Southampton held on for a 1-1 Premier League draw against Tottenham Hotspur at St Mary’s on Tuesday, as Antonio Conte became the first manager to go unbeaten in his first seven league games in charge of Spurs.

James Ward-Prowse gave Saints a deserved lead midway through the first half with a swerving strike, but the momentum swung in the visitors’ favour when Mohammed Salisu tripped Heung-min Son to concede a penalty and pick up a second yellow before the break.

Harry Kane dispatched the spot kick, but the England captain had a expertly-taken second ruled out by VAR for a narrow offside in the second half and Conte’s side couldn’t find a way past goalkeeper Fraser Forster.West Ham United ended a three-game winless run in the Premier League, romping to a 4-1 win at struggling Watford on Tuesday to move up to fifth place.

Emmanuel Dennis fired Watford, who had their last two games postponed, into a fourth-minute lead with a fine left-foot effort from the edge of the box but Claudio Ranieri’s side were unable to build on their advantage.

The Hammers pushed forward with intent and drew level in the 27th minute with a first-time drive from Tomas Soucek who latched on to a through ball from the influential Jarrod Bowen.

Two minutes later, Said Benrahma put the visitors ahead, drilling home after Michail Antonio had cut in from the left and slipped the ball into the Algerian’s path.

David Moyes’ side thought they had a third through Bowen but VAR spotted a foul by Soucek on Dennis and the effort was over-turned.

But the Hammers did double their advantage through a Mark Noble penalty after referee Darren England went to the pitchside monitor and ruled Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann had brought down Bowen.

Substitute Nikola Vlasic completed the rout, slotting home after good work from the impressive Bowen.Ademola Lookman scored the only goal as Leicester beat Liverpool to leave the Reds six points off the top of the Premier League table.

Liverpool’s biggest chances came in the first half when Mohamed Salah had a 15th-minute penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel and headed the rebound off the bar.

Norwich manager Dean Smith says player welfare is not being considered after his Covid-hit squad lost to Crystal Palace.

Three first-half goals from Odsonne Edouard, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Jeffrey Schlupp helped Palace climb into the top half of the Premier League at Selhurst Park, condemning the Canaries to the foot of the table at the end of 2021.
Chelsea suffered another stumble in their faltering title challenge on Wednesday when they were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Brighton & Hove Albion after an injury-time equaliser by substitute Danny Welbeck.

The European champions, hit recently by a string of injuries and COVID cases, went ahead when Romelu Lukaku rose the highest to meet a corner from Mason Mount in the 28th minute, taking advantage of a makeshift Brighton defence that was missing centre-half stalwarts Lewis Dunk and Shane Duffy.

But a spirited Brighton pushed hard for their first ever goal at Stamford Bridge and had Chelsea pinned back for long periods in the second half.

The Blues reasserted a degree of control when coach Thomas Tuchel sent on N’Golo Kante as a substitute to shore up his flagging midfield.

But just when it seemed as if the hosts were going to hang on for three vital points, Welbeck rose between defenders Antonio Rudiger and Trevoh Chalobah to head in a Marc Cucurella cross in the 91st minute.

Compounding Chelsea’s problems, Chelsea wing-back Reece James hobbled off in the first half and fellow defender Andreas Christensen also needed treatment and was replaced by Chalobah at the break.

“We have simply way too many players who we don’t know what we can demand,” Tuchel told reporters after seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw for the fourth time in five home league games.

“We have seven COVID cases, we have four or five players out for six weeks,” the German said when asked about Chelsea’ chances of winning the league. “Why should we compete in a title race?”

James suffered a hamstring injury while Christensen went off with a back problem, he said.

Brighton manager Graham Potter praised his players for pushing right to the end to get the point.

“I thought it was a fantastic performance from the players really full of courage full of quality,” Potter said.

The draw pushed Chelsea into second place in the Premier League table on 42 points, one more than Liverpool who have a game in hand and eight points behind leaders Manchester City.

Chelsea are due to play both Liverpool and Man City in the first two weeks of January.

Brighton sit in 10th place on 24 points.