Finishing first in the Premier League on Christmas Day is often seen as a positive sign that a team has won the title. In the last 14 seasons, the team ranked first on December 25 has won the league 10 times. This has been the case in 16 of the 32 seasons since the Premier League was founded in 1992.
However, not every team that leads at Christmas will be able to hold their position and claim the title. Liverpool are currently the top team in the Christmas week and have been in that position four times in the last 15 seasons, but have only won the title once. Their most famous collapse came in 2014 when they squandered a 3-0 lead against Crystal Palace to allow Manchester City to steal the title.
In fact, Manchester City finished eighth on Christmas Day and have also won the league twice. Other teams, such as Arsenal in 1997, came back from a wider gap on points at Christmas to win the title. However, there were also the likes of Arsenal last season, as well as Norwich City in 1992-93 and Newcastle United in 1995-96 who led on Christmas Day but failed to hold their positions until the end of the season. In recent years, Leicester City in 2015-16 and Chelsea in 2014-15 were two teams that managed to capitalise on their Christmas lead and win the title. Overall, while topping the list at Christmas is usually a good sign, it is not a 100 per cent guarantee of winning the Premier League.