Premier League

NEWCASTLE, England - Manchester City's João Cancelo scored one goal and made another as they overwhelmed struggling Newcastle United 4-0 on Sunday to ensure they will spend Christmas Day top of the Premier League, a position Liverpool occupied in the last three seasons.

The visitors were gifted the opening goal in the fifth minute when Cancelo acrobatically crossed for Rúben Dias to head into an empty net after a mix-up between Newcastle goalkeeper Martin Dúbravka and defender Ciaran Clark.

NBC Sports and Peacock received the ratio on Thursday as its coverage of Liverpool vs. Newcastle United on the subscription-based service, despite saying contrary on the menu, didn't start at all as planned with users getting a multitude of different errors before taking to Twitter.

+1 for coverage not working. Shows me the “starting shortly” screen for five seconds and then kicks me back to main menu.

LONDON, England - Leicester City's Premier League game against Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday and Manchester United's home clash with Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday have been postponed as rising COVID-19 cases threaten to play havoc with the season.

Thursday's announcements from the Premier League mean five games have been lost in the past week, although the league says it plans to continue with the current fixture schedule.

LONDON — Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said the decision to strip Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the club captaincy following a disciplinary breach was in the best interests of the club.

Arteta said he had broken the news to the Gabon international during a face to face meeting -- conceding it was an unpleasant situation to be dealing with.

Aubameyang will not be considered for selection for Wednesday's Premier League game at home to West Ham United.

LONDON - Conor Gallagher scored twice and James Tomkins was also on target as Crystal Palace arrested a run of three defeats by beating Everton 3-1 at Selhurst Park on Sunday to renew pressure on visiting manager Rafael Benítez.

Gallagher fired home four minutes before halftime as Palace took advantage of a defensive error and Tomkins stabbed home from a corner midway through the second half.

Manchester City defeated Wolverhampton 1-0 on Saturday in a game that featured 10 heroic Wolves and one silly boy named Raúl Jiménez. The Mexican striker managed to get himself sent off moments before halftime with two yellow cards in 31 seconds. The Jiménez yellow cards vs Man City must be some sort of record.