December 5th and 6th - Tottenham won the North London Derby to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Goals from Heung-Min Son and Harry Kane saw off Arsenal's challenge. That result leaves the Gunners in fifteenth place in the table with six defeats already this season. Liverpool welcomed supporters back to the Kop for the first time since becoming champions in July. The team responded magnificently with their biggest win of the season beating Wolves four-nil. Goals from Salah, Wijnaldum, Matip and an own goal saw the Reds move level on points with the leaders, just trailing on goal difference.

Chelsea had gone top of the table on Saturday night for the first time since September 2018. They beat Leeds three-one at Stamford Bridge. Patrick Bamford had opened the scoring for the visitors but goals from Giroud, Zouma and Pulisic saw Frank Lampard's side record their sixth win of the season. An injury time goal from Jamie Vardy helped Leicester win two-one at Sheffield United to remain in fourth place.

The Manchester clubs occupy fifth and sixth positions. Man United won on the road again to climb to fifth. Tomas Soucek opened the scoring for West Ham but second half goals from Pogba, Rashford and Greenwood saw the Red Devils get one over on their old boss David Moyes. Man City went easy on Fulham - two first half goals were enough to see them beat Fulham two-nil at the Etihad and climb to sixth in the table.

Elsewhere, West Brom slumped to a five-one defeat at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday - Christian Benteke and Wilfried Zaha scored a brace each in that one. The opening game of the weekend saw champions Everton held to a draw by Burnley. Robbie Brady opened the scoring only for Dominic Calvert-Lewin to earn a point for Carlo Ancelotti's side.

Three people share the lead after the opening weekend in December - Bobby Hynes, Con McSweeney and Joseph Kavanagh all opened the month with 54 points. Brendan Maguire and Fiachra O'Brolachain complete the top five - full details below:

 

December 11th to 13th - Just five points separate the top eight places in the table after the weekend's games. Tottenham still lead the way on goal difference despite dropping points at Crystal Palace. The leaders were ahead early on through Harry Kane's opener. Roy Hodgson's side hit back to earn a point though with an equaliser from Jeffrey Schlupp in the last ten minutes. Liverpool missed the chance to go two points clear when they failed to win at Fulham. They needed a penalty from Mo Salah with just twelve minutes to go to avoid defeat following Bobby Reid's opener for the hosts who were very good value for their point.

The Manchester Derby ended in a damp squib of a nil-all draw at Old Trafford with both City and United unable to break the deadlock. Chelsea lost their second game of the season, both to Merseyside opposition, when they lose one-nil at Everton on Saturday night. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the only goal, the sixth time he's scored against the Craven Cottage side.

Southampton moved into the top four with a comfortable three-nil win at home to Sheffield United - goals from Che Adams, Stuart Armstrong and Nathan Redmond saw the Saints move just two points behind the leaders. A 94th minute penalty from Anwar El-Ghazi saw Aston Villa win a tetchy midlenads derby one-nil at Wolves.

The weekend's action opened with West Ham winning two-one at Leeds. Mateusz Klich's penalty had the hosts in the lead but the Hammers hit back with goals from Tomasz Soucek and Angelo Ogbonna. The weekend's other game saw Dwight Gayle score a late winner against his former club as Newcastle beat West Brom two-one.

Sunday's late games saw Arsenal crash to a fourth consecutive home defeat. Burnley won away at the Gunners for the first time since 1974 when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang headed into his own net late on. That defeat leaves Mikel Arteta's side fifteenth in the table, just five points clear of the relegation zone. There were no such problems for Leicester who scored three times in the forst half to beat Brighton. James Maddison (2) was joined on the score sheet by Jamie Vardy as Leicester moved to within a point of the leaders.

