January 1st to 3rd - The first games of the new year saw Man United move level on points with Liverpool at the top of the table. They saw off a dogged challenge by Aston Villa to win two-one at Old Trafford on Friday night. Bertrand Traore cancelled out Antony Martial's opener before Bruno Fernandes scored the winner from the penalty spot late on. Everton missed a chance to move into the top four when they were beaten one-nil by West Ham. Tomas Soucek scored the only goal of the game in the final five minutes as David Moyes picked up his first victory at Goodison Park since leaving in 2013.

Tottenham started 2021 with a comfortable three-nil win at home to Leeds - the goals came from Kane, Son and Alderweireld as Jose Mourinho's side climed back into the top four. Crystal Palace moved eleven points of the relegation zone as they beat Sheffield United two-nil at Selhurst Park. Both goals came before half-time courtesy of Schlupp and Eze.

The Saturday evening game saw the points and six goals shared between Brighton and Wolves. Brighton were ahead through an Aaron Connolly goal but strikes from Saiss, Nevis and a Burn own goal had the visitors three-one to the good at half-time. However, an early second-half penalty from Neal Maupay and a header from Lewis Dunk completed a good comeback from Graham Potter's side. Arsenal picked up their third win in a row with a four-nil win at West Brom - Tierney, Saka and Lacazette (2) scored the goals for Mikel Arteta's side.

Sunday's games saw tow of the title challengers pick up a decent three points on the road. Leicester were first up winning two-one at Newcastle. James Maddison and Youri Tielemans scored the goals as Brendan Rodgers' side moved to within a point of top spot. Man City followed that up with a comprehensive three-one win at Chelsea. All Man City's goals came in the first half as the pressure was heaped further on under-fire Frank Lampard. Gundogan, Foden and de Bruyne scored for the visitors - Hudson-Odoi's injury time strike was merely a consolation. City are now fifth in the table. If they win their game in hand they'll be a point off the lead.

The first monthly leaderboard of 2021 sees Eoghan Farrelly roar into the lead, helped by two ten-pointers on 57 points. He's ten points clear of Gerry Draper. Five points further back, completing the top five are Darragh Kenny, Gavin Goodwin and some fella called Joe Turner - full details below:

 

January 16th and 17th - It's a Manchester one and two at the top of the table after Sunday's games. Man United are top and dreaming of a glory after a nil-all draw at Anfield. As usual, following a big build up by S*y, the game was a damp squib. Liverpool's misfiring run continues with no goals for three games now. United missed a couple of great chances late on to win it but Alisson saved from Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba. It was a good week on the road for United - the aforementioned Monsieur Pogba scored a late winner for United at Burnley earlier in the week. Man City seem to be running into form at just the right time - they picked up six points at home during the week. Phil Foden scored the only goal in a one-nil win at home to Brighton midweek. They followed that up with a four-nil win at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday night to move to within two points of the lead with a game in hand.

Leicester are third in the table following a two-nil win at home to Southampton - James Maddison and Harvey Barnes scored for the hosts in that one. Tottenham and Everton are just outside the top four after away victories this week. Spurs won three-one at Sheffield United and Everton won two-one at Wolves. Both have games and hand and could go ahead of Liverpool and into the top four with wins in those.

At the bottom of the table, Sheffield United had finally picked up a victory prior to that Tottenham defeat. Billy Sharp scored the winner from the penalty spot late on at home to Newcastle on Tuesday night. West Brom picked up a big three points with a win in the Black Country Derby at Wolves on Saturday lunchtime. Matheus Pereira scored two penalties as Sam Allardyce's side won three-two. Fulham's defeat at home to Chelsea on Saturday evening leaves them and the Baggies five points adrift from safety in the bottom three.

Eoghan Farrelly leads the January competition for a second week - he has an eight point lead over Gerry Draper after this week's games. Joe Behan had a score of 66 points this week to move to third place. The top five is completed by Darragh Kenny and Victoria Reid - full details below:

 

January 19th to 23rd - Man United had to come from behind at Fulham to maintain their lead at the top of the table. Scott Parker's side lead early on through Ademola Lookman but goals from Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba saw Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side pick up another three points on the road. Man City left it late against Aston Villa to record their victory - Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan scored in the last ten minutes to keep Pep Guardiola's side within two points of the lead.

