Liverpool continued their relentless march towards the Premier League title with a 1-0 victory over Tottenham while Sergio Aguero sent records tumbling in Manchester City s resounding win at Aston Villa.
The Reds moved 16 points clear at the top thanks to Leicester City s defeat to Southampton – as Danny Ings kept up his superb form – though the gap was reduced slightly when City thrashed Villa on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Manchester United ended a three-match winless streak with a resounding 4-0 triumph over lowly Norwich City.
We review the key top-flight matches with the help of Opta data.
CHAMPIONS-ELECT SET NEW BENCHMARKS AS TITLE TILT CONTINUES AT PACE
Barring a collapse of epic proportions, it seems certain that the Premier League title will be Liverpool s for the first time come the end of the season – or earlier, at this rate.
Roberto Firmino s fifth goal in his past six appearances handed Jurgen Klopp s side the points at Tottenham, who lost successive league matches for the first time this season, and have also conceded 20 goals in 13 matches under Jose Mourinho.
Liverpool sit on 61 points at the top of the pile, the most any side has ever registered after 21 matches in a single season across Europe s big five leagues.
Klopp s team have amassed 104 points across their past 38 Premier League games, winning 33 times and drawing on five occasions; this is a record total by any team across a 38-match run in the competition s history.
It is 38 league games since Liverpool last suffered a defeat. In the same amount of time, Spurs have lost 16 matches – including three defeats to the Reds.
AGUERO SMASHES RECORDS IN SIX-GOAL ROMP
It was a waltz in Villa Park for City on Sunday, as Aguero s hat-trick and a masterclass from Kevin De Bruyne propelled Pep Guardiola s side to a 6-1 win and up into second place.
With his second goal – which came early in the second half to put City 5-0 up – Aguero became the highest-scoring non-British player in Premier League history, moving ahead of Thierry Henry.
Aguero moved onto 177 top-flight goals when he thumped in his third, making the former Atletico Madrid forward the outright record holder for hat-tricks in the Premier League with 12 to his name – one ahead of Alan Shearer s tally of 11.
After his first-half double and assist for Aguero s hat-trick goal, Riyad Mahrez is the only Premier League player to both score and assist 20 goals or more since the start of last season in all competitions.
De Bruyne, meanwhile, is now on 15 assists for this campaign after teeing up two of City s goals.
INGS KEEPS GETTING BETTER
Two of the Premier League s leading scorers went head-to-head at the King Power Stadium, but while Jamie Vardy failed to inspire Leicester City to victory, Southampton s Ings proved the match-winner as the Saints gained revenge for their 9-0 defeat in the reverse fixture.
Ings effort nine minutes from time was his 14th of the season and his ninth goal in his past 10 top-flight appearances.
It means 40 per cent of Ings 35 Premier League goals have come in this campaign, while he is also the highest-scoring Southampton player since Jay Rodriguez in 2013-14.
Dennis Praet put Leicester ahead and is the 14th different player to have scored for the Foxes in the Premier League this term, while Brendan Rodgers suffered successive home defeats for the first time since he took over.
UNITED S FORWARDS RUN RIOT IN OLD TRAFFORD ROUT
Missing leading scorer Teemu Pukki, Norwich City never looked likely to trouble United, who cruised to a convincing win to lift themselves into fifth place.
It is the first time United have scored four goals in consecutive home games in the league since September 2017, while the Canaries have not won in nine Premier League matches.
Marcus Rashford scored twice and is now on 19 goals in all competitions this season – only Raheem Sterling, with 20, has more among Premier League players.
Juan Mata set up two goals, the first time he has provided two assists in a league match since October 2012 – also against Norwich – while Mason Greenwood has scored four top-flight goals this term, more than any other teenager in the competition.