Bobby Hynes leads the way in the December competition. He's four points clear of both Cathal Thornton and Craig Calvert. Con McSweeney and Patrick Mifsud complete the top five ahead of a busy midweek schedule - full details below:

 

December 15th to 20th - Two wins in four days leave Liverpool in a familiar place, top of the table at Christmas for the third season in a row. An injury time header by Roberto Firmino saw them beat Spurs two-one at Anfield on Wednesday night. A compelling game was settled late on after Mo Salah's opener had been cancelled out by Heung-Min Son. Better was to come for the Anfield side on Saturday lunchtime when they scored seven without reply at Crystal Palace. Firmino's refound confidence was evidenced by two goals. Minamino, Mane and Henderson joined him on the scoresheet before a late brace by substitute Mo Salah.

Leicester are second in the table despite losing two-nil at home to Everton in midweek. They went to Tottenham on Sunday afternoon and beat Jose Mourinho's side two-nil thanks to a Jamie Vardy penalty and a Toby Aldeweireld own goal. Man United are third following a three-two win at Sheffield United on Thursday night and a six-two thumping of Leeds on Sunday. Scott McTominay scored twice in the first three minutes in that one. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side can move to within two points of the leaders if they win their game in hand.

Everton followed up their midweek win at Leicester with a two-one win at home to Arsenal to move fourth. That defeat continued the Gunner's recent awful run - they drew one-all at home to Southampton with Pierre Emerick-Aubamayang equalising former player Theo Walcott's opener.

Slaven Bilic won this season's sack race earning a fifteen point bonus for four of you in the process. He was dismissed following their one-all draw at Man City on Tuesday night. City then won one-nil at Southampton on Saturday with Raheem Sterling scoring the only goal.

At the bottom, Sheffield United were denied their first win of the season by a late Danny Welbeck equaliser for Brighton on Sunday. The Blades remain five points adrift at the foot of the table with just two points from their opening fourteen games.

Elsewhere, Newcastle and Fulham shared the points after a one-all draw on Saturday night. The weekend's action concluded with Aston Villa winning the Midlands Derby three-nil at West Brom. Not the managerial bow hoped for by the returning Sam Allardyce....

Bobby Hynes retains the leade in December with a 95 point haul from the two rounds of games. He has a healthy nineteen point lead over Gareth Pierpoint in second place. Brian Prendergast has moved up to third with Brian Haughton and Cathal Thornton completing the top five - full details below:

  


December 26th and 27th - Liverpool dropped points at home for the first time this season as Sam Allardyce proved to be Jurgen Klopp's kryptonite once again. Sadio Mane's early strike looked like sending the leaders five points clear at the top. However, the longer the deficit stayed at one-nil, the 2,000 supporters on the Kop had an uneasy feeling at what was coming next. Semi Ajayi duly delivered the sucker punch with just eight minutes to go as the Baggies picked up a point, the same way they had at Man City earlier in the month.

Everton climbed to second place in the table with a one-nil win at Sheffield United. Gylfi Sigurdsson scored the only goal of the game late on at Bramall Lane as the Toffees moved into nosebleed territory. An eleven goal victory at home to Man City on Monday night will be enough to send Carlo Ancelotti's side top of the table. Man City has their usual straightforward home victory over Newcastle on Saturday - goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Ferran Torres saw Pep Guardiola's side move into the top six.

Aston Villa were the only other one of the leading sides to win. They had a straghtforward three-nil win at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday. If they win their two games in hand they'll only be a point off the lead. The surprise result of the weekend was Arsenal's three-one win at home to Chelsea. Goals from Sako, Lacazette and Xhaka earned a badly needed three points for Mikel Arteta's side and made it a happy Christmas for their long suffering supporters.

The rest of the weekend programme was dominated by draws. Leicester and Man United shared four goals at the King Power Stadium. United will look on it as points dropeed having being ahead twice. Goals from Marcus Rashford and Bruno Fernandes (not a penalty) were cancelled out by Harvey Barnes and a deflected Jamie Vardy strike. The scoreline was the same at the London Stadium where West Ham and Brighton also drew. Tottenham looked to be heading to three points at Molineux where Tanguy Ndombele scored in the first minute. Jose Mourinho's side lead for 85 minutes until Romain Saiss equalised for Wolves. The weekend's results mean that just seven points separate the top nine sides....

