So that's it all done for another year then. After a Christmas break filled with food, drink and a frankly ridiculous amount of football on the television we're all back to normal from today. Except for the football. That just never stops. Indeed this evening Premier League leaders Liverpool will meet Sheffield United at Anfield as they look to move back to 13 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand. In the much closer battle for fourth place, Manchester United slipped up last night as Mikel Arteta's Arsenal side came out fighting to record just a second win in 16 matches and move up to 10th in the process. Goals from Nicolas Pepe and Sokratis were enough to give the Gunners the victory against a United team which was once again missing Paul Pogba. Afterwards, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed that the French midfielder is still struggling with a foot injury which now requires surgery while the manager also hinted at potentially signing one or two players this month.
Yesterday's action also saw Spurs start the New Year on an unhappy note with a 1-0 loss to Southampton which left José Mourinho ranting at an 'idiot' Saints coach, the ballboys and, of course, VAR. Meanwhile, in the Championship, Stoke's 5-2 win over Huddersfield was marred by the referee briefly stopping the match after Irish winger James McClean reported sectarian abuse. Shortly afterwards there was an announcement made over the PA system and after the match it was confirmed that Huddersfield are investigating the incident.
On to rugby and in his stats column this morning John O'Sullivan looks at tackle rates and who has been most proficient among the Irish provinces this year. "There are a number of phrases that pepper the rugby lexicon when it comes to the tackle; "chop", "soak" and "dominant" are three examples, the first and third of which are the ones most prized. One Irish player who has excelled in those disciplines is Leinster flanker Will Connors," he writes. This weekend Leinster will meet Connacht in the final round of Pro14 interpros and Ross Molony spoke yesterday of how he is determined to kick on after his solid performance off the bench against Munster. Meanwhile, Connacht will be without lock forward Quinn Roux who is now also a doubt for the Six Nations as he has to undergo surgery on his hand.
In darts, Peter Wright pulled off a bit of a shock last night as he came out firing to blaze past Michael van Gerwen and win the PDC World Championships for the first ever time. At the age of 49 Wright has finally scaled the very highest peak and he did so last night against the defending champion and world number one.
Finally, in his America at Large column this week Dave Hannigan is writing about the curious case of Andrew Giuliani, son of Rudy Giuliani, who is employed on a $90,000 plus a year job at the White House to, seemingly, play golf with Donald Trump.
