December has been some month in footballing terms, with cancelations and dramatic fixtures piling up in the busy festive schedule. With English football not stopping for a winter break, the Premier League has seen some huge games and the league has shaped up to start 2022 with clear favourites Manchester City tearing away at the top.

As a result of City’s dominance, the final NextGoalWinner POTM has to go to one of their players, and one man has truly hit form in the final few games, Mr Riyad Mahrez. With 5 goals in total (4 Premier League, 1 Champions League) and 3 league assists in the month, Mahrez was unmatched in his goal involvements in the league, hitting a great run of form ahead of the AFCON beginning early January, and Guardiola’s side desperate to maintain their form and secure another title as soon as possible.

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Match By Match

December 1st: Aston Villa 1-2 Manchester City – Getting started in the busy festive month, City got their winning run going with a solid result over Gerrard’s Villa side. In a fairly underwhelming performance to start the month off, Riyad Mahrez played the full 90 and got a 7.9/10 rating, however he didn’t feature in either of his sides’ goals. He was still a threat however, as he created 3 chances, had 2 shots, made 3 key passes and 9 recoveries. His form was set to improve, however he was still a handful for the Villa defenders.

December 4th: Watford 1-3 Manchester City – Featuring for just 22 minutes in this comfortable win, Mahrez didn’t have an opportunity to create much of an impact on the game. Another win for City, good work all round.

December 14th: Manchester City 7-0 Leeds United – After his first goal of the month against Leipzig in the Champions League, and a rest game in the win over Wolves, Mahrez really stepped up in this drubbing of Leeds United as they dominated in the 7-0 win. The Algerian was a handful throughout, netting the 4th goal shortly after the break, and assisted as he earnt a 9.2/10 rating for his work. Only De Bruyne had a better rating, highlighting how impressive Mahrez was in the game. Some of his big stats include the obvious 2 goal involvements, completing the most dribbles (5), had 5 shots (3 on target), created 5 chances, made 4 key passes and 8 recoveries. An absolute dominant performance individually and as a whole team performance once again from City.

December 19th: Newcastle United 0-4 Manchester City – After back to back goals in his last 2 run-outs for City, he continued his record with another goal and assist in ANOTHER dominant win, this time away to struggling Newcastle. With an 8.8/10 record, it was the Algerian’s second highest rating in the month as he had his 2 goal involvements, created 4 chances, made 3 key passes and had a decent defensive performance too when needed. With City really hitting their stride, Mahrez’s scoring and assists continue on.

December 26th: Manchester City 6-3 Leicester City – Playing his final game of the month and year, the same story was told, as City scored plenty of goals and were fairly dominant, and Mahrez netted another goal and made his 3rd assist of the month, making him the most in-form player relating to goals and assists in the whole league for December. With one of the most entertaining games of the season, Guardiola’s men didn’t need waking up on Boxing Day, as they took an early lead before Leicester began to create a chance for a comeback. Mahrez didn’t let up however, and after his penalty made it 2-0 in the opening 15 minutes, his assist for Laporte made it 5-3 and really ended any threat of a comeback from the opposition. With an 8.5/10 rating, he saw the month out in style, and his form in December was unrivalled in stats and consistency. A great month in a busy schedule, especially important with AFCON rolling around very soon.