Sunderland and West Bromwich Albion stayed in touch with the Premier League leaders with solid home wins over West Ham United and Newcastle United on Sunday.
Southampton upset Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals, while Manchester City and Chelsea secured comfortable victories to advance to the semi-finals.
Andy Carroll scored a eight-minute hat-trick as West Ham United's last London derby at Upton Park ended in a barnstorming 3-3 draw with Arsenal on Saturday -- a result that dented both club's respective ambitions.
Manchester City halved Arsenal's lead at the top of the Premier League to three points with a 3-0 win over visitors Fulham, while Aston Villa stayed in the frame with a late 1-0 victory at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Wednesday.
Arsenal closed out 2025 in emphatic fashion, smashing third-placed Aston Villa 4-1 on Tuesday to surge five points clear at the top of the Premier League.
Arsenal marked Mikel Arteta's 300th game in charge with a convincing 2-0 home victory over West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Promoted Sunderland, who have defied expectations to stay in the top half of the Premier League table, could be the worst affected with six players going to the tournament, while the likes of Fulham, Manchester United, Burnley and Crystal Palace will also have to make do without some key personnel.
Second-placed City would have reduced Arsenal's advantage to two points but instead were frustrated as their winning streak in all competitions was halted at eight.
Manchester United loosened Arsenal's grip on the Premier League title race with a 3-2 win in north London on Sunday.
The Egypt forward has been left out of the club's Champions League match against Inter Milan.
Sunderland became the first top-flight club in more than 100 years to fail to register a win in any of their first nine league games in two successive seasons when they suffered a 1-0 defeat by West Ham United on Saturday.
Upcoming matches in the English Premier League.
Manchester United take on Everton at home in the last match of Saturday's programme.
A summary of Saturday's action in the Premier League.
Sunderland entrusted flamboyant Italian Paolo Di Canio with the task of securing their Premier League survival when they appointed him as head coach in place of the sacked Martin O'Neill on Sunday.
Sunderland took full advantage of beating the freeze as they won 1-0 against Bolton Wanderers on Saturday to climb to sixth in the Premier League.
Fresh off a dominant title-winning campaign, Liverpool kick off the new Premier League season on Friday as the team to beat, as the Reds have transitioned from Juergen Klopp's high-octane chaos to a more measured possession-based style under Arne Slot.
Manchester United maintained their push for a Champions League place after a Juan Mata goal on Saturday pushed Norwich City to the brink of relegation.
Dick Advocaat has stepped down as manager of Premier League Sunderland after less than seven months in the job, the club said in a statement on Sunday.
Sunderland and England midfielder Adam Johnson was arrested on Monday on suspicion of having sex with an under-age girl.
The battle to avoid relegation is now a straight shootout between Hull City and 17th-place Newcastle United, who are two points better off heading into Sunday's final round.
Winning back-to-back titles for the first time since 1984 is likely to prove a rather more arduous challenge for Liverpool.
Under-pressure Everton manager Roberto Martinez enjoyed some respite as his struggling side won for the first time in eight league matches.
Everton have signed David Moyes for a second spell as their manager, the Premier League club said on Saturday.
Manchester City produced a blistering first-half performance to win 4-1 at Sunderland in the League Cup third round on Tuesday, inflicting more misery on Dick Advocaat's struggling side.
Champions Manchester United will travel to Swansea City for their first English Premier League match under new manager David Moyes, while Manuel Pellegrini's Manchester City are at home to Newcastle United on August 17.
Premier League club Sunderland sacked head coach Paolo Di Canio on Sunday after a string of poor results culminating in a 3-0 loss at West Bromwich Albion.
For the second time in a week Manchester City threw away a 2-0 lead against a Premier League struggler but this time they hit back as Frank Lampard came off the bench to secure a 3-2 win over Sunderland on Thursday.
Chelsea maintained their iron grip on top spot with a 2-1 win at Crystal Palace while Southampton recorded one of the biggest victories in Premier League history when they crushed a woeful Sunderland side 8-0 at St Mary'son Saturday.
Jermain Defoe's record of scoring on his first appearance for every club he has played for came to an end as Sunderland lost 2-1 at his former club Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League on Saturday.
Sunderland manager David Moyes says he is under pressure to turn around their poor Premier League form, but it is no different for coaches at the other end of the table.
Sunderland are banking on the guile of Dick Advocaat to save them from relegation after the English Premier League strugglers appointed the Dutchman as head coach until the end of the season.
'That's what I do, I win. And I'm coming here to West Ham initially to try and get us wins and away from the wrong end of the table'
Holders Manchester City were eliminated from the League Cup by West Ham United after a penalty shootout at London Stadium on Wednesday, ending Pep Guardiola's team's four-year domination of the competition.
A stoppage time goal by a heavily-bandaged Martin Skrtel spared Liverpool another deflating defeat as they drew 2-2 at home to Arsenal in the Premier League.
Chelsea's title ambitions suffered a major blow with a shock 2-1 home defeat by bottom side Sunderland on Saturday, handing the initiative to English Premier League leaders Liverpool who visit lowly Norwich City on Sunday.
Dimitri Payet struck a brace for the Hammers against a tired Newcastle, whose players had to trudge the last mile to West Ham United's stadium after their team coach became stuck in London's rush-hour traffic before Monday's Premier League fixture.
Leicester City were give a Premier League reality check when the unlikely leaders lost 1-0 at Liverpool on Saturday after Manchester United slumped to a third consecutive league defeat to pile more pressure on manager Louis van Gaal.
Chelsea ended their slump with a win over Arsenal while seemingly invincible Manchester City lost their 100 per cent record to West Ham United on a day of contrasting fortunes for the Premier League title favourites on Saturday.
