the halfway point of a campaign.

2024-25 is no exception, with non-Merseyside clubs playing 17 of the other 19 teams so far, though despite playing a game fewer, it’s Arne Slot’s Liverpool topping the tree ahead of Boxing Day.

Off the back of a scintillating 6-3 victory over Tottenham, the Reds have a four-point lead over Chelsea in second in what has been a fabulous start to the Dutchman’s tenure at Anfield.

With 39 points from 16 games so far, only two previous managers have attained more in their first 16 games in the competition, highlighting just how smooth the transition has been following Jürgen Klopp’s departure in the summer.

PL All Time	Manager	Team	GP	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
14-Dec-16	Antonio Conte	Chelsea	16	13	1	2	34	11	23	40
12-Sep-98	John Gregory	Aston Villa	16	13	1	2	28	11	17	40
04-Dec-04	José Mourinho	Chelsea	16	12	3	1	31	6	25	39
22-Dec-24	Arne Slot	Liverpool	16	12	3	1	37	16	21	39
03-Jan-16	Guus Hiddink	Chelsea	16	12	3	1	29	11	18	39
12-Dec-09	Carlo Ancelotti	Chelsea	16	12	1	3	40	13	27	37
06-Dec-08	Felipe Scolari	Chelsea	16	11	3	2	35	6	29	36
12-Jan-08	Avram Grant	Chelsea	16	11	3	2	28	10	18	36
08-May-21	Thomas Tuchel	Chelsea	16	10	5	1	22	9	13	35

Despite the Reds’ strong start, it is indeed just that, with plenty of football still to be played between now and the season’s climax in May. In fact, of the previous 32 Premier League seasons, it’s an even split between sides sitting top at Christmas and those who actually going on to lift the title at the end of the season (16/32).

Premier League – Top at Christmas	Season	Final Pos
Norwich City	1993	3
Newcastle United	1996	2
Liverpool	1997	4
Manchester United	1998	2
Aston Villa	1999	6
Leeds United	2000	3
Newcastle United	2002	4
Arsenal	2003	2
Manchester United	2004	3
Arsenal	2008	3
Liverpool	2009	2
Liverpool	2014	2
Liverpool	2019	2
Liverpool	2021	3
Arsenal	2023	2
Arsenal	2024	2

Four of the last six seasons have seen the side top at this stage fail to go on and win the title, with Arsenal finishing runners-up in each of the last two campaigns.

With the likeliest challengers to Liverpool seemingly Chelsea and Arsenal, four and six points behind respectively, neither of those would break the top five when it comes to the biggest points gaps at this stage, before subsequently winning the title.

Arsenal’s 13-point deficit in 1997-98 remains the total to beat, while Manchester United in 1995-96 are the only side to run down a deficit of double figures to finish as league champions (10). Manchester City are currently 12 points off top spot on an unrelated note.

End of Day	Premier League at Christmas	Season	Final Pos	Pts Behind Top
6	Arsenal	1998	1	13
2	Manchester United	1996	1	10
8	Manchester City	2021	1	8
5	Manchester United	1997	1	7
4	Manchester United	2009	1	7
5	Manchester City	2024	1	6
4	Manchester United	1993	1	5
3	Manchester United	1999	1	5
2	Manchester City	2023	1	5
3	Manchester United	2003	1	4
2	Manchester City	2019	1	4
2	Arsenal	2002	1	3
2	Manchester United	2000	1	2
2	Arsenal	2004	1	1
2	Manchester United	2008	1	1
3	Manchester City	2014	1	1

At the foot of the table, it’s Southampton that can be found propping up this season’s top-flight, with six points from their 17 games so far.

And unfortunately, for those of a Saints persuasion, being in this position at this stage of the season is much more emphatic when confirming the likelihood of survival. On just four previous occasions has a side in this position gone on to avoid relegation, with Wolves the most recent example in 2022-23.

Premier League at Christmas	Season	Final Pos	Pts From Safety
West Bromwich Albion	2005	17	5
Sunderland	2014	14	4
Leicester City	2015	14	5
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2023	13	4

The downside for Southampton is that they’re eight points off Leicester City in 17th, much higher than any previous side has had to contend with to perform the unlikely escape.

In fact, since the start of 2019-20, 11 of the 15 teams that have been in the relegation zone come Christmas Day have been relegated, with last season just the fourth time that every side in the bottom three at that stage ended up being relegated, along with 2001-02, 2012-13 and 2020-21.

To finish on a more jovial note, we take a look at those who tend to have enjoyed the Boxing Day games more than most in Premier League history, with Harry Kane probably regretting his choice of moving to a league with a winter break.

He’s the only player in the competition’s history with 10 goals on Boxing Day, and one of two players with 10 goal involvements along with Dimitar Berbatov (5 goals, 5 assists).

Premier League on Boxing Day	Goals		Premier League on Boxing Day	Assists
Harry Kane	10		Dimitar Berbatov	5
Robbie Fowler	9		Wayne Rooney	5
Alan Shearer	8		Paolo Di Canio	5
Robbie Keane	8		Michael Carrick	5
Thierry Henry	7		Mohamed Salah	4
Jermain Defoe	6		David Beckham	4
Steven Gerrard	5		Kyle Walker-Peters	4
Andrew Cole	5		Martin Ødegaard	4
Frank Lampard	5
Dimitar Berbatov	5

 

Premier League on Boxing Day	Goals	Assists	Goals+Assists
Dimitar Berbatov	5	5	10
Harry Kane	10	0	10
Wayne Rooney	4	5	9
Thierry Henry	7	2	9
Alan Shearer	8	1	9
Robbie Keane	8	1	9
Robbie Fowler	9	0	9
Steven Gerrard	5	3	8
Ryan Giggs	4	3	7

And it wouldn’t be Christmas without an appearance from Santa himself…

Premier League in December	Minutes Played	Goals (min. 5)	Mins/Goal
Diego Forlán	363	5	73
Roque Santa Cruz	846	9	94
Mick Quinn	779	8	97
Alexander Isak	712	7	102
Demba Ba	1166	11	106
Divock Origi	852	8	107
Luis Suárez	1510	14	108
Ruud van Nistelrooij	1759	16	110
Mohamed Salah	3487	31	112
Ole Gunnar Solskjær	2484	22	113

 

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