Liverpool climbed into the top six in the Premier League on Saturday by seeing off Southampton 3-1, while James Maddison gave England manager Gareth Southgate a scare by limping off in Leicester’s 2-0 win at West Ham.
Tottenham also rallied to win a 4-3 thriller over Leeds.
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Liverpool signed off until Boxing Day on a positive note as Darwin Nunez struck twice against Southampton.
Roberto Firmino’s header opened the scoring inside six minutes at Anfield, but in Nathan Jones’ first game in charge, the Saints responded immediately through Che Adams.
Nunez has been erratic since his 75 million euro ($77 million) signing from Benfica, but the Uruguayan is already up to eight goals in his debut season at Liverpool.
He produced a cool finish to slot home Harvey Elliott’s pass before sliding in to turn home Andy Robertson’s cross before half-time.
“It’s been a long, difficult period for the boys so now first part of the season finished, 22 points, I’m more than happy with that now and here we go in six weeks,” said Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp.
Bentancur saves Spurs
Tottenham once again had to come from behind. Goals from the in-form Crysencio Summerville and Rodrigo on either side of Harry Kane’s equaliser put Leeds in front at half-time.
Jesse Marsch’s men won 4-3 against Bournemouth last weekend but were this time on the receiving end of a thrilling comeback.
“I feel like someone has ripped my heart out,” said Marsch.
Ben Davies’ powerful strike made it 2-2 before Rodrigo restored Leeds’ lead.
Tottenham have made a habit of late fightbacks this season and rescued the three points as Rodrigo Bentancur scored twice in the final 10 minutes to move Antonio Conte’s men up to fourth.
Leicester’s rise up the table continued but there were fears it could come at a cost for England.
Maddison’s stunning form forced his way into Southgate’s squad and he opened the scoring with his seventh goal of the season.
The midfielder hobbled off shortly after, but Leicester boss Brendan Rodgers played down the seriousness of the problem.
“He’s fine. It was just precautionary, a little soreness on the side of the knee,” said Rodgers.
Harvey Barnes added a second for the Foxes 12 minutes from time to leave West Ham one point above the relegation zone.
Everton are also only a point above the bottom three after a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Bournemouth.
Marcus Tavernier, Kieffer Moore and Jaidon Anthony are on target for the Cherries.
Nottingham Forest moved off the bottom as Morgan Gibbs-White scored the only goal of a 1-0 win over Crystal Palace.
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