The state of English soccer in December 2025
Look at the Premier League table right now and try to make sense of it. Arsenal lead with 33 points. Manchester City lurk two behind. Aston Villa—yes, Aston Villa—sit third, just three points off the pace. And Liverpool? The defending champions? They're in tenth place with 23 points, level with Brighton and Sunderland, having conceded 24 goals in 15 matches.
This isn't a glitch in the matrix. This is the reality of English soccer's most chaotic season in years, and Saturday's fixtures will only deepen the madness.
Liverpool vs Brighton: the ghost of Salah
The question that hangs over Anfield isn't tactical. It's existential. Will Mohamed Salah even be in the building?
Reports suggest he'll be at Anfield but not in the squad—a particularly cruel form of purgatory for a player who has 10 goals in 16 career appearances against Brighton. Arne Slot has left open a path to reconciliation, but it would require Salah to acknowledge he was wrong. Given the Egyptian's public statements, that feels unlikely.
The numbers paint a damning picture of Liverpool's title defense. They've accumulated just 23 points and conceded 24 goals—the worst start by a reigning champion since Leicester City's post-miracle collapse in 2016-17. They've shipped 48 goals in 35 Premier League matches this calendar year. Only twice in club history have they conceded 50 or more in a single year.
Brighton arrive having failed to win any of their last eight December Premier League matches under any manager. But Liverpool haven't won at Anfield in three attempts, losing two by three-goal margins. The fortress has crumbled. Danny Welbeck and Yankuba Minteh will fancy their chances.
Dominik Szoboszlai has emerged as Liverpool's standout performer—a sentence that tells you everything about how the post-Salah era has already begun, whether anyone wanted it to or not.
Chelsea vs Everton: Moyes' quiet revolution
While Liverpool dominate headlines for all the wrong reasons, something quietly remarkable is happening at Everton.
David Moyes' second coming has been nothing short of transformative. The Toffees have won four of their last five, keeping clean sheets in each victory. They've beaten Manchester United at Old Trafford, dismissed Bournemouth, and crushed Nottingham Forest 3-0. One point separates them from Chelsea in the table. Win at Stamford Bridge, and they leapfrog the Blues.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are stuck in the kind of rut that defined their early Maresca era. Three matches without a Premier League win. Four without victory in all competitions after Tuesday's defeat at Atalanta. The club that beat Barcelona last month now looks uncertain, inconsistent, and vulnerable to counter-attacking sides—which is precisely what Everton have become.
Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall returns to Stamford Bridge having transformed into exactly the player Chelsea thought they were getting when they signed him from Leicester. Three goals in his last four for Everton. Sometimes the grass is greener.
The historical trend screams Chelsea: Everton haven't won at Stamford Bridge in 35 attempts across all competitions. But history bends to form eventually, and right now, form favors the visitors.
Arsenal vs Wolves: mercy killing at the Emirates
There's something almost cruel about this fixture. Arsenal, despite their injury crisis, remain top of the table with 33 points. Wolves have two.
Two points from 15 matches. Winless in 19 Premier League games stretching back to last season. Eight consecutive defeats. Both runs match the club's worst in their entire league history, dating back to the 1980s. Rob Edwards' appointment was supposed to stop the bleeding. It has done nothing of the sort.
Arsenal should win this comfortably, but nothing about their recent trajectory inspires confidence. The 2-1 defeat at Villa Park—complete with stoppage-time heartbreak—cut their lead to just two points. Mikel Arteta is patching together lineups like a field medic.
William Saliba, Gabriel, Kai Havertz, Leandro Trossard—all either out or doubtful. Riccardo Calafiori serves a one-match suspension. Declan Rice missed the midweek win over Club Brugge with illness. Gabriel Jesus made his return from an 11-month ACL absence against Brugge, but asking him to carry the attack immediately seems optimistic.
Noni Madueke—signed from Chelsea in the summer—has been a revelation. Two goals against Brugge made him the first player in Arsenal history to score each of his first three Champions League goals for the club. Against Wolves last season, he scored a hat-trick for Chelsea. The fixture suits him.
Arteta described his injury situation as "a dangerous circle." He's right. Arsenal are winning through sheer bloody-mindedness, but that only works for so long.
Burnley vs Fulham: the survival instinct
Lost in the noise of title races and transfer sagas, Burnley and Fulham meet in a match that matters enormously to both clubs.
Burnley sit 19th with 10 points, having won just three times all season. Fulham are 15th with 17 points—safe for now, but not comfortable. This is the kind of fixture that defines relegation battles: low on glamour, high on desperation, decided by whoever wants it more.
What Saturday means
If Arsenal beat Wolves and Manchester City drop points at Crystal Palace on Sunday, the Gunners could extend their lead to five points before Christmas. If Liverpool lose to Brighton, their title defense—already a corpse—gets buried for good.
Chelsea could find themselves outside the top six by Saturday evening if results go against them. Everton could be dreaming of Champions League football. And Wolves? Wolves will continue searching for answers that may not exist until January brings reinforcements—or a new manager.
This Premier League season refuses to follow scripts. Saturday won't change that.
Saturday's kickoff times (Eastern Time)
- 10:00 AM ET – Chelsea vs Everton (Stamford Bridge)
- 10:00 AM ET– Liverpool vs Brighton (Anfield)
- 12:30 PM ET – Burnley vs Fulham (Turf Moor)
- 3:00 PM ET – Arsenal vs Wolves (Emirates Stadium)
