THE Christmas period is by far the busiest time of the year with regards to the domestic season, with little time between games offering plenty of thrills and spills to the merriment, or disgruntlement, of fans.

The festive period is also seen by many as the first true milestone of a season when it comes to the league standings, roughly falling in and around the halfway point of a campaign.

2024-25 is no exception, with non-Merseyside clubs playing 17 of the other 19 teams so far, though despite playing a game fewer, it’s Arne Slot’s Liverpool topping the tree ahead of Boxing Day.

Off the back of a scintillating 6-3 victory over Tottenham, the Reds have a four-point lead over Chelsea in second in what has been a fabulous start to the Dutchman’s tenure at Anfield.

With 39 points from 16 games so far, only two previous managers have attained more in their first 16 games in the competition, highlighting just how smooth the transition has been following Jürgen Klopp’s departure in the summer.

Despite the Reds’ strong start, it is indeed just that, with plenty of football still to be played between now and the season’s climax in May. In fact, of the previous 32 Premier League seasons, it’s an even split between sides sitting top at Christmas and those who actually going on to lift the title at the end of the season (16/32).

Four of the last six seasons have seen the side top at this stage fail to go on and win the title, with Arsenal finishing runners-up in each of the last two campaigns.

With the likeliest challengers to Liverpool seemingly Chelsea and Arsenal, four and six points behind respectively, neither of those would break the top five when it comes to the biggest points gaps at this stage, before subsequently winning the title.

Arsenal’s 13-point deficit in 1997-98 remains the total to beat, while Manchester United in 1995-96 are the only side to run down a deficit of double figures to finish as league champions (10). Manchester City are currently 12 points off top spot on an unrelated note.

At the foot of the table, it’s Southampton that can be found propping up this season’s top-flight, with six points from their 17 games so far.

And unfortunately, for those of a Saints persuasion, being in this position at this stage of the season is much more emphatic when confirming the likelihood of survival. On just four previous occasions has a side in this position gone on to avoid relegation, with Wolves the most recent example in 2022-23.

The downside for Southampton is that they’re eight points off Leicester City in 17^th, much higher than any previous side has had to contend with to perform the unlikely escape.

In fact, since the start of 2019-20, 11 of the 15 teams that have been in the relegation zone come Christmas Day have been relegated, with last season just the fourth time that every side in the bottom three at that stage ended up being relegated, along with 2001-02, 2012-13 and 2020-21.

To finish on a more jovial note, we take a look at those who tend to have enjoyed the Boxing Day games more than most in Premier League history, with Harry Kane probably regretting his choice of moving to a league with a winter break.

He’s the only player in the competition’s history with 10 goals on Boxing Day, and one of two players with 10 goal involvements along with Dimitar Berbatov (5 goals, 5 assists).

And it wouldn’t be Christmas without an appearance from Santa himself…

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