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Another week of Premier League action bites the dust and it is almost certain that the results from Game week 18 will give us an indication as to what lies ahead for the managers and their respective clubs. If they dare to look ahead, starting this weekend, the teams in the top-flight are scheduled to play 4 games leading up to the New Year.
Despite all the talk about slipping-up at some point, Manchester City continue their supremacy at the top while the rest of the pack are breathing down each other's necks for the remaining three Champions League positions. In this segment, we take a look at the five interesting facts from the weekend's action in the Premier League:
#5 Huddersfield finally find the net
Newly-promoted Huddersfield town got back to winning ways in some fashion by beating Watford away from home in a thumping 4-1 win. David Wagner's men were going through a torrid time during their travels so far this season and were still in search of their first goal away from home when they visited Vicarage Road.
Elias Kachunga's goal ended Huddersfield's run of 59 consecutive shots away from home in the Premier League without scoring. The Terriers had to wait for over 630 minutes for their first away goal of the season and turned up in solid fashion when they cruised to victory with goals from Kachunga, Aaron Mooy (2) and Laurent Depoitre.
#4 Liverpool set PL record
Liverpool were in rampant form when they visited the Vitality Stadium to take on Eddie Howe's Bournemouth, who are now feeling the heat of their difficult and congested festive period fixture list. The trio of Philippe Coutinho, Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino were involved in the thick of the action right from the start and grabbed a goal each on the night.
The Reds were simply unstoppable while going forward and took their chances in front of goal with aplomb. The result meant that Liverpool are now the first team in top-flight history to have won four consecutive away games by a margin of at least three goals.
In addition to the 4-0 thumping of Bournemouth last night, Liverpool beat West Ham United (4-1), Stoke City (3-0) and Brighton and Hove Albion (5-1) in their last four away games in the league.
#3 Watford's disciplinary woes continue
Marcos Silva's Watford endured a disappointing outing at Vicarage Road when they were at the receiving end of a 4-1 thrashing by newly promoted Huddersfield Town. The Hornets were outplayed by David Wagner's men, who were on the search for their first win away from home, and the Terriers were 2-0 up within the first 25 minutes.
Things went from bad to worse for the hosts when their skipper Troy Deeney was sent off in the 33rd minute after a poor challenge from behind on Collin Quaner. Michael Oliver's decision meant that Watford became the first team to be given a red card in three successive Premier League matches since West Ham United in August 2015.
Marvin Zeegelar and Tom Cleverley were the other offenders who suffered the same fate in the club's previous matches against Burnley and Crystal Palace respectively.
#2 Gareth Barry; The Eternal
West Bromwich Albion have been let down by their inability to find the back of the net so far this season and one could argue that the telling factor in the same was Tony Pulis and his defensive approach to every single game. However, if the last 15 minutes against Manchester United in the weekend is anything to go by, then maybe there is still hope for Alan Pardew to turn things around.
The Baggies gave United a real run for their money towards the end when they nicked a goal back through substitute Gareth Barry, after trailing for the majority of the game due to first-half strikes from Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard.
The goal meant that Barry scored for the first time as a substitute in 6812 days in the Premier League, a date stretching back to 18 years when he scored for Aston Villa against Nottingham Forest.
#1 Benteke breaks his duck
After all that's been going on at Crystal Palace, if anybody needed a goal then it was none other than Christian Benteke. The club had endured a disastrous start to their league campaign and were without a win in their first 7 games of the season.
Despite becoming the club's record signing last year, the Belgian has not quite hit the ground running at Selhurst Park due to his injuries. It looked like his goal drought for the club was coming to an end against Bournemouth when he stepped up to take a penalty in the 90th minute with the scores tied at 2-2. However, things took a turn for the worse when he failed to beat Asmir Begovic in goal for the visitors.
Benteke faced high-flying Leicester City on the back of a lot of pressure and finally ended a run of 1106 minutes and 28 shots without a goal in the Premier League when he found the back of the net in his side's 3-0 win away from home.
