Spaniard Pedro scored twice as Chelsea tightened their grip on top spot by sweeping past Bournemouth 3-0 on Monday, a club record 12th successive Premier League win taking them seven points clear.
Leicester City continued to do their best Houdini impression on Saturday as they escaped the Premier League drop zone for the first time since November while Manchester City went up to second spot with a thrilling win.
Chelsea made light of striker Diego Costa's absence to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League to seven points with a 3-0 win at champions Leicester City.
Late goals from Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott spared Arsenal's blushes and kept them top of the Premier League in a 2-0 victory over Cardiff City as title rivals Manchester City and Chelsea also won on Wednesday.
Arsene Wenger acknowledged Southampton were the sharper team as they crushed Arsenal 4-0 on Saturday but he also blamed the defeat on bad luck.
Burnley's seemingly doomed attempt to avoid relegation from the Premier League.
News of all that's transpired on and off the football field
Photos and summary of the English Premier League matches played on Tuesday, including the story of Chelsea's resurgent win
Barcelona's lead at the top of La Liga was cut after a second consecutive defeat and LeicesterCity's improbable march towards the Premier League title showed no sign of slowing as they won a fifth straight match. Juventus stayed six points clear of Napoli after Italy's top two both won and Bayern Munich extended their Bundesliga lead to seven points. Here is a summary of results from football matches played across Europe over the weekend.
Chelsea moved within three points of clinching the Premier League title with a 3-0 victory that condemned Middlesbrough to relegation on Monday after goals from Spaniards Diego Costa and Marcos Alonso plus a tap-in by Nemanja Matic.
Charlie Adam scored twice as Stoke City beat Manchester United 2-1 on Saturday to show the flailing Premier League champions it will take more than one big-money signing to improve their fortunes.
Leicester City staged a thrilling comeback from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2 and go second in the Premier League table on Sunday, scoring three times in 17 minutes.
Chelsea beat Newcastle United 2-0 for a 10th successive Premier League home win at their Stamford Bridge stronghold on Saturday to reassert themselves as Premier League leaders while champions Manchester City drew at Everton.
Brief reports of English Premier League matches on Saturday:
Chelsea have been accused of being boring but they will not mind one bit if they beat Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge on Sunday to win the Premier League title for the first time in five years.
England manager Sam Allardyce has defended the decision to leave Everton midfielder Ross Barkley out of his first squad for the 2018 World Cup qualifier in Slovakia at the weekend. The 22-year-old has enjoyed an impressive start to the Premier League season and many observers felt he had done enough to deserve a place in the 23-man group named on Sunday.
How quickly affections can switch in soccer. Where once they would serenade coach Jose Mourinho at Stamford Bridge with an operatic flourish, now Chelsea fans have fallen headlong for another man driving them inexorably to the Premier League title.
Something will have to give when in-form Liverpool and bitter rivals Manchester United clash in one of the Premier League's showcase fixtures at Anfield on Sunday.
Liverpool have enough quality and strength in depth in the squad to win games and pick up important points during a demanding festive schedule, striker Christian Benteke has said.
Photos from the English Premier League matches played on Saturday
Chelsea maintained their stranglehold on the Premier League by beating Sunderland 1-0 on Wednesday to register their 10th successive win and move six points clear at the top of the table.
Arsenal beat Fulham 2-0 at the Emirates and Manchester City beat Cardiff City 4-2 at the Etihad before Liverpool could only manage a 2-2 draw at Anfield having trailed 2-0.
A summary of sports events and sports persons, who made news on Thursday
Manchester City squandered a gilt-edged opportunity to close the gap on Premier League leaders Chelsea when they let slip a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 at home to struggling Burnley on Sunday.
Manchester United's calamitous week hit rock bottom as Bournemouth famously consigned them to a 2-1 defeat on Sunday and, to rub salt into the wounds, neighbours Manchester City moved back to the top of the English Premier League.
Sergio Aguero struck twice as Manchester City came from behind to beat Burnley 2-1 at Turf Moor in the Premier League on Saturday.
Manchester City can pile the pressure on Premier League leaders Chelsea for the first time this season.
Images from the English Premier League matches played across England on Tuesday
Jamie Vardy sent a screaming reminder that leaders Leicester City are in the Premier league title race for the long haul with a sensational strike in a 2-0 win over Liverpool on Tuesday.
Liverpool will attempt to sweep away the January blues on the last day of a wretched month when they host commanding Premier League leaders Chelsea at Anfield on Tuesday.
It was a day of role reversal as Jose Mourinho's often cautious Chelsea thumped Everton 6-3 in a thriller on Saturday while champions Manchester City's attacking talents were blunted in a shock 1-0 home defeat by Stoke City.
New manager Sam Allardyce said the days of talking about England's potential are over and it has to become reality as he looked ahead to qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
Chelsea's unbeaten start to the season ended with a dramatic 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United; Champions Manchester City took full advantage of Chelsea's surprise reverse to cut the gap at the top.
The protracted disagreement between Cardiff City chairman Vincent Tan and manager Malky Mackay reached its inevitable conclusion on Friday when the Scot was sacked seven months after winning promotion to the Premier League.
Chelsea opened up a six-point lead at the top of the Premier League despite being held to a 1-1 draw against top-four hopefuls Southampton in an absorbing game at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
Manchester United took over at the top of the Premier League while Barcelona's Argentine forward Lionel Messi could be out for up to two months with a knee injury and rampant Bayern Munich extended their perfect start to seven league wins.
Eden Hazard and Fernando Torres applied the gloss to a workmanlike 2-0 victory at Hull City that lifted Chelsea ominously to the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Manchester United's early season problems were compounded by a humiliating 4-0 loss to third-tier Milton Keynes Dons in the League Cup second round on Tuesday leaving new manager Louis van Gaal still looking for his first win.
Arsenal and Manchester City meet at The Emirates on Saturday when both teams will seek to roar into life after making spluttering starts to their Premier League campaigns.
After Sunday's crushing 4-2 derby defeat at Manchester United, even a top four finish and a place in next season's Champions League is no longer a certainty.
