Winners and Losers of the Premier League's Festive Season

Liverpool's holiday sweep makes the first-place Reds a clear winner, but who else enjoyed a happy festive season, and who wound up with coal in their stockings?

Just like that, 30 matches in eight days are in the books, and the Premier League is cruising beyond the halfway point of the season. Third-round play in the FA Cup should result in teams turning largely to reserves this weekend, giving exhausted starters the opportunity to decompress and rest after another demanding holiday slate that received the ire of plenty involved.

With it all over, the table is set up for the next few months, and some clear themes and needs have emerged. Here are some of the biggest winners and losers of the last week:

WINNERS

Liverpool

Everything sure seems to be going Liverpool's way this season. Never mind the fact that Liverpool arguably had the toughest three-game slate over the last week in the entire league. Before Boxing Day, Leicester City, Wolverhampton and Sheffield United were all in the top six. That Liverpool was coming off a jaunt to Qatar for two grueling FIFA Club World Cup matches should have made the Reds ripe for the picking–or at least more prone to slip up considering the taxing nature of everything and the margin for error that's been built up in the table.

Perhaps last season's post-Christmas collapse stuck in the back of Liverpool's collective mind, though, because Jurgen Klopp's side didn't miss a beat. It destroyed second-place Leicester City with a statement performance to create even more margin for error prior to less-impressive, still-effective wins over Wolves and Sheffield and sits 13 points clear at the top with a game in hand. It hasn't conceded a goal in five straight games. It hasn't lost in the Premier League in 364 days. The team is buzzing with confidence, and for good reason. 

Having Manchester City lose to Wolves along the way only increased the likelihood that the title race will remain a one-horse one. Liverpool, better than anyone, knows it's too early to acknowledge that publicly, but it seems to no longer be a matter of "if" the 30-year wait for a domestic title comes to an end.

Paul Greenwood/BPI/Shutterstock

The new manager bounce

Carlo Ancelotti's Everton won its first two games; Mikel Arteta's Arsenal looked reborn against Manchester United; David Moyes's West Ham was a wrecking crew in his first match back at the helm (albeit against a woeful Bournemouth); and Nigel Pearson's Watford has gone 3-0-1 after a defeat to Liverpool and is carving a pathway to safety after looking destined for relegation. 

Not all managerial changes are for the better, but the immediate returns have been welcome gifts at those clubs for the time being, anyhow.

The relegation escapers

Aston Villa went 2-1-0 in its three six-point swings to escape the drop zone (for now, anyway), while Southampton powered through a slate that included matches at Chelsea and vs. Tottenham and emerged unscathed to move five points clear of the bottom three.

That'll be enough to temporarily calm the nerves, though Villa losing striker Wesley reportedly for the season surely puts a damper on things for Dean Smith's side and might accelerate any transfer plans in the coming days and weeks given the need up top.

LOSERS

Tottenham

Spurs lost Son Heung-min to suspension right before the festive season, lost Harry Kane to injury at the end of it, dropped points to Norwich and Southampton and look rather uninspired under Jose Mourinho. The new-manager bounce seems to have escaped–or at least worn off–Spurs, who are now fighting for their top-four lives as part of a six-team pack trailing fourth-place Chelsea.

They won't be able to afford dropping points to the minnows going forward, not with matches vs. Liverpool and Man City on the horizon.

VAR

The whole season has been a rough one for the implementation of video assistant referees in the Premier League, but the last week only accentuated the issue. The Armpit Offside has become a frequent talking point, and the fact that the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the standard, has critiqued the use of VAR in the Premier League hasn't helped matters.

"Clear and obvious still remains–it's an important principle. There should not be a lot of time spent to find something marginal," Lukas Brud, IFAB's general secretary of IFAB, recently said. "If something is not clear on the first sight, then it's not obvious and it shouldn't be considered. Looking at one camera angle is one thing but looking at 15, trying to find something that was potentially not even there, this was not the idea of the VAR principle. It should be clear and obvious." 

What's clear and obvious is that VAR isn't being used for its intended purpose in the Premier League.

Paul Pogba

Manchester United's maligned midfielder made a brief return to action before sitting out the club's last two matches, and it appears as if he'll be out another 3-to-4 weeks with surgery on the way to correct a nagging ankle injury. The timing could prevent him from securing an exit during the transfer window and it also further hamstrings manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who can't seem to win when it comes to the Frenchman.

The winless wonders

Newcastle, Bournemouth, Burnley and Norwich all went without wins, instead getting lumps of coal dropped in their respective stockings. Seven points away from safety, Norwich sure seems destined for the drop, while Newcastle and Burnley tumbled out of the top half of the table after brief stays with three losses apiece and suddenly must be more wary.

Bournemouth followed its surprise win at Chelsea with an 0-3-1 skid during which it scored one goal total and fell into the relegation zone, leaving the Cherries in a world of trouble–though there's ample opportunity to climb out of it with forthcoming matches against Watford, Norwich, Brighton and Villa in the next four.