Agency :
Arsenal squandered the chance to exert some pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool when they drew 1-1 away at Brighton & Hove Albion, while Chelsea’s challenge continued to falter as they also dropped points at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Liverpool kick off their new year on Sunday at home to Manchester United when they have the chance to move eight points clear of their pursuers with a game in hand.
Reigning champions Manchester City began their year with a second successive victory as something like normal service resumed for Pep Guardiola’s side and Newcastle United closed on the top four with a narrow victory at Tottenham Hotspur.
After an autumnal slump, Arsenal have re-emerged as the most likely side to push Liverpool in the second half of the season and victory at Brighton would have cut the gap to three points.
They looked on course for a fourth successive league win when teenager Ethan Nwaneri gave them a first-half lead but Arsenal were pegged back when Joao Pedro converted a penalty just past the hour mark on the south coast.
Arsenal have 40 points from 20 games, with Liverpool on 45. Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Crystal Palace left them in fourth place with 36 points from 20 games, one point behind third-placed Nottingham Forest who face Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday.
The 17-year-old Nwaneri has earned rave reviews with some cameo displays for Arsenal and has been given a chance to shine in the absence of the injured Bukayo Saka.
He opened the scoring 16 minutes into his second Premier League start, cutting in and shooting confidently past Bart Verbruggen to reward Arsenal for a strong start.
But Brighton battled back and were awarded a penalty on the hour when Pedro went down after a clash of heads with William Saliba in the area. The Brazilian then calmly dispatched his spot kick beyond David Raya.
Brighton, who are 10th, had chances to take all three points but drew for the sixth time in their last eight league games.
Chelsea’s pre-Christmas surge has run out of steam and they have now taken only two points from their last four games.
Cole Palmer gave them a deserved first-half lead against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park but they failed to kill off the game before Jean-Philippe Mateta’s late leveler for the hosts.
