Chelsea climbs to second, while heads start to roll at bottom of the EPL

Manchester City slumped to a scarcely credible eighth defeat in 11 games on Sunday — this time against Manchester United — leaving Pep Guardiola flummoxed, but handing Ruben Amorim a huge boost.

With the spotlight elsewhere, Chelsea moved to just two points behind long-time Premier League leader Liverpool, with a 2-1 win against Brentford.

Wolves sacked Gary O'Neil after a fourth straight defeat, while Southampton axed Russell Martin following a 5-0 hammering by Tottenham.

Here are the three big talking points from the weekend's Premier League action.

Champion in crisis

It is difficult to argue that City is currently experiencing a full-blown crisis.

Guardiola signed a new two-year contract last month at a point when City had lost four in a row, saying that he did not feel he could leave the club at such a difficult time.

Now, he is facing questions as to how — and when — he can stop the rot after a painful 2-1 defeat to United, which had won just one of its first four league games under Amorim.

Guardiola provided a harsh self-assessment after the defeat, which came courtesy of a Bruno Fernandes penalty in the 88th minute and an Amad Diallo winner two minutes later.

"I'm the manager and I'm not good enough, simple as that," he said.

Midfielder Bernardo Silva was even harsher, comparing City's collapse in the final minutes to an under-15 team.

City has matches coming up that look winnable on paper — against Aston Villa, Everton and Leicester — but with every defeat, the scale of Guardiola's task looks ever more daunting.

Two-horse race?

Earlier this month, Liverpool had a nine-point lead at the top of the Premier League — now it is down to just two.

Enzo Maresca's Chelsea has won its past five games to close the gap on the Reds, who still have a match in hand.

Liverpool showed impressive strength of character to twice come from behind for a 2-2 draw against Fulham on Saturday, despite playing the bulk of the game with 10 men.

But its momentum has slowed, with the Fulham result following a 3-3 draw away to 12th-placed Newcastle on Dec 5.

Free-scoring Chelsea has taken full advantage, climbing above north London rival Arsenal, runner-up in the past two campaigns, to stake its claim as Liverpool's main challenger.

The Blues finished last season strongly under former manager Mauricio Pochettino, but few expected Maresca to master his brief so quickly.

The Chelsea boss is eager to say it is not in the title race, but the table suggests otherwise.

O'Neil, Martin axed

O'Neil and Martin paid the price for their clubs' Premier League struggles.

Martin's sacking was announced shortly after Southampton's sobering defeat to Spurs on Sunday, with all five goals at St Mary's scored in the first half.

Wolves suffered a damaging 2-1 loss to relegation rival Ipswich at Molineux on Saturday, after which O'Neil said he was struggling to help his team cope with the "real basic stuff".

Wolves, second from bottom, are five points from safety, but their plight is not as perilous as that of Southampton.

Martin departs having taken just five points from 16 games, leaving Southampton nine points adrift and staring at an immediate return to the Championship.

AFP