PREMIER LEAGUE (HIGHLIGHTS IN THE HEADLINES)
City still a class above Leicester. Jose outwitted by another of his juniors. Another great road trip for the Blades. Wolves bite back at Carrow Road. Pearson’s Hornets buzzing again. Almiron finally breaks his duck. Jay’s jump nicks all three points. Ancelotti and Arteta have massive jobs on their hands. Saint Ings shows little mercy to edgy Villa.

LA LIGA WEEK 18 HIGHLIGHTS
Barcelona will begin 2020 on top of the pile after a 4-1 stroll at the Nou Camp. Real were shut out by Athletic at the Bernabeu and slip two points behind, while Sevilla returned to winning ways on the island of Mallorca. Atletico kept pace by beating Betis, as did Sociedad, who edged a seven goal thriller at El Sadar. Leganes won the battle of the bottom two to to edge closer to 18th placed Celta, who threw away a one goal lead in a defeat to Levante. Elsewhere, Valencia picked up a point on their travels at the Jose Zorrilla, Villarreal got two more with a win at the Ceramica, and Eibar cruised past Granada 3-0.

SERIE A WEEK 17 HIGHLIGHTS
The top two both faced Genoa based opponents and both picked up 3 points, although leaders Inter had a considerably easier time with Genoa than the Old Lady did with Samp. Lazio had a week off as they defeated Juve, who didn’t, in the Saudi Arabian Supercoppa. Roma cut the gap to the Eagles and ruined Montella’s Christmas, sacked following La Viola’s crushing 4-1 loss. Atalanta underlined just how far off the pace the Rossoneri are handing out a 5-0 drubbing in Bergamo with Ilicic in full flow. In Fruili, Cagliari slipped up against Udinese, whilst Parma rescued a late point against Brescia, who had led through Balotelli. Elsewhere, Napoli finally got a win at Sassuolo, Lecce ran out of time to complete an improbable comeback as they went down 3-2 to Bologna, and SPAL moved off the bottom with a win in Turin secured by Andrea Petagna.

BUNDESLIGA WEEK 17 HIGHLIGHTS
A busy week brought the first half of the season to an end with RB Leipzig on top setting a Bundesliga record of eight matches in a row scoring three goals or more. Dortmund managed to take a point off them but it would have been all three if they hadn’t been so busy handing out gifts to Timo Werner. The Foals picked up four of a possible six to remain second, but Bayern look to be gathering a head of steam with victories over Wolfsburg and Freiburg that move them up to an ominous third. The Gisdol magic is working at Koln, who have escaped the bottom three with three wins on the spin, but The same cannot be said for Frankfurt, whose domestic form has fallen off a cliff since they thrashed Bayern at the start of November, or Bremen, who have now lost four on the trot including a 5-0 defeat at home to Mainz. Florian Kohfeldt will be looking over his shoulder at Paderborn, whose win at the weekend moves them within two points. Finally, German boss Joachim Low has now become joint all-time top scorer for Freiburg alongside Nils Petersen on 83 goals.

LIGUE 1 WEEK 19 HIGHLIGHTS
The front three were all on target again as PSG brushed aside the Unicorns to move into the Christmas break seven points clear with a game in hand over Marseille, who at least did their bit by seeing off the Crocodiles at home. Rennes made it five wins on the bounce with Niang on target against Bordeaux. They replace Lille in third, who were surprise victims of a 5-1 hiding in the Principality. Nantes fell at home to local rivals Angers, and Reims secured a comeback draw against OL, whose miserable season continues. Nice consigned a lifeless Toulouse to their ninth straight defeat in all competitions, while Metz and Dijon kept their heads just above water with a 2-2 draw. Elsewhere, Brest were thumped 4-0 in Montpellier, and Strasbourg defeated St Etienne 2-1.