Liverpool maintained their 4-point cushion at the top of the Premier League with a thrilling 4-3 win over Crystal Palace. Wolverhampton Wanderers edged out Leicester City by the same margin. Arsenal beat Chelsea 2-0 -- and made Maurizio Sarri go full Jose Mourinho. Manchester United strolled to another win, 2-1 over Brighton and Hove Albion. Barcelona beat Leganes 3-1 to maintain a five-point gap at the top of La Liga. Real Madrid beat Sevilla 2-0 to climb over them and into third... they...

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought smiles back to Manchester United, while Manchester City suffered a shock defeat this weekend. Elsewhere, Lionel Messi did Lionel Messi things (again) as Real Madrid went on to win the Club World Cup. 

It's been an eventful weekend in football, and here are the best numbers from it:

2

Since 2010, there have only been two instances in which a player from Europe's Top 5 Leagues has at least 15 goals and 10 assists through 17 match days. On both occasions, it's...

MANCHESTER, England -- Heading into this weekend of matches before Christmas, Jurgen Klopp claimed that Manchester City don't have any weaknesses. Pep Guardiola didn't buy this foray into mind games and, crucially, neither did Roy Hodgson, who set up his Crystal Palace side perfectly to pull off an unlikely three-point heist from the Etihad Stadium.

City's title challenge is under pressure from Liverpool in a way that it never was at any stage in their record-breaking stroll last season, and...

MANCHESTER, England -- Three points on Manchester 0-0 Crystal Palace in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

1. United struggles continue

In seasons gone by, this would have been a routine afternoon for United but not anymore. A home game against a team who have not won a league match at Old Trafford since 1989 arriving on the back of a winless run stretching back to September would have meant a comfortable 2-0 win. Not quite.

Nothing is routine for United this season, and you can be sure of...

LONDON -- Three points on Tottenham's 1-0 win at Crystal Palace in Saturday's evening Premier League fixture.

1. Foyth heads Spurs to another away win

Tottenham continue to grind out results despite their injury woes after Juan Foyth's second-half header gave them their third successive 1-0 away win at Crystal Palace.

Spurs have had to play five games in the past 13 days and have lost a series of players to the treatment room, yet they've won their past four matches while only narrowly losing...

LONDON -- Three thoughts on Chelsea's 3-1 win vs. Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

1. Morata sends Chelsea second

Alvaro Morata does not exactly radiate confidence as a centre-forward (as his manager admitted even after this game) Quite the opposite, in fact: More often than not, he can look uncertain, nervous and lacking the sort of ego that powers someone like Diego Costa, his predecessor at Stamford Bridge. His current demeanour, though, should betray growing belief.

Morata scored twice...