'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
It was another enthralling set of fixtures, as the Premier League served us midweek action across ten centres.
Clubs like Manchester City, Liverpool and Tottenham earned expected victories, while there was a shock at the Molineux as Chelsea fell to Wolves having gone ahead.
Manchester United fell further behind in the race for a top-four finish, but Everton could not consolidate on their impressive form in recent weeks, being held to a draw at home to Newcastle United. In this piece, we present the five biggest talking points from match week 15 of the 2018/2019 Premier League season.
Trending
#5 Hazard falling back into old habits
Long touted as the heir to the Messi/Ronaldo throne, Hazard has a lot of rivals to his being proclaimed the best player in the world, chief of which is Neymar.
However, beyond what any other player does or doesn't do, Hazard's biggest threat to filing the lofty boots of Ronaldo and Messi has always been his inconsistency.
When it comes to pure talent, Hazard is right up there with the best - that has not been in doubt right from his Ligue 1 Player of the Year winning days at Lille.
Nevertheless, for all his talents, he has failed to consistently deliver when it matters most for his team, and this is what sets Messi and Ronaldo apart and even the much-maligned Neymar.
Case in point would be his Chelsea career. In 2015, Hazard was unplayable, almost on a one-man mission to showcase his abilities, and it paid off immensely as Chelsea won the league title for the third time under Mourinho.
A season later, he was absolutely atrocious, one of a number of Chelsea players who were substandard as the club found itself battling relegation at one point, which led to the sack of Jose Mourinho amidst rumors of losing the faith of his players. Hazard ended the campaign with just 4 PL goals from 31 matches (a season on from being named the PFA Player of the Year).
The same Jekkyl and Hyde sequence continued under Conte, and he ended last season in somewhat indifferent form having starred in the title triumph won at a canter only a season earlier.
At the World Cup, Hazard arguably gave the best performance of his career( especially in the quarterfinal win over Neymar's Brazil), and his displays were deemed worthy enough of the World Cup Silver Ball (indeed, some fans believe he actually had a better World Cup campaign than Luka Modric - but that is beside the point).
Off the back of his World Cup exploits, Hazard began the season like a house on fire, scoring seven goals in his first eight matches and it was opined that Maurizio Sarri had unlocked the pattern to get the best of Hazard, with his previous two coaches having been ultra defensive.
However, since then, the Belgian has struggled to influence matches in the same way. Against Wolves, he was a shadow of the player he was at the beginning of the season, failing to make much of an impact and watching on as a mere spectator.
He has now gone 11 matches without a goal for club and country (it is hard to imagine Neymar going on such a drought), and it is for reasons like this why many believe he would never reach the heights of Messi and Ronaldo.
The back injury sustained at the end of October might have a hand to play in his loss of form, but Chelsea fans would be desperate for him to get his mojo back, especially seeing as their main strikers are horribly off form.
#4 Callum Wilson - the revelation of the season
At the start of the current campaign, not many would have believed that Bournemouth would be 7th on the table, ahead of Manchester United or that Callum Wilson would be in among the highest goalscorers, but after 15 matches, that is the reality we have on our hands.
The Cherries have captivated this season under Eddie Howe, and a lot of their results have been down to the brilliance of Callum Wilson.
The 26-year-old has contributed eight goals, while also adding five assists, and at this stage is one of the contenders for the PFA Player of the Year award. His bright form saw him rewarded with a debut for England, and he scored on his full debut.
He put Huddersfield to the sword at the Vitality Stadium, opening the scoring off an assist from Ryan Fraser, before returning the favour minutes later with a well-taken square ball for the midfielder to finish.
Wilson has been a hidden gem, and FPL fans have found real value in him. Bournemouth have been flying high thus far this season, and while the disparity in quality between then and the top six teams might be too great to make dreams of Europe anything but pipe dreams, with Wilson in this form, their fans can realistically hope to finish as the best of the rest.
#3 Manchester City send statement of intent
The Cityzens are odds-on favourites to retain the league title they won so emphatically last season - that much had been established even before a ball was kicked in anger this season, but the improved competition this term particularly from a much revamped Liverpool means that Guardiola's men must always be on their tows to avoid any slip-ups.
The Christmas period in England is always hectic, with tough fixtures coming in thick and fast, sometimes in a matter of hours, and it is with this in mind that most managers decide to rest their players in preparation for the assault on the festive period.
Against Watford at the Vicarage, Guardiola opted to give a rest to some of his super regulars including Sterling and Laporte, with Sergio Aguero missing out through injury.
Even in the absence of the trio, City were still largely comfortable against one of the banana teams of the league, and even though there was a late rally from the hosts, it never really looked like City would lose their stranglehold on the match as Sane and Mahrez ran the show.
Man City were in cruise control for most of the match against Watford, despite missing some key players and this does not bode well for the rest of the league, especially considering the fact that they are still without Kevin de Bruyne.
#2 Liverpool putting up a real fight
On a night when Tyson Fury came out to watch a night of Premier League football just days after his gruelling twelve round battle with Wilder, Liverpool also put up their own fight - albeit in different circumstances, and with far less at stake.
Manchester City are, to many people, Champions-elect, but Liverpool are making sure that they would not have the easy procession they had last season.
Having won the Merseyside derby in the most dramatic of circumstances over the weekend to return the deficit at the top to two points, City once again laid their marker against Watford, temporarily moving five points clear to pile the pressure once more on The Reds.
Kloop decided to rotate his squad and leave out some regulars including his much-vaunted front three, and for much of the match it looked like it would be a decision that would backfire, as Liverpool huffed and puffed in vain, and to make matters worse went behind on the hour.
However, true to their form this season, they rallied back to complete a turnaround victory and return to the status quo at the top ahead of City's marquee trip to Stamford Bridge this weekend.
Liverpool might very well be the underdogs in the league title race, but they are determined to make sure they don't go down without a worthy fight.
#1 Manchester United vs Arsenal lived up to its billing
The marquee clash of the match week undoubtedly took place at Old Trafford as Man Utd hosted Arsenal.
Both teams are in very contrasting forms this season, with United seemingly unable to but a win even if their lives depended on it, while Arsenal have been impressive this season led by Aubameyang, and are on their best unbeaten run for 11 years, having not lost in 18 matches consecutively heading into the fixture.
This tie has a lot of history attached to it, most especially the days of league battles between SAF and Arsene Wenger, and TV stations were keen to point these out in snippets of the preview highlighting it as a must watch fixture.
However, both clubs have fallen a long way off from the highs of yesteryears, and are currently on a rebuilding phase.
More often than not, most hyped matches like this fail to match expectations, usually devoid of entertainment and serving us bore-fests instead.
Nevertheless, this was a departure from the norm, as the clash had everything from plenty of goals, goalkeeping errors, crunching tackles, injuries and a bit of the now normal Mourinho drama on the touchline.
At the end of 90 minutes, it was a 2-2 draw, which was a fair reflection of the match, and even though it was not a result either aide wanted (as it does their league standing not much good), in terms of pure entertainment, this has been one of the matches of the season so far.
