National soccer player Kai Havertz and Arsenal FC go into the Christmas break of the English Premier League as league leaders.
The Gunners fought for a valuable 1:1 (1:1) in the top game against pursuers FC Liverpool with team manager Jürgen Klopp. The Reds are still a point behind because Trent Alexander-Arnold only hit the crossbar in the final phase (72nd).
The summit meeting began with a cold shower for Klopp: Brazilian Gabriel (4th) quickly gave Arsenal the lead with a header. A wild game then developed. First Liverpool were denied a penalty after a handball by Martin Odegaard, then Mo Salah (29th) equalized from a distance. With 151 goals, the Egyptian is now alone in tenth place in the ranking of the best Premier League shooters, with Alan Shearer (260) leading the way.
Even after the equalizer, the top game kept its promise. Things got spectacular after a duel between Bukayo Saka and Konstantinos Tsimikas on the outside line. Tsimikas went down, cleared Klopp – and had to be replaced with shoulder pain. After the break, Liverpool were in control, but it wasn’t enough to move into first place.
Next setback for Manchester United
Meanwhile, Manchester United suffered another setback. The record champions lost 0-2 (0-0) at West Ham United and are increasingly losing sight of the coveted Champions League places after the fourth competitive game in a row without scoring their own goal.
Jarrod Bowen (72nd) and Mohammed Kudus (78th) scored for the Conference League winners, who overtook Manchester in the table. Thilo Kehrer did not play for the hosts.
History was written in the game between FC Fulham around German national goalkeeper Bernd Leno and newly promoted FC Burnley (0:2). At Craven Cottage, Rebecca Welch became the first female referee to referee a match in the English Premier League.