Five-star Arsenal prove their mettle with statement win over Burnley

Bukayo Saka scored either side of halftime as Arsenal crushed Burnley 5-0 at Turf Moor to go second in the table and keep the pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool on Saturday. Martin Odegaard opened the scoring for the Gunners in the fourth minute, shooting from outside the box into the bottom right corner before Saka made it 2-0 from the penalty spot in the 41st after a foul on Leandro Trossard. Saka claimed his second two minutes after the break for his 12th league goal of the campaign, Trossard made it 4-0 and Kai Havertz added a fifth as Arsenal cruised to a fifth straight win in 2024. Gunners are two points behind Liverpool, 4-1 winners at Brentford, after 25 games and three clear of champions Manchester City who host Chelsea later on Saturday. This is the first time that the north Londoners have ever begun a calendar year with five league wins on the bounce and that outcome appeared to be on the cards within four minutes of kick-off. Odegaard hammered Arsenal ahead and Saka scored from the spot just before the break, adding to his double in last week's stunning 6-0 win at West Ham . The forward completed another brace before Trossard and Havertz added gloss as suspended boss Vincent Kompany watched his hapless team crumble from the stands. Meanwhile, Wolverhampton Wanderers put a dent in Tottenham Hotspur's top-four ambitions as Joao Gomes scored twice in an impressive 2-1 away victory. Brazilian Gomes headed Wolves in front shortly before halftime and struck again in the 63rd minute after Dejan Kulusevski had equalised immediately after the break. It was Wolves' fourth win in their last six Premier League games away to Tottenham and completed the double this season after their win at Molineux in October. Defeat, combined with Aston Villa's win at Fulham, dropped Tottenham down into fifth place with 47 points from 25 games. Villa moved back into the top four as Ollie Watkins hit a brace in a 2-1 win. The England striker scored in either half to seal the points for Unai Emery's side, whose clean sheet was ruined by Rodrigo Muniz's goal. Villa's win was enough to take them into the Champions League places as their West Midlands rivals Wolves won at Spurs. In the other match of the evening, a rare Matt Ritchie goal saw Newcastle twice come from behind and earn a late 2-2 draw at home to Bournemouth. Dominic Solanke took full advantage of a Martin Dubravka error to put the Cherries ahead before Anthony Gordon - operating as a number nine - drew the hosts level from the penalty spot. Bournemouth restored their lead through Antoine Semenyo only for their former player Ritchie to equalise just moments after coming on as a 90th-minute substitute. Earlier in the day, Mohamed Salah returned with a goal as Premier League leaders Liverpool routed Brentford 4-1 despite a rash of injuries. Salah came off the bench to replace the injured Diogo Jota in his first Liverpool appearance since their win over Newcastle on New Year's Day. Having returned from the hamstring injury he sustained on Egypt duty at the Africa Cup of Nations, Salah made up for lost time with his first goal for the Reds since the Newcastle game. The 31-year-old's 19th goal in all competitions this term put Liverpool on course for a sixth win in their last seven league games. Darwin Nunez had given Jurgen Klopp's side the lead with a sublime chip late in the first half at the Gtech Community Stadium. Alexis Mac Allister doubled Liverpool's advantage after the interval with just his second goal this season. Ivan Toney got one back for Brentford, but Cody Gakpo netted in the closing stages.

Five-star Arsenal prove their mettle with statement win over Burnley

Wolves dent Tottenham's top-four hopes while Aston Villa surge ahead