Image source, BBC Sport

Come on then, where's the title heading? Liverpool, Manchester or London?

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp says it will be a race to the final day, despite his side sitting six points clear at the top.

Match of the Day pundits Phil Neville and Danny Murphy are both backing the Reds for the title, though Neville says second-placed Tottenham have the best striker in the world in Harry Kane.

Neville also says Fernandinho's absence has been key factor behind Manchester City's successive defeats.

Liverpool have two tricky fixtures to come, with Arsenal followed by Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.

"We are together, we will work harder and we will come back with some good results. The season is very long and we have lots to fight for," said Guardiola.

Dominic Halton: Does this count as football related?

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I read an interesting piece by Ed Aarons in the Guardian, external when Ralph Hasenhuttl was appointed Southampton boss earlier this month and it unearthed some interesting facts about the former Leipzig man...

• Hasenhuttl is the first Austrian manager in the Premier League.
• He earned his badges on the same coaching course as Jurgen Klopp
• He spent two weeks on trial at Chelsea under Glenn Hoddle
• And he's a talented pianist!

Thank Ed when wheeling these out to impress your mates tonight...

Steve Claridge
Ex-Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 live

Hasenhuttl hasn’t foisted a system on Southampton players, he’s looked at what he’s got and decided: This is the best system for these players, this is how I can utilise this squad best. Hasenhuttl looks as if he’s galvanised the place. The previous one looked a little bit jaundiced. This one looks like he can’t get enough of it.

Image source, AFP

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is soundbite gold, he's already come out with these corkers...

"If you want guarantees, buy a washing machine. In football there are no guarantees."

"I'm a guy who always brings everyone in our boat to row with us."

The Austrian has been dubbed the 'Alpine Klopp', but German football expert Raphael Honigstein says Hasenhuttl is also similar to former Saints boss Mauricio Pochettino.

"Hasenhuttl has maybe achieved more than what Pochettino had done but is very much an unknown quantity," said Honigstein.

Emlyn: I received this book by 2 of your colleagues in my stocking. Its very funny!!

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Steve Claridge
Ex-Premier League striker on BBC Radio 5 live

There’s no coincidence that Nathan Redmond’s upswing has come about with a change of the manager. Last year, he, Tadic and Austin were a potent front three. This year, Redmond has had players not natural in those positions playing alongside him. The new manager has got players in who are accustomed to those positions, and it’s working.

Image source, Getty Images

So what has Ralph Hasenhuttl been doing to get a team that were struggling under Mark Hughes winning again?

My colleague Mike Whalley has been crunching the numbers, and reckons it's a matter of getting the Saints squad running more...

Hasenhuttl's outfit ran more than 114km between them in their victory over Arsenal, the greatest distance they have managed in a Premier League match this season.

The boss has also been getting the best out of Nathan Redmond's pace.

Before Saturday's win against Huddersfield, the forward had managed an average of 13 sprints per game this term - a sprint is defined by Opta as a player’s speed exceeding 25.2km per hour.A

In the Saints' victory at the John Smith's Stadium, Redmond outdid his average with a lung-busting 23 sprints.

John Murray
BBC football correspondent

This is the fixture that rounds off the first half of this Premier League season.

For most of it for Southampton it's been an arduous struggle that has suddenly burst into life under what Nathan Redmond described on Saturday as the "new ethos" of the recently appointed Ralph Hasenhuttl.

And this has also been a transformative month for West Ham. Their four wins in December mean if they can double their current tally of 24 points they would surely finish comfortably within the top half of the table.

Eden Hazard says he wants to become a "Chelsea legend" after his two goals secured victory at Watford - and took him past 100 goals for the Blues.

The 27-year-old became only the 10th player to reach that landmark when he collected Mateo Kovacic's pass, took the ball around goalkeeper Ben Foster and calmly finished in first-half injury time.

Chelsea's lead only lasted two minutes as Roberto Pereyra volleyed past Kepa Arrizabalaga from the edge of the 18-yard box to level.

But Hazard grabbed his second of the match - his 101st Chelsea goal in 322 appearances - in the second half when he converted a penalty after Foster had bundled him over.