Leicester are also just two points off the lead - they beat Chelsea two-nil at the King Power Stadium to keep up their title challenge. Wilfred Ndidi and James Maddison scored the goals in the first half to heap the pressure on under-fire Frank Lampard. Liverpool's long unbeaten home run came to an end - Ashley Barnes scored a penalty late on at Anfield as Burnley won one-nil. That was Liverpool's first home defeat since Crystal Palce's victory in April 2017. The champions are six points off the lead at the halfway point in their title defence.

Elsewhere midweek, West Ham beat West Brom two-one to climb to seventh in the table. Steve Bruce is another manager under pressure after two away defeats this week - three-nil at Arsenal and two-nil at Aston Villa. The Toon are eight points clear of the drop zone but Fulham do have two games in hand...

Gerry Draper picked up 46 points this week to move into the lead in the January competition. He has a thirteen point lead over two people - last week's leader Eoghan Farrelly and Victoria Reid who has climbed from fifth place. Three people then share fourth place, five points back - Ciaran O'Hart, Darragh Kenny and Joe Behan - full details below:

 

January 26th to 31st - A busy January comes to an end with Man City three points clear at the top of the table and looking very good to regain their title. A five-nil win at West Brom midweek was followed by a hard fought win at home to Sheffield United on Saturday. The Blades had already done Pep Guardiola's a huge favour by winning at Old Trafford on Wednesday night. Further dropped points by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side from a nil-all draw at Arsenal on Saturday evening suggest that talk of a trophy parade down Mancunian Way in May might have been premature.

There were more capital gains for Liverpool this week. Five league games without a win following their demolition of Crystal Palace before Christmas ended with a three-one win at Tottenham on Thursday night. A win at West Ham by the same scoreline on Sunday made it six points from six and third place in the table. The fact that the front three of Salah, Mane and Firmino were back among the goals will give hope to the Reds fans that they're not giving up their title cheaply. Man City's trip to Anfield next Sunday will tell a tale or two. Things went from bad to worse for Jose Mourinho's side on Sunday night when they lost one-nil at Brighton - Graham Potter's sides first home win of the season...

Leicester failed to win in their two games this week, a setback for their title ambitions. A one-all draw at Everton wasn't the worst result in the world but a three-one defeat at home to Leeds was a surprise. Patrick Bamford was back on the scoresheet in that one, his eleventh league goal of the season. Leeds are twelfth in the table now having also won at Newcastle midweek.

In addition to their point at home to Man United, Arsenal gained immediate revenge for their FA Cup exit by winning three-one at St Marys against Southampton on Tuesday night. The midweek games also saw victories for West Ham at Crystal Palace and Burnley at home to Aston Villa. The weekend's other games saw a draw between West Brom and Fulham and a one-nil win at Southampton for Aston Villa.

Finally, the Frank Lampard era came to an end at Stamford Bridge. New manager Thomas Tuchel was in charge for Wednesday night's nil-all draw at home to Wolves. The new manager's first victory came in a two-nil success at home to Burnley on Sunday.

Gerry Draper held on to win the monthly competition despite a late challenge by Victoria Reid. His margin of victory was just three points in the end. There were also strong finishes from Joe Behan, Joseph Kavanagh and Derek Brady to complete the top five for January:

 

Premier League 2020-2021 - January Leaderboard
No.
 Lst Chg
Name
Team Name
Pts
Lst
Chg
Support the Site:
1
1
0
Gerry Draper
Everton10
205
156
49






