Manchester City secured the Christmas number one spot with a 4-0 demolition of Newcastle at St James’ Park.
Pep Guardiola’s side recorded an eighth straight Premier League win and sit three points clear at the top.
Ruben Dias’ opener – after an awful mistake by Newcastle’s Ciaran Clark – set City on their way and Joao Cancelo’s rocket doubled their lead.
Riyad Mahrez’s 50th Premier League goal for the club made it 3-0 after 63 minutes as ruthless City exposed the struggling Magpies’ defensive weaknesses.
Raheem Sterling tapped in a late fourth as Newcastle remain second from bottom.
City are clear of Liverpool after the Reds’ thrilling 2-2 draw at Tottenham.
Harry Kane’s first home Premier League goal of the season gave Spurs the lead before Diogo Jota headed Liverpool level.
Andrew Robertson put the visitors ahead with a close-range header after Tottenham were upset Dele Alli was not awarded a penalty just before.
Son Heung-min cashed in on Alisson’s mistake to make it 2-2 and Robertson was sent off for a rash tackle on Emerson Royal after referee Paul Tierney changed his decision from a yellow to red card having consulted his monitor.
Spurs sit seventh, six points behind the top four but with three games in hand.
Chelsea dropped more points with a goalless draw at Wolves to leave them third and six points behind City.
The visitors had a request for the fixture to be postponed rejected by the Premier League after a coronavirus outbreak, with manager Thomas Tuchel saying they were “a bit angry” following the decision.
Daniel Podence had an early goal ruled out for offside while Leander Dendoncker wasted a fine headed chance just before the break.
Goalkeeper Jose Sa denied Christian Pulisic as Chelsea drew their third game in their last six league outings.
Wolves remain eighth but have scored just 13 goals in their 18 games this season.
REUTERS