ARSENAL will be leaders of the English Premier League on Christmas Day for the second straight year after earning a 1-1 draw against Liverpool at Anfield tonight.
The Gunners took the lead early but were pegged back as Liverpool remain unbeaten against them at Anfield since 2012.
Gabriel headed the visitors into the lead just four minutes in after a free-kick, stinging the hosts into action.
Liverpool relentlessly probed for the leveller and their persistence paid off in the 29th minute when Mohamed Salah beat Oleksandr Zinchenko and blasted one past David Raya into the top corner from inside the penalty box.
Egypt forward Salah has been directly involved in 121 goals in 120 appearances in the Premier League for Liverpool at Anfield (88 goals, 33 assists), the outright most of any player for the club, edging ahead of Steven Gerrard who had 120 goal contributions.
Jurgen Klopp’s side almost stole all three points late on when they broke free.
Five Liverpool players broke from inside their own half after an Arsenal set-piece and faced two Arsenal defenders. Salah slipped the ball to Trent Alexander-Arnold whose shot crashed against the crossbar and bounced to safety.
The result means Arsenal stay on top, one point ahead of Liverpool, who are ahead of Aston Villa on goal difference.
Arsenal will start Christmas Day top of the English top-flight table in consecutive years for just the second time in their history, after doing so in 1932 and 1933, according to Opta statistics.
Earlier in the afternoon kick-offs, Tottenham Hotspur defeated Everton 2-1 at the Tottenham Hotspur to move to within four points of the top spot, while West Ham eased past Manchester United 2-0 at the London Stadium in the early kick-off.
