10 takeaways from the Premier League's Boxing Day fixtures

theScore examines the most important Premier League developments from a jam-packed Boxing Day slate.

Martial crucial for Manchester United

Anthony Martial scored his first-ever home brace in the Premier League on Thursday against Newcastle, and for the Frenchman, his 62nd outing at Old Trafford was one of his best in a Manchester United kit.

Fellow young attackers Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood also got on the scoresheet thanks to immense showings in the 4-1 battering of the sloppy Magpies, but Martial stood out prior to a 63rd-minute withdrawal.

Since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over, United have a 78% win percentage when Martial plays compared to just 27% without the Frenchman. Only Solskjaer's early substitution and a long-rage rocket that struck the post prevented the 24-year-old Man of the Match honoree from snapping United's run of 250 games without a hat-trick.

What's up with Tanguy Ndombele?

Jose Mourinho is no stranger to alienating players. At Real Madrid, it was Iker Casillas; during two spells at Chelsea, Juan Mata, Kevin De Bruyne, and Mohamed Salah were victims of the Portuguese gaffer's partisanship.

Mourinho's Tottenham squad had one glaring omission during Thursday's visit from Brighton: Tanguy Ndombele. A summer recruit for an initial club-record £55-million fee, Ndombele, 22, wasn't included despite Mourinho's post-match assertion that he "cannot say that he is injured." Post-match revelations from the manager suggest that Ndombele himself had reservations about potentially aggravating an existing issue.

"I can say that yesterday he told me he was not feeling in condition to play the game," Mourinho said. "Not based on injuries, based on fears of previous injuries that he has had since the beginning of the season."

The match begged for a midfielder of Ndombele's versatility. Before Harry Winks was taken off with 20 minutes to play, he and Moussa Sissoko forged a passive pairing low on quality and with little influence. With Winks and Sissoko both suspended for yellow card accumulation after picking up cautions versus Brighton, Mourinho may be forced to feature Ndombele against Norwich despite a penchant for ostracizing players.

Ayew is a second-half savior

Crystal Palace striker Jordan Ayew made up for missing a sitter in the opening stanza to bag one of the goals of the season as the Eagles topped West Ham by a 2-1 scoreline Thursday.

For Ayew, that's now a club-best five tallies on the campaign. Among his 21 Premier League goals, 20 have come after the interval, the highest such ratio for a player with 20 or more top-tier tallies.

For a team notoriously short on attackers with any sort of scoring prowess - only Watford have nabbed fewer Premier League goals this season - Palace need Ayew to keep producing the goods, otherwise, it'll really all be on Wilfried Zaha's shoulders.

Some promising signs for Arteta

Despite only picking up a point at the Vitality Stadium, Arsenal showed improvement during Mikel Arteta's debut in their 1-1 draw with Bournemouth.

Considering Arteta was forced to call upon the club's two third-choice full-backs and an error-prone central defensive pairing, the Gunners dominated possession and looked fluid in attack. The final product - namely several efforts from Alexandre Lacazette - lacked precision, but at least there's a reason for hope now that Unai Emery and Freddie Ljungberg aren't at the helm.

Lucas Torreira thrived as a ball-stopper in a return to his preferred holding midfield role and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored another goal away from home to mark 11 of Arsenal's last 16 tallies on the road. Still, baby steps for a club that's won just one of its last 14 matches.

Chelsea's home form continues to mystify

Stamford Bridge was eerily silent as Southampton came to west London and bossed Chelsea in a 2-0 victory, courtesy of goals from Michael Obafemi and Nathan Redmond.

Frank Lampard's Blues have now lost back-to-back home league matches for the first time since November 2011 under Andre Villas-Boas, and the defeat was their fourth at home this season. Only bottom-half dwellers West Ham, Southampton, and Norwich City have suffered more home defeats than Chelsea, who are suddenly clinging to fourth place with both Tottenham and Manchester United closing in fast.

Sidibe stars for Ancelotti

When the teams' sheets were unveiled for Carlo Ancelotti's Everton bow against Burnley, questions arose when full-back Djibril Sidibe was tasked with playing on the wing.

The Frenchman repaid his manager's faith with a good showing that included the assist on Dominic Calvert-Lewin's match-winning goal to cap a hard-working performance. This season, only Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold (8) and Andy Robertson (5) have contributed more assists among defenders than Sidibe's four.

Ancelotti's stellar inauguration run continues, with just one defeat to go with seven victories and a pair of draws during his managerial debut. Additionally, every outfield starter managed at least one attempt on net for the Toffees, something that hasn't been accomplished at Goodison Park in nearly three years. So far so good for the new Italian bench boss.

Aston Villa need more from Wesley

A year after Tammy Abraham finished second in the Championship with 25 goals, Aston Villa replaced the Chelsea striker with £22-million Brazilian Wesley.

The 23-year-old forward has been poor this season, managing just four goals, and in Thursday's vital 1-0 win over Norwich City at Villa Park, he didn't register a single shot. Wesley also completed just 59% of his passes despite excelling at hold-up play and displaying a solid work rate in bullying his markers.

It says a lot that Thursday was arguably his best performance for the club. Dean Smith will need more goals from Wesley, and the striker will require better service if Villa have hopes of staying up.

Pearson gives Watford needed jolt

Since Watford appointed former Leicester City boss Nigel Pearson as their third manager of the season, the Hornets have registered five points in three matches, including a 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on Boxing Day.

"If you can't win, don't get beaten," Pearson told BBC Sport post-match. It's a simplified approach for a side allergic to capturing the full three points.

Watford now have 13 points and sit 19th, six points adrift of West Ham and top-tier safety. In the Premier League era, only Burnley, Swansea, West Bromwich Albion, and Sunderland have secured safety with 12 points or fewer after 18 matches, meaning Watford face a massive task.

Alexander-Arnold is unstoppable

The Liverpool freight train moved 13 points clear atop the table - with a match in hand, no less - by obliterating Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Thursday. Roberto Firmino scored twice, Naby Keita was electric, and the backline was completely untroubled in the Reds' dominant 4-0 win that highlighted the gap between Liverpool and everyone else in the league this season.

The most impressive display on the night, though, came from 21-year-old Trent Alexander-Arnold. On a team loaded with star talent, the right-back may have a legitimate claim as Liverpool's best player.

Alexander-Arnold set up a pair of goals and capped off a remarkable showing with a slick finish of his own late in the contest. Since the start of last season, his 20 assists (!) easily stand up as the most in England's top flight. Again, we're talking about a full-back. Incredible stuff, really.

With so many weapons, it's almost impossible to stop Liverpool, who have now collected 52 of a possible 54 points on the campaign.

Leicester can't hang at the top

Leicester City are legitimately very good, and with other perennial top-four contenders stumbling around them to varying degrees, they have every reason to believe they can nab third place this season.

But losses to Manchester City and Liverpool by a combined score of 7-1 in their last two matches highlight a simple fact: The Foxes can't compete at that level right now. It's not a knock, either; there's no shame in not being able to keep pace with a Liverpool side that's rolling at a historic clip right now.

Brendan Rodgers' side was played off the pitch on Thursday. The hosts didn't manage a single shot in the opening half, finishing the contest with three attempts, none of which were on target.

"Leicester have been dismantled by a better football team," NBC analyst Robbie Earle said while breaking down the match during the interval. That statement was doubly true when the full-time whistle blew.