Follow all the action as Aston Villa host Chelsea in the Premier League this Boxing Day.
Steven Gerrard will be forced to watch from afar after Aston Villa’s head coach tested positive for Covid-19. Villa will hope his absence doesn’t detract from their momentum, having won four of their six games since Gerrard took charge, with their only two defeats coming against Manchester City and Liverpool. That upturn in form has seen Villa return to the top half of the table and they will hope to take advantage of Chelsea’s recent inconsistency this afternoon.
After such a brilliant start to the season, Thomas Tuchel’s side have faltered in recent weeks due to a combination of attacking absences and wasteful finishing. Back-to-back draws against Everton and Wolves have left the Blues six points adrift of Manchester City in the title race, although a 2-0 victory over Brentford in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals helped to regain some of their momentum. Follow all the latest updates below at the conclusion of Man City vs Leicester:
Still to come…
Coverage of Aston Villa vs Chelsea will follow the conclusion of this game at the Etihad Stadium. Team news is due in just under 30 minutes time.
Elsewhere in the Premier League
There have been goals all around the Premier League in these 3pm kick offs. Here are all the half-time scores:
Norwich 0-2 Arsenal
Tottenham 2-0 Crystal Palace
West Ham 0-1 Southampton
Man City 4-0 Leicester
Man City 4 – 0 Leicester
Riyad Mahrez is only the third player to score as many as three Premier League goals against Leicester after previously playing for them in the competition, after Chris Wood (four) and Emile Heskey (three).
Man City 4 – 0 Leicester
Man City are the third side to score two penalties in the opening 25 minutes of a Premier League match, after West Ham vs Man Utd in 2011 and Liverpool vs Sheff Utd in 2007, with City the first of those three to do so with two different scorers.
Man City 4 – 0 Leicester
Kevin De Bruyne, Riyad Mahrez, Ilkay Gundogan and Raheem Sterling all on the score sheet for Manchester City.
Half-time: Man City 4 – 0 Leicester
45+2 mins: City take a four-goal lead into the break. They scored all their goals inside the first 25 minutes and blew Leicester away before taking their feet off the gas.
Total dominance from the league leaders.
Man City 4 – 0 Leicester
45 mins:Two minutes of added time to play at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City are in complete control of this one.
GOAL! Norwich 0 – 2 Arsenal
44 mins: Kieran Tierney has doubled Arsenal’s lead at Carrow Road. The Gunners are dominating in this one. If you want to follow the action from that game you can right here:
Man City 4- 0 Leicester
42 mins: Mahrez finds Serling in the box with cross from the right side. Sterling controls it but is forced backwards before sending it to Gundogan. De Bruyne runs ito the right side of the area and is fed the ball. He squares it into the middle of Leicester’s penalty are but can’t pick out a teammate and the visitors get it clear.
Man City 4- 0 Leicester
39 mins: Gundogan plays Bernardo Silva down the left wing and he chases it towards the byline. Amartey comes across and blocks Bernardo’s path to the ball marshalling it out for a goal kick.
City win back possession almost immediately and attack down the left again winning themselves a corner. Gundogan knocks it short to De Bruyne and sprints into space to open up a better angle. De Bruyne passes the ball back to him and the German whips a cross deep to Mahrez. He brings it under control and shoots but Leicester block the effort.
Douglas Mateo
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