At dawn on Sunday (24th), the highlight of the English Premier League was Arsenal's away match against Liverpool, with the two sides fighting to a 1-1 draw. With this narrow one-point advantage, Arsenal not only surpassed the Reds and Aston Villa, but also entered Christmas as the Premier League leader for the fourth time in history. However, the Arsenal have not won the league title in the past three "Christmas Championships", including last season's defeat by Manchester City. It remains to be seen whether they can escape their fate this season.
After last season, Arsenal are the Premier League's 'Christmas champions' again this season, the second time in the team's history that they have won this honor, the last time being in 1932 and 1933. This is the fourth time since the inception of the Premier League that Arsenal have spent Christmas at the top of the table, but the first three times did not end well, including being overtaken by Manchester United in the 2002/03 season, finishing third in the 2007/08 season, and coming second last season.
In fact, being the "Christmas Champion" doesn't mean winning the title. In the past 10 seasons, only 6 "Christmas Champions" have won the title. Whether Arsenal can break the title drought since 2003/04 is still too early to tell.
Final results of the Premier League's "Christmas champions" in the last 10 seasons
Season Christmas Champion (final score)
2022/23 Arsenal (2nd place)
2021/22 Manchester City (Champions)
2020/21 Liverpool (3rd place)
2019/20 Liverpool (Champions)
2018/19 Liverpool (2nd place)
2017/18 Manchester City (Champions)
2016/17 Chelsea (Championship)
2015/16 Leeds United (Championship)
2014/15 Chelsea (Champions)
