By Victor Kanayo
After losing the fourth round clash of Carabao Cup on Thursday December 22, 2022, Liverpool found their winning formula during their English Premier League (EPL) boxing day return against spirited Aston Villa on Monday, after one month of 2022 World Cup break.
Brilant goals from Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Stefan Bajcetic ensured the Reds recorded a third successive league win for the first time this season and reduced the gap to the Champions League places to five points.
Earlier, at King Power Stadium, Leicester City fell flat to Newcastle United 3-0, a victory which propelled the Magpies to second on the table.
Despite having played twice more, the win for Eddie Howe’s side takes them above Manchester City into second, and four points behind leaders Arsenal.
Similarly, Harry Kane shook off any World Cup hangover to spark a Tottenham Hotspur revival in an entertaining 2-2 draw away at Brentford as the Premier League roared back to life.
An early goal by Vitaly Janelt and Ivan Toney’s close-range goal shortly after the interval put Brentford 2-0 up as Tottenham struggled to deal with their hosts.
But Antonio Conte’s side have made a habit of playing their best football when trailing and so it proved again.
Kane, whose missed penalty just over a fortnight ago condemned England to a quarter-final defeat by France, headed home in the 65th minute to throw his side a lifeline.
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, one of five Tottenham starters who featured at the World Cup, then levelled with a calm finish and Kane almost won it with a header against the crossbar.
Tottenham are in fourth place with 30 points while Brentford are ninth ahead of the rest of the day’s fixtures.
Brighton were also rampant in their game against struggling Southampton.
The result saw Brighton move up to sixth with Southampton dropping to the foot of the table, one point adrift of 18th-placed Wolves and two points behind 19th-placed Everton, who faced off at Goodison Park.
And it looked as if the points were going to be shared until a last-gasp winner from Rayan Ait Nouri earned Wolves a special three points to move within a point of safety in Julen Lopetegui’s first game in charge.
Yerry Mina had given Everton an early lead with a header from a perfectly-delivered Dwight McNeil corner, before Daniel Podence cancelled out the opener in the 22nd minute with a sneaky finish at the back post.
However, it was Nouri’s thunderous close-range finish five minutes into added time that stole all three points for Wolves.
There was more drama at Selhurst Park as Fulham made the most of a depleted Crystal Palace side, who had two players sent off.
Arsenal will later on Monday night face West ham United in what promises an entertaining, yet a cracker of sorts.
