EPL Matchday 18 Highlights: Liverpool Pip Wolves 2-1; Arsenal Get Better Of Brighton - As It Happened

Greetings and welcome, everyone. The last weekend of 2025 offers plenty of footballing delights, not the least of which are the festive Premier League matchday 18 fixtures. Watch this space for the build-up and live updates from five simultaneous encounters in the English top-flight.

The five concurrent EPL games kick off at 8:30pm IST. The English Premier League 2025-26, matchday 18 clashes will be telecast on the Star Sports Network TV channels in India. They will be live streamed on the JioHotstar app and website in the country.

At the City Ground, Nottingham Forest are locked 1-1 with Manchester City. with 10-odd minutes of regulation time remaining. A superb team move from the Tricky Trees saw Gibbs-White and Hudson-Odoi surge forward, Igor Jesus slip a brilliant pass through the box, and Hutchinson finish crisply on the half-volley to punish City and level the scoreline.

Here are the line-ups that The Gunners and The Seagulls are going with, tonight:

Play is underway in all five concurrent EPL games. Anfield witnesses a lovely, solemn moment as Virgil van Dijk steps out with the departed Diogo Jota's children. Spectators take to their feet and pay tribute to the Reds forward. 

Kevin Schade puts Brentford ahead in the seventh minute! The forward latches on to Igor Thiago's assist, enters the box and shoots it into the back of the net.

Captain Martin Odegaard hands Arsenal the advantage in the 14th minute. It's his first goal of the season, and originates from a dodgy goal-kick by Brighton custodian Bart Verbruggen. Odegaard unleashes a fierce shot from just outside the penalty area, and the Gunners are on their way!

Liverpool, as expected, have utterly dominated proceedings against Wolves. A graphic shown by the broadcaster typifies it: 107 passes in the final third as against Wolves' eight. But despite all that, a lack of clinicality in the box has meant that the Reds are yet to open scoring.

Well, well. It's almost as if the Reds were awaiting our prompting. Arne Slot's men break the floodgates open with two goals in the space of a minute. Ryan Gravenberch slams home the opener in the 41st minute, before Florian Wirtz nets his first goal for Liverpool in the 42nd.

Brentford end the first half jubilantly, leading 2-0 against Brentford following a horrow own goal credited to goalie Djordje Petrovic. West Ham and Fulham are locked 0-0, while Arsenal are up 1-0 against Brighton thanks to Odegaard's opener. Burnley and Everton are goalless so far at Turf Moor, and Liverpool stay 2-0 ahead against Wolves.

The teams have returned from the lemon break, and play has resumed in all five EPL games. Let's see what the second half has to offer.

Wolves are on the board against Liverpool! Alisson Becker saves Tolu Arokodare's header off a corner, but Santiago Bueno piles in the rebound to make it 1-2 in the 51st minute.

The Gunners have a second! Georginio Rutter's misplaced header in the box condemns Brighton, who go 0-2 down in the 52nd minute. It was Declan Rice's corner kick that started it off, and had Rutter not intervened, his goalie Verbruggen might have pouched the ball easily. Oh, such is football.

At the Gtech Community Stadium, Brentford have marched to a winning position against Bournemouth, tripling their lead in the 51st minute. Kevin Schade gets his second of the night as the hosts are on the verge of claiming full points.

And just like Wolves did against Liverpool, Brighton pull one goal back against Arsenal to stay alive in the contest. Diego Gomez pounces on the ricochet off Yasin Ayari's shot that hit the post in the 64th minute.

Antoine Semenyo cuts Bournemouth's deficit to 1-3. The striker nets his ninth goal of the season, scoring in the 75th minute to keep Brentford on their toes. Can there be a twist in the tale?

Liverpool, Arsenal both hold on for 2-1 victories. The Reds keep Wolves from finding a second-half equaliser to stay on top of the EPL standings with 42 points, while the Gunners stave off Brighton at Emirates Stadium. Brentford complete an emphatic 4-1 home win against Bournemouth, whereas Fulham edge West Ham 1-0 with a late goal from Raul Jimenez. The Burnley vs Everton clash is the only one of the night to go goalless so far.

With that, we conclude our coverage of tonight's 8:30pm IST games of Premier League. The last match of the night pits Chelsea against Aston Villa. We are covering that game live too, so head over to our dedicated blog for more.