LONDON: Gareth Bale is hitting form just in time.

The Real Madrid loanee scored twice as Tottenham recoverd league form after defeats by Manchester City and West Ham to defeat Burnley easily 4-0.

Bale had been a major disappointment but now he is benefitting from regular games. He scored the first and fourth goals and made the second for Harry Kane. Lucas Moura added the third.

Bale said: “It’s been a while since I had game after game. I know I get a lot of criticism based on the past but I know I just have to keep my head down and keep working hard.”

Arsenal’s 3-1 win away to Leicester was the Gunners’ best performance and result of the year. Momentum is starting to build. Hyper-critical manager Mikel Arteta said his team were “taking a direction I like” after following up their Europa League win over Benfica.

Poor defending conceded an early goal to Youri Tielemens but Arsenal recovered through David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette (penalty spot) and Nicolas Pepe.

Leicester’s campaign is falling apart. They lost in the Europa League to Slavia Prague and winger Harvey Barnes needs knee surgery after being carried off. The Foxes’ sixth home loss left them 10 points behind Manchester City.

Chelsea missed the chance to move up into fourth place when they were held at home in a forgettable, incident-lacking 0-0 draw with ManchesterUnited.

Liverpool returned to winning ways with a 2-0 win away to relegation-bound Sheffield United.

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