A solid score of 30 points leaves Bobby Hynes with a fourteen point lead heading into the final round of games in December. Brian Prendergast has swapped places with Gareth Pierpoint in second and third place. Brian Haughton remains in fourth place with Dave McGinley completing the top five - full details below:

 

December 28th to 30th - Liverpool ended the calendar year where they started it - on top of the table. However, there was more frustration for Jurgen Klopp's side as they drew their second consecutive game. This time they were held scoreless at Newcastle, missing a number of chances to claim the three points thanks to a combination of bad finishing and good goalkeeping from Karl Darlow in the home side's goal.

Man United can draw level with the leaders if they win their game in hand. They scored an injury time winner at home to Wolves in a throwback to the Fergie days. Marcus Rashford's deflected shot in the 93rd minute sent Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side into second place in the table. Leicester finished the year in third place despite being held at Crystal Palace - Everton are level on points with Brendan Rodger's side - their game against Man City fell victim to a Covid outbreak in the City squad, similarly, Fulham's game at Tottenham was also called off.

Chelsea and Aston Villa was another game which ended level. Olivier Giroud's opener for the hosts was cancelled out by Anwar El-Ghazi's equaliser. The points were also shared at St Marys where it finished scoreless between Southampton and West Ham.

Burnley moved clear of the relegation places with a one-nil win at home to Sheffield United - Ben Mee scored the only goal in the first half as the Blades sunk ever closer to relegation remaining on just two points from their sixteen games played so far this season. Leeds were the big scorers of this series of games - they scored five without reply at the Hawthorns against West Brom - there were five different scorers for Marco Bielsa's side in that one.

As expected, Bobby Hynes won the monthly competition for December. He had a sixteen point victory over Brian Prendergast in the end. Gareth Pierpoint finished third with Cathal Thornton and Alan White completing the top five for the month:

 

Premier League 2020-2021 - December Leaderboard
No.
 Lst Chg
Name
Team Name
Pts
Lst
Chg
Support the Site:
1
1
0
Bobby Hynes
Born To Run
230
213
17






