Matchday 20 of the EPL season is in the books, and we’re here to review it, identify the big takeaways, and examine the markets.
Around The EPL
The condensed Christmas schedule in the EPL produced 20 games in five days as the players got put their their paces.
In the notable results, Chelsea could only manage a 2-2 draw with AFC Bournemouth in a chaotic affair which saw all four goals scored before the 28th minute. The result forced a change at the top as Enzo Maresca became the latest EPL manager to be given his marching orders.
Meanwhile, Manchester United finished level with Wolves. The notable results were highlighted further in the discussion on how the Top 4 will shape up following Arsenal’s 4-1 thrashing of Aston Villa.
Villa had won eight EPL games on the bounce ahead of their trip to the Emirates. Unai Emery had refused to buy-in to talks about his side competing for the title, and this sort of performance might be why.
"This was a STATEMENT."
Arsenal impressed with a decisive 4-1 win over Aston Villa on a day full of pressure. pic.twitter.com/gfovCrCPWw
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) December 31, 2025
The eight teams lining up on New Years Day played as though they stayed up to see the fireworks overnight.
Crystal Palace and Fulham played out a 1-1 draw before Liverpool and Leeds, Brentford and Tottenham, and Sunderland and Manchester City all finished 0-0.
Aston Villa did manage to bounce back from their horror defeat to Arsenal by opening Matchday 20 with a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest. John McGinn’s double limited the damage of the earlier defeat to pull within three points of league-leaders Aresnal.
The Gunners soon moved the gap back out to six, though.
Just as McGinn did earlier in the day, Declan Race scored a brace to lead Arsenal to a 3-2 win over Bournemouth. Made to work hard for the victory, Arsenal finished with only 1.17 expected goals despite finding the net three times.
Brighton & Hove Albion picked up a 2-0 win over Burnley while Wolverhampton Wanderers finally ended their winless drought to beat a sorry West Ham outfit 3-0.
👶 Mateus Mane writes himself into @wolves history as their youngest ever Premier League goalscorer pic.twitter.com/0sKakkJSkL
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 3, 2026
Later, Manchester United and Leeds played out a 1-1 draw, but the fireworks came in the post-game press conference as Ruben Amorim offered another classic interview.
Tottenham Hotspur will be kicking themselves after conceding late to finish level with Sunderland at 1-1. Similarly, Harrison Reed’s 97th minute goal for Fulham cancelled out Cody Gakpo’s goal to take the lead in the 94th minute as Liverpool gave up three points late.
Finally, with Maresca out the door, Chelsea responded by scoring in the 94th minute to stun Manchester City. The draw could yet be a crucial result in the race for the EPL title as Arsenal pull further clear at the top.
3 Takeaways From Matchday 19/20
Arsenal Pull Clear Again
Declan Rice inspired an excellent performance from Arsenal as they beat Bournemouth to extend their lead at the top of the EPL table after Matchday 20.
Declan Rice was everywhere against Bournemouth 🏃♂️@Arsenal 🔴 pic.twitter.com/vsP3iKB9Ox
— Premier League (@premierleague) January 3, 2026
Just as City and Villa started to apply pressure on Arsenal, Mikel Arteta’s side responded with two resounding wins in the space of four days. This is where titles are won and lost, and after seeing Arsenal lose too many from promising positions in recent seasons, they’ve pulled out a tough one at the right time.
“They are so good, (we) made it even harder for ourselves, conceding the first goal, but I love the character of the team.” – Mikel Arteta
Villa, meanwhile, succumbed in one of those Arsenal wins themselves while Manchester City failed to beat Sunderland, leaving three crucial points on the table at the Stadium of Light before doing the same against Chelsea.
Wolves Win!!
It took until Matchday 20 of the 2025/26 EPL season, but the Wolverhampton Wanderers have one in the win column.
The 3-0 win over West Ham ends one of the worst runs in Premier League history and came on the back of an impressive Hwang Hee-Chan performance.
Hee-Chan laid the foundations for Wolves’ drought-ending win to have a goal and assist inside 30 minutes. The two goal involvements are more than he’d amassed in his last 22 appearances.
Wolves fans sing 'we're gonna win the league' as Hwang Hee-Chan and Mateus Mane give them a 3-0 lead over West Ham 😅
They're on course to finally end their wait for a first league win this season. pic.twitter.com/kPQ8LsezYH
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) January 3, 2026
While Wolves finally found success with the ball, they earned the three points in defence. West Ham managed only 0.25 expected goals across the 80 minutes.
As Wolves start to make the long and unlikely run to outside the relegation zone, West Ham are now also firmly entrenched. Four points from safety after Matchday 20, Nuno Espirito Santo is under significant pressure to close the gap on his former club in 17th.
The two teams meet on Matchday 21 with Forest slight $2.30 favourites to West Ham’s $2.95.
Another Amorim Classic
Reuben Amorim delivered another classic post-match interview following Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Leeds
While relatively pleased with the performance on the field, a question around United’s transfer strategy prompted a heated response. It seems to be centered around his role as ‘coach’ rather than ‘manager’ with an apparent disagreement within the club over what his title really is:
“I’m not going to quit,” he declared. “I will do my job until another guy is coming here to replace me.
I just want to say that I’m going to be the manager of this team, not just the coach. And I was really clear on that. And that is going to finish in 18 months. And then everyone is going to move on. That was the deal. That is my job, not to be a coach.”
The tide had finally started to turn for Amorim at United. They’re not hitting the heights of campaigns past, but they’re improving on recent seasons and Amorim’s change in formation last week offered hope of some more versatility moving forward.
However, as has been the case throughout his whole tenure, it’s one step forward and two steps back after Matchday 20. They can’t afford another step in the wrong direction as $1.70 favourites to Burnley next time out.
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