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It’s somewhat of a landmark question: Who will be top at Christmas?

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With Manchester City out of the mix for the Club World Cup (they come back to play the second leg of the Festive Fixtures next Wednesday), we have three choices: Aston Villa, Arsenal and Liverpool.

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Villa has what should be a straightforward three points as they’ve won 15 in a row at Villa Park and welcome rock-bottom Sheffield United on Friday.

But Saturday has a treat for us: Liverpool hosting Arsenal in the late game on Saturday that’s clearly the FUBO Game of the Week.

Let’s hope Arsenal actually comes to try and win the game. Last week, despite all the anticipation of the tremendous legacy of the Liverpool vs. Manchester United clash, United parked the bus, the train, the ice cream truck, the ox and cart, an ambulance and couple of hot dog carts in front of the goal while rarely even pretending like it knew where the Liverpool goal was.

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The Reds can only blame themselves for only scraping a point in a tepid 0-0, they didn’t have many ideas or any creativity in breaking down an opponent who is happy with a point from the get-go.

Arsenal is playing for a bit higher stakes than United and securing three points, with their second Christmas fixture being West Ham at home, will be the goal for the Gunners. This should equate to an open and entertaining match between two teams with lots of attacking pedigree on the pitch.

What will be heartening for Liverpool is the spark in form from the Carabao Cup. The Reds thrashed West Ham 5-1 on Wednesday to reach the semifinals and it was lead by midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai. He had been one of the key reasons Liverpool started the season so well, but had slumped in the last month.

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Szoboszlai scored an absolute Christmas cracker against West Ham, but also look out for a start on Saturday for midfielder Curtis Jones, who scored two beautiful goals and was dripping with confidence as he skipped around Hammers defenders.

Did Manchester United build momentum or just postpone the misery?

Considering the avalanche of negativity towards United, it’s stunning to think they’re only six points behind Man City.

Most were expecting a thrashing at the hands of Liverpool. And while the timid tactics were an indictment of this squad against the swashbuckling attacking legacy of the club, they did defend resolutely.

The question is: Where do they go from here?

The Red Devils may have the toughest pair of matches this week, going to West Ham and then facing Aston Villa at home.

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As real as Villa looks, it still doesn’t have the “Top Four” bloodlines of the other teams leading the way and United will feel it is the club it will have to catch to qualify for the Champions League for next season.

With that in mind and the fact the home crowd will be much more restless if they see a team who only wants to defend, this could open them up against Villa.

Don’t forget Unai Emery’s boys from Birmingham have scored the second-most goals in the Premier League this season behind only Manchester City. United will absolutely have to defend well, but you can’t climb the table with draws — it’ll need to go forward at some point.

Will Spurs be able to match Everton’s intensity?

After a winless run of four — three losses and a draw — Spurs have put together two straight wins, but still sit six points off the top. Their Christmas matches aren’t the most difficult, but they are tricky facing Everton and Brighton.

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Everton, despite having a 10-point deduction for financial improprieties, are seven points into the safety zone, so relegation doesn’t look to be in the cards as it might have been early in the season. The Toffees have won four in a row, which is the hottest streak of any team in the league.

If they had their docked points they’d be in ninth, above Brighton.

Everton is starting to get scoring from a variety of forces but, as expected under Sean Dyche, the Toffees are stingy in giving them up. They’ve actually conceded fewer goals than Spurs and that’s a key to this match as Tottenham have scored in each of their past 29 Premier League games, the longest ongoing run in the competition. They’ve scored in every game this year, the only team in the league to do so.

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It’s also a reunion of sorts as striker Richarlison plays his old team, the team that actually had to sell him because of their financial misdeeds.

Richarlison has scored three goals in his past two games, more than he had in his first 39 appearances for Tottenham.

Can Newcastle make up ground?

While the great sports-washing experiment for the Saudi royal family appears to be working, Newcastle, their crown jewel, has seen the season hit a few bumps.

Despite proclamations the team had ‘arrived,’ they were bounced from the Champions League in the group stage finishing last. They sit six points out of qualifying for next season’s tournament.

However, they have the easiest set of fixtures — facing Luton and then hosting Nottingham Forest, who just fired their manager.

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Combined, those teams have one point out of an available 18 in the past three gameweeks. Anything other than maximum points for the Magpies will be seen as a sizeable disappointment.

Following those games, Newcastle travels to Anfield on New Year’s Day, then their next league game is against Manchester City.

THIS WEEK’S SLATE

FRIDAY: Aston Villa v. Sheffield United.

SATURDAY: West Ham v. Manchester United; Fulham v. Burnley; Luton v. Newcastle; Manchester City v. Brentford – Match postponed; Nottingham Forest v. Bournemouth; Tottenham v. Everton; Liverpool v. Arsenal.

SUNDAY: Wolves v. Chelsea.

TUESDAY: Newcastle v. Nottingham Forest; Bournemouth v. Fulham; Sheffield United v. Luton; Burnley v. Liverpool; Manchester United v. Aston Villa.

WEDNESDAY: Brentford v. Wolves; Chelsea v. Crystal Palace; Everton v. Manchester City.

THURSDAY: Brighton v. Tottenham; Arsenal v. West Ham.

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