2
2
0
Brian Prendergast
Mista Dobalina
214
199
15
3
3
0
Gareth Pierpoint
Alisson Wonderland
201
189
12
4
6
2
Cathal Thornton
Horse's Heroes
195
173
22
5
11
6
Alan White
Al White XI
194
167
27
6
5
-1
David McGinley
Reservoir Dubs
194
174
20
7
4
-3
Brian Haughton
Klopp's Achievers
190
178
12
8
16
8
Eamon Fox
Goals Very Important In Life
190
163
27
9
7
-2
Wayne Donovan
Sixth Senseless
190
173
17
10
26
16
Micheal Joyce
Pure Whites
189
157
32
11
19
8
George McGettigan
Right Up The Jimmy
186
161
25
12
8
-4
Niall Cannon
TAA Very Much
186
169
17
13
15
2
Robert Hynes
Charlton
186
164
22
14
9
-5
Joseph Kavanagh
Joey's Invincibles
185
168
17
15
12
-3
Kris Stainton
Da Love Be Beek
185
166
19
16
20
4
Christina Morgan
Return of the Red Dwarf
182
160
22
17
27
10
Ralph Goodwin
Sky Blue Champions
182
155
27
18
36
18
Jonathan Fox
Kilppety Klopp All The Way To The Top
181
149
32
19
10
-9
Paul Prendergast
The Untouchables
180
168
12
20
18
-2
David Cooney
Frank's Silvalinings
179
162
17
21
31
10
Richard Johnston
The Corporation Lads FC
179
152
27
22
33
11
Craig Calvert
Proper FC
178
151
27
23
17
-6
Kev Dalton
Show Me De Mane
177
163
14
24
21
-3
Patrick Mifsud
Red & Black Brigade
177
160
17
25
13
-12
Sean O'Mairtin
Creweless
177
165
12
26
23
-3
Davy Doyle
FC Twente Benson
175
158
17
27
29
2
Frank McSweeney
Poolabu
175
153
22
28
24
-4
Lionel Knott
Red Abbey Reds
175
158
17
29
14
-15
David Lavelle
Gers Abu
174
164
10
30
32
2
Ciaran Nelson
Nelson Utd
173
151
22
31
40
9
Andy Dunne
Peter Crouch Rangers
172
145
27
32
25
-7
Calvin McGettigan
Average Joe 1.0
172
157
15
33
34
1
Gerard McCluskey
Breffni Blues
172
150
22
34
28
-6
Robert Manley
Alisson Wonderland
171
154
17
35
38
3
Gary Fitzpatrick
Timo Werner Is A Hurensohn
170
148
22
36
30
-6
Joe Turner
#blocklivesmatter
170
153
17
37
35
-2
Con McSweeney
Dowtcha_Boys
169
149
20
38
45
7
Derek Brady
Liverpool
169
142
27
39
22
-17
Paul Moore
Bobby Dazzler
167
160
7
40
42
2
Dean White
Armchair 11
166
144
22
41
54
13
Gavin Goodwin
Gorey United
166
134
32
42
37
-5
Phil Doyle
FC Muertos Errantes
166
149
17
43
39
-4
Victoria Reid
Tristan's Titans
166
146
20
44
44
0
Anastas Popov
Strong Saints
165
143
22
45
57
12
Ciaran O'Hart
Riverchapel Plate
164
132
32
46
46
0
Brendan Maguire
Cantthinkofone
160
141
19
47
53
6
John Brophy
Carrig United
160
135
25
48
49
1
Liam Geraghty
Is There Any Hope?
159
137
22
49
41
-8
Brian Mullen
Mothers Milk
157
145
12
50
47
-3
Gerry Moore
Mikel's Maestros
157
140
17
51
48
-3
Javier Suarez
Hendo's Boys
157
140
17
52
51
-1
Kevin Philpott
Phillys Phylers
156
136
20
53
61
8
Liam Keohan
Invincibles
155
128
27
54
52
-2
Roisin Joyce
Roisin Joyce
155
136
19
55
58
3
Aidan White
Saved By A Goalline Technology Failure
152
130
22
56
50
-6
Philip Jordan
Frankie's Army
152
137
15
57
55
-2
Graham Goodwin
2021 Pls
151
134
17
58
43
-15
Fiachra O'Brolachain
Tallacticos
149
144
5
59
65
6
Niall Carroll
19
149
122
27
60
63
3
Darragh Kenny
The Sporting Wing
148
123
25
61
56
-5
Caroline Carroll
Prince
145
133
12
62
60
-2
Gary McGurk
This Is Our Year
145
128
17
63
59
-4
Gerry Draper
Everton10
145
130
15
64
67
3
Callum Dunne
The Keita Success
141
119
22
65
64
-1
John O'Driscoll
The Botchments
140
123
17
66
62
-4
Aidan Scanlon
Kilflynn Santos
134
124
10
67
70
3
Gavin Morgan
Bristol Fashion
132
110
22
68
66
-2
Joe Behan
MT-09
129
120
9
69
68
-1
Eoghan Farrelly
Last Chance Saloon
128
116
12
70
72
2
Niall Murray
Book Ake
127
102
25
71
69
-2
Gary Donnelly
Audrey's + 1
115
113
2
72
71
-1
Trevor Byrne
Noddy's 11
115
106
9
73
73
0
Ben Creasey
#1
40
38
2
74
74
0
Drew Armstrong
Army's All Stars
14
12
2
75
75
0
Michael Kenaney
Expected Toulouse
12
10
2