2
3
1
Victoria Reid
Tristan's Titans
202
143
59
3
6
3
Joe Behan
MT-09
198
138
60
4
12
8
Joseph Kavanagh
Joey's Invincibles
196
127
69
5
19
14
Derek Brady
Liverpool
194
122
72
6
2
-4
Eoghan Farrelly
Last Chance Saloon
193
143
50
7
5
-2
Darragh Kenny
The Sporting Wing
189
138
51
8
4
-4
Ciaran O'Hart
Riverchapel Plate
188
138
50
9
35
26
Richard Johnston
The Corporation Lads FC
182
113
69
10
13
3
Gavin Goodwin
Gorey United
181
124
57
11
14
3
Aidan White
Saved By A Goalline Technology Failure
180
123
57
12
16
4
Gavin Morgan
Bristol Fashion
180
123
57
13
8
-5
David Lavelle
Gers Abu
179
131
48
14
7
-7
Joe Turner
#blocklivesmatter
176
137
39
15
48
33
Javier Suarez
Hendo's Boys
175
98
77
16
33
17
Kevin Philpott
Phillys Phylers
175
114
61
17
10
-7
Aidan Scanlon
Kilflynn Santos
171
127
44
18
27
9
Brian Prendergast
Mista Dobalina
169
116
53
19
31
12
Dean White
Armchair 11
169
115
54
20
22
2
Alan White
Al White XI
167
118
49
21
25
4
Davy Doyle
FC Twente Benson
167
117
50
22
45
23
Frank McSweeney
Poolabu
167
102
65
23
17
-6
Niall Carroll
19
167
123
44
24
11
-13
Gary Fitzpatrick
Timo Werner Is A Hurensohn
166
127
39
25
9
-16
Wayne Donovan
Sixth Senseless
164
128
36
26
18
-8
Con McSweeney
Dowtcha_Boys
163
122
41
27
51
24
Caroline Carroll
Prince
162
96
66
28
20
-8
Eamon Fox
Goals Very Important In Life
162
122
40
29
21
-8
Phil Doyle
FC Muertos Errantes
162
121
41
30
24
-6
Anastas Popov
Strong Saints
161
117
44
31
36
5
Brian Haughton
Klopp's Achievers
161
112
49
32
26
-6
Paul Prendergast
The Untouchables
161
117
44
33
52
19
Liam Geraghty
Is There Any Hope?
160
94
66
34
23
-11
Liam Keohan
Invincibles
160
118
42
35
43
8
Ralph Goodwin
Sky Blue Champions
160
106
54
36
34
-2
David Cooney
Frank's Silvalinings
158
113
45
37
15
-22
Ciaran Nelson
Nelson Utd
157
123
34
38
32
-6
David McGinley
Reservoir Dubs
157
114
43
39
44
5
Fiachra O'Brolachain
Tallacticos
157
104
53
40
46
6
Gareth Pierpoint
Alisson Wonderland
155
101
54
41
39
-2
Philip Jordan
Frankie's Army
155
112
43
42
67
25
Trevor Byrne
Noddy's 11
153
81
72
43
54
11
Craig Calvert
Proper FC
152
93
59
44
37
-7
Gary McGurk
This Is Our Year
152
112
40
45
50
5
Brian Mullen
Mothers Milk
150
96
54
46
41
-5
Calvin McGettigan
Average Joe 1.0
150
107
43
47
28
-19
Gerard McCluskey
Breffni Blues
150
116
34
48
29
-19
Jonathan Fox
Kilppety Klopp All The Way To The Top
150
116
34
49
30
-19
Robert Manley
Alisson Wonderland
150
116
34
50
42
-8
Cathal Thornton
Horse's Heroes
147
107
40
51
38
-13
Graham Goodwin
2021 Pls
147
112
35
52
57
5
Sean O'Mairtin
Creweless
146
91
55
53
40
-13
Andy Dunne
Peter Crouch Rangers
145
108
37
54
55
1
Bobby Hynes
Born To Run
141
92
49
55
49
-6
Roisin Joyce
Roisin Joyce
141
97
44
56
59
3
George McGettigan
Right Up The Jimmy
139
90
49
57
66
9
Lionel Knott
Red Abbey Reds
137
81
56
58
61
3
Niall Murray
Book Ake
136
89
47
59
47
-12
Kris Stainton
Da Love Be Beek
135
100
35
60
56
-4
Brendan Maguire
Cantthinkofone
133
91
42
61
60
-1
Kev Dalton
Show Me De Mane
133
89
44
62
53
-9
Niall Cannon
TAA Very Much
133
94
39
63
64
1
Paul Moore
Bobby Dazzler
131
85
46
64
58
-6
Christina Morgan
Return of the Red Dwarf
126
90
36
65
62
-3
Robert Hynes
Charlton
126
86
40
66
69
3
Micheal Joyce
Pure Whites
118
73
45
67
68
1
John Brophy
Carrig United
113
80
33
68
70
2
Gerry Moore
Mikel's Maestros
110
61
49
69
63
-6
John O'Driscoll
The Botchments
109
85
24
70
65
-5
Patrick Mifsud
Red & Black Brigade
89
84
5
71
71
0
Callum Dunne
The Keita Success
63
59
4
72
72
0
Ben Creasey
#1
16
14
2
73
73
0
Drew Armstrong
Army's All Stars
16
14
2
74
75
1
Michael Kenaney
Expected Toulouse
12
10
2
75
74
-1
Gary Donnelly
Audrey's + 1
10
10
0