Lloyd Evans: Totally against the whole "having one club" ideology, I got a Celtic top and a Spurs top.

Nice, reckon it's allowed when they don't play in the same country...

Brighton ended a run of three consecutive defeats by holding a disjointed Arsenal to a draw at the Amex Stadium.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang curled in the opening goal following fine work from Alexandre Lacazette after just seven minutes.

But Stephan Lichtsteiner then made a poor mistake, heading a long ball into the path of Brighton striker Jurgen Locadia, who rounded Bernd Leno to equalise on 35 minutes.

It keeps Arsenal fifth, two points off a Champions League spot.

Tottenham's clinical form over the festive period continued as they hammered Bournemouth 5-0 to make it 11 goals in four days, following a 6-2 victory at Everton.

Right-back Kyle Walker-Peters created first-half goals for Christian Eriksen, Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura, before Harry Kane added a fourth after the break and Son grabbed his second.

The win, coupled with Manchester City's defeat, saw Spurs jump to second in the table - six points behind Liverpool.

Liverpool extended their lead at the top of the Premier League to six points by beating Newcastle, with Manchester City losing at Leicester.

Goals by Dejan Lovren, Mohamed Salah from the penalty spot, Xherdan Shaqiri and substitute Fabinho ensured Jurgen Klopp's side will start 2019 at the top of the table.

And Salah will face no action from the Football Association over the incident which led to his penalty at Anfield.

The Egypt forward went down after minimal contact from Magpies defender Paul Dummett.

As there was contact between the players, it did not meet the FA's threshold for a disciplinary charge - which could have led to a two-match ban for key league games against Arsenal and Manchester City.

As we continue our round-up of yesterday's action, it's been a blue Christmas for the champions...

Manchester City suffered a second successive defeat when they were beaten 2-1 at Leicester yesterday, with Ricardo Pereira hammering in a winner with nine minutes to go.

City have suffered at the hands of wonder-strikes recently, with Andros Townsend's outstanding volley helping Crystal Palace to a win at Etihad Stadium at the weekend.

Pep Guardiola's side dropped to third as a result of this defeat and Tottenham's victory over Bournemouth.

Right, time to make us jealous - what football-themed Christmas gifts did you all bag this year?

Quirkier the better, and picture evidence is a winner... let us know on #bbcfootball or text 81111.

Ole, Ole, Ole...

Paul Pogba scored twice as Manchester United made it back-to-back wins under caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, with Nemanja Matic adding the other.

Huddersfield, who slipped to 20th position after seeing Fulham claim a point against Wolves earlier in the day, had plenty of chances of their own but their goal came too late, as Mathias Jorgensen swept home a consolation late on.

Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson says his team's wastefulness in front of goal has cost them a "lot more points" after a frustrating goalless draw against Cardiff.

Palace peppered the Cardiff goal with 31 shots, their highest number since 2003-04, with Andros Townsend flicking a shot against the crossbar and Luka Milivojevic hitting the post for the hosts.

But their failure to build upon their clinical victory at Manchester City earlier this week left Hodgson to rue the quality of their finishing.

"I'm pleased about the number of chances we created but I'm not pleased we didn't convert one of them," he said.

Moving swiftly on...

Everton dished out a Boxing Day thumping at Burnley, sticking five goals past the Clarets thanks to two cracking strikes from Lucas Digne, as well as efforts from Yerry Mina, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Richarlison.

Ben Gibson got Burnley on the scoreboard before half-time.

Mina's opener for the Toffees at Turf Moor was the club's 7,000th goal in top-flight football.

Image source, Getty Images

Fulham captain Aleksandar Mitrovic said he felt like crying after missing several chances in his side's scrappy 1-1 draw with Wolves that lifted the Cottagers off the bottom of the table.

The hosts were on top in the first half at Craven Cottage but Mitrovic could not convert any of his seven attempts, while Raul Jimenez went close for the visitors with an acrobatic bicycle kick.

Fulham substitute Ryan Sessegnon scuffed in a volley after Rui Patricio's weak punch on 74 minutes, but the hosts could not hold on for a third Premier League win of the season as Romain Saiss tapped in from close range late on.