🔬 The Debrief as Liverpool smash Spurs; Man Utd routed by Bournemouth | OneFootball

The final pre-Christmas games of the Premier League season took place on Sunday, and it was a winter wonderland for a few, and a nightmare for others.

Here's what we made of it all.

What happened? 📝

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Liverpool defeated Spurs 6-3 in the game of the season to date, and a Christmas special for the ages. Mohamed Salah and Luis Díaz ran riot, both scoring twice, and sending a message to the rest of the league.

Bournemouth beat Manchester United 3-0 away from home for the second consecutive season as the mammoth task facing Ruben Amorim became even more obvious.

Elsewhere, Vitor Pereira got off to the dream start in charge of Wolves with a 3-0 win of their own at Leicester, while Everton and Chelsea, and Fulham and Southampton played out goalless draws.

Player of the day 🔥

While Mohamed Salah was his usual brilliant self, Luis Díaz truly stepped up today with a magnificent performance of his own.

He scored the first and last goal with two excellent finishes, one with his head and one with his right foot, and he was influential throughout.

The Colombian was everywhere, taking shots, making chances, linking up with teammates, and working just as hard off the ball.

The numbers say it all.

It was Díaz's best showing of the season, and his first Premier League goals since September. If he can anywhere near this type of form for the rest of the season, Liverpool might just be unstoppable.

Stat of the day 📊

A class above.

What this means 🤔

Liverpool's win and Chelsea's draw means the Reds are four points clear at Christmas, with a game in hand on the sides below them.

Bournemouth's stunning 3-0 win at Old Trafford pushes them into fifth, while United languish in 13th, and with a negative goal difference to boot.

Wolves' big win at Leicester puts them to within two points of the Foxes and safety, while a good point for Southampton still keeps them six adrift at the bottom.

What they said 🗣

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After a starring role, Mohamed Salah was happy to talk about everything but his contract situation.

"We were quite good up front but defensively we need to improve as a team. Conceding three goals is quite hard. It’s a good result, hopefully we just keep going."

"We expected that [a chaotic game], the way they play, they open the game, they enjoy their football, physically tough and mentally we always have to be in the game.

"They don't change much the way they play, it’s intense. City came here and struggled, other teams too. I’m happy we won because they play an intense game."

Ruben Amorim was well aware of the issues facing his Manchester United side, citing nervousness as a major issue.

"This game was hard on us. We suffered again on set-pieces and we were a bit nervous, I felt it in the stadium. The penalty and another goal are really hard here. We tried to score some goals but it was a tough match, so let's move on. We want to score but we are too nervous. We have to fight this."

On the other end of the scale, Andoni Iraola somehow downplayed his side's stunning victory, perhaps a sign of how highly he rates his Bournemouth side.

"It is an important win for us. We won 3-0, but it was more difficult than it looks when you see 3-0. I think we have been quite solid. It was a mature performance.

"I am happy that we were more clinical today, we scored from a set play. I think it was a solid performance, not amazing but it was solid. We kept playing the same way and pushing until the end."

New Wolves boss Vitor Pereira was understandably delighted with his side's impressive 3-0 win at Leicester.

“We showed true spirit, the confidence and tactically I think we were intelligent.

“Fantastic feeling. I told the players at the end of the game we need to be proud of what we did on the pitch and we need to make our supporters proud because this connection is important."

What's next? 👀

There's no slowdown over the festive period, with eight games on Boxing Day and two on the 27th.

Liverpool host Leicester while Manchester United travel to newly-invigorated Wolves.

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