With the 2019/20 Premier League now just past its halfway point and a busy Christmas programme almost done, it’s time to hand out some imaginary mid-season awards.

There can be few doubts that Mikel Arteta is a good fit for Arsenal, despite his appointment representing something of a calculated gamble. The North Londoners have famously gambled before on the management front and come up trumps. There is, therefore, no need to get more than medium-sized jitters about the arrival of a man whose profile fits the bill on many levels.

Jonjo Shelvey further dented Manchester City’s hopes of retaining their Premier League title as they were held to a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

Germany and Holland secured their places at Euro 2020 from qualifying Group C as Northern Ireland were left to try their luck in the play-offs.

Kyle Walker struck a late winner as champions Manchester City came from behind to snatch a hard-fought 2-1 win over Southampton in the Premier League.

Pep Guardiola’s annoyance at a passive first-half performance dampened the Manchester City manager’s mood despite ultimately running out comprehensive victors against Aston Villa.

The 31-year-old has not required any medical treatment and the incident should not affect his availability for Saturday’s Premier League trip to Crystal Palace.

Daniel Storey looks back at the weekend's action.

Daniel Storey Liverpool walk on, but Salah form will cause Klopp some concern

Daniel Storey recaps the final weekend of the Premier League season.

In a title race which has been billed as the heavy metal football of Liverpool against the melodious harmonies of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola’s side proved they can crank up the amps when they really need to - and the Etihad maestros must surely now be favourites to be crowned champions.

Football — bloody hell, as a Manchester manager once said after a Champions League match of the highest drama.

Tottenham Hotspur have enjoyed plenty of memorable European nights but none quite like the 90 plus minutes experienced in Manchester on a crazy, crazy evening.

And then there were 13.

If reports of Manchester City’s demise in the title race before Christmas were premature then the ones about the long-term future of Maurizio Sarri as Chelsea manager may be proven completely accurate in the coming weeks.

There’s a scene in Forrest Gump where the film’s hero reacquaints himself with his old army Lieutenant Dan by throwing himself off his shrimp boat, leaving the vessel to weave around the estuary by itself.

So it’s over to you, Liverpool.

Daniel Storey looks at the five biggest takeaways from the weekend’s action.

Daniel Storey picks out the five biggest questions emerging after Liverpool's first loss of the season to champions Man City.

International football is these days resembling a transfer market and this time Martin O’Neill is nursing the bloody nose.

Pep Guardiola has suggested Manchester City would be reluctant to swap venues for their two Premier League fixtures against Tottenham this season, writes Andy Hampson

Kyle Walker has warned Manchester City’s rivals that the record-breaking champions are determined to pass last season’s tally of 100 Premier League points.

Maurizio Sarri knows even winning trophies is no guarantee of a lengthy stay at Chelsea.

It may be meaningless to many, but the unloved third-place play-off match can produce significant ramifications.

And then there was one. Well, two actually, but the World Cup third-place play-off is definitely one of those nominally competitive fixtures which presents a fairly robust challenge to my old friend Declan Lynch’s wise maxim that there’s never a good reason not to watch a football match.

Three key battles between Belgium and Brazil.

Belgium have beaten Japan 3-2 in their World Cup last-16 tie in Rostov to set up a quarter-final against Brazil.

Belgium coach Roberto Martinez has apologised to journalists for making their lives harder by putting an end to the dramas and in-fighting that have characterised Belgian squads in the past.

Daniel Storey selects 10 young players who can propel their careers to the next level during the World Cup.

There will be 100 Premier League players in action at the World Cup, spread across 25 international teams.

Southampton 0 Man City 1

Man City 3 Brighton 1

The celebrations started before kick-off and went on well into the balmy Manchester night at the Etihad Stadium yesterday as Pep Guardiola was finally able to place his hands on the Premier League trophy.

West Ham 1 Manchester City 4: With a century of goals and a host of records set to tumble before the curtain falls on their title-winning campaign, Manchester City’s season continues to set new standards, which manager Pep Guardiola believes will mark them out as the best team in Premier League history.

It might be hard to imagine Graeme Souness, the Roy Keane of his era, taking to the pitch for even a routine assignment with anything other than his most ferocious battle face on but, as he revealed in his Sunday newspaper column at the weekend, he and his Liverpool team mates were “larking around like 12-year-olds” in the tunnel before they walked out to play Roma in the latter’s own backyard in the 1984 European Cup final.

Champions Manchester City turned on the style to extend their lead at the top of the Premier League table to 16 points with a 5-0 demolition of Swansea.

Manchester City have dominated the Professional Footballers' Association's Premier League team of the year, with five players named in the select XI.

Manchester City have earned the ultimate collective prize for a remarkable season and their players will lift the Premier League trophy on Sunday when they face Swansea City at the Etihad.

Forget the talk of Manchester City ‘crisis’

There had been severe doubts in many quarters about City’s ability to stage an apt Premier League coronation after the gross mishap in midweek when they had shot their Champions League feet off with the ceremonial cannons.

Manchester City haven’t become a bad team on the back of one bad night at the office, writes Liam Mackey

Here are three things we learned last night.