Everton tightened their grip on fourth place in the Premier League and the prospect of Champions League football with a 1-0 win over Reading on Saturday.
Klaas Jan Huntelaar scored twice as Ajax Amsterdam defeated arch-rivals Feyenoord 3-0 in the Dutch League on Sunday.
Arsenal beat Newcastle United 3-0 to edge ahead of Manchester United in the English Premier League.
Manchester United, who could have been 10 points clear of Liverpool if they had beaten them last weekend, could find themselves in second place in the table when the Premier League resumes in two weeks' time.
Steven Gerrard scored a hat-trick as Liverpool maintained their stunning recent form by crushing Aston Villa 5-0 at Anfield on Sunday to close the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester United to just one point.
Manchester United stayed put atop the English Premier League after 2-0 victory over Reading as Arsenal routed Fulham 3-0 and Chelsea beat Birmingham City 1-0.
Someone needs to score when Manchester United face Inter Milan on Wednesday and although Jose Mourinho claims Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the world's best striker, he must be secretly envious of Alex Ferguson's riches. The teams drew 0-0 in the first leg, United dominating the match but missing a few tempting chances, and the Champions League last-16 tie is finely balanced heading to Old Trafford.
Chelsea closed the gap on Arsenal at the top of the Premier League when they beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-0 on Saturday and Arsenal were held to a surprising 1-1 draw by Birmingham City.
Manchester United were given an early scare at Newcastle United on Wednesday before hitting back for a 2-1 victory that restored their seven-point cushion at the top of the English Premier League. Fourth-placed Aston Villa's Champions League ambitions were dealt a blow with a 2-0 loss at Manchester City while Stoke City climbed out of the bottom three with a 2-0 home victory over Bolton Wanderers. West Ham United won 1-0 at Wigan Athletic.
Liverpool drew 1-1 at third division Luton Town and Newcastle United were goalless at Stoke City in the FA Cup fourth round.
A second-string Arsenal side proved strong enough to secure a 2-0 victory at Championship club Burnley on Sunday and with it a place in Monday's FA Cup fourth-round draw.
Two of the three main Premier League title contenders will suffers as some of their players head for the African Nations Cup in Ghana.
Chelsea host Villa on Wednesday, Newcastle United on Dec. 29 and are away at neighbours Fulham on new year's day.
Manchester United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar has agreed a new 12-month contract to stay at Old Trafford next season.
UEFA Cup holders Shakhtar Donetsk were knocked out of the Europa League after being held to a 1-1 draw by visitors Fulham in their round of 32 tie Thursday. Former European champions Liverpool and Juventus progressed to the last 16 and Werder Bremen striker Claudio Pizarro scored a hat-trick as his side went through with a 4-1 win over former England manager Steve McLaren's Twente Enschede.
Nicolas Anelka rescued Chelsea's FA Cup hopes on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 victory at Watford to avoid a shock fifth-round exit. In their first game since Luiz Felipe Scolari was sacked and with replacement manager Guus Hiddink watching in the stands, Chelsea fell behind to the Championship (second division) strugglers when Tamas Priskin netted with 21 minutes remaining.
The Chelsea captain will be out of action for up to six weeks after a scan showed he had broken three bones in his right foot.
Manchester United will be without the two players for three games after their claims of wrongful dismissal in a friendly were rejected.
Manchester City came from behind to beat Bolton Wanderers 4-2 to keep their 100 percent home record and go fourth in the English Premier League.
The players are likely to get three-match Premier League bans following dismissals during last week's friendly against Porto in Amsterdam.
Liverpool continued their hot streak by beating Bolton Wanderers 4-0 on Sunday with captain Steven Gerrard scoring one goal and having a hand in the other three. In the day's other Premier League game Alex McLeish got off to a flying start in charge of Birmingham City as Sebastian Larsson stuck a terrific injury-time goal to snatch a 3-2 win at Tottenham Hotspur.
England striker Jermain Defoe missed a late penalty but Tottenham Hotspur's unbeaten run under new coach Juande Ramos remained intact after a 1-1 draw at West Ham United on Sunday.
Dimitar Berbatov scored what proved to be the winning goal against his former club as Manchester United beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in a pulsating FA Cup fourth round tie at Old Trafford on Saturday. Berbatov, who left Spurs for United in August, beat the offside trap to put the home side ahead two minutes after a deflected long range shot from Paul Scholes had cancelled out Roman Pavlyuchenko's fifth minute opener for Tottenham.
Arsenal resume battle with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League on Saturday.
Luiz Felipe Scolari might have to make a quick call to his agent if Chelsea lose to Manchester United on Sunday.
Frank Lampard capped a great week for himself and Chelsea when he opened the scoring in a 2-0 win at Wigan Athletic on Saturday as the Londoners gained ground on Premier League leaders Arsenal and Manchester United.
Nottingham Forest, struggling at the wrong end of the Championship (second division), scored the upset of the day when they crushed Premier League Manchester City 3-0 in the FA Cup third round on Saturday. City were one of four Premier League teams to be knocked out of the Cup with Stoke City humbled 2-0 at League One (third division) Hartlepool United and Bolton Wanderers and Wigan Athletic losing all-Premier League ties.
Manchester United stormed to the top of the Premier League on Saturday with a 4-1 thumping of Middlesbrough as Chelsea stole the limelight with a 6-0 hammering of third-placed Manchester City.
Liverpool stayed top of the Premier League on Sunday after an emphatic 5-1 win at Newcastle United gave them maximum points from their two Christmas fixtures.
Arsenal beat Bolton Wanderers 2-0 at home while Chelsea scored an identical win over Middlesbrough in the EPL.
For the second time in five weeks, Chelsea have been fined for failing to control their players
Premier League leaders Liverpool stumbled again at home and needed two Steven Gerrard goals to salvage a draw with Hull City. Luckily for the leaders two of their title rivals also dropped points.
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