As football slowly begins to welcome back fans to the terraces so to does the Winners and Losers column to return to FNR each and every week.

There was plenty to like – and dislike, especially if you’re an Arsenal fan – with Europe’s top leagues delivering plenty of upsets while Asia’s best flexed their muscle in the Round of 16.

Sam Kerr and Caitlin Foord returned to the scoresheet while AC Milan extended its lead atop of Serie A to five points.

Take a look at who made the cut in the return of Winners and Losers.

Winners

Sam Kerr

The Matildas captain was back to her best with a stunning hat-trick to guide Chelsea to a 3-2 win over West Ham.

Kerr opened the scoring in the 15^th minute before adding two more goals after half-time in one of her best performances since joining the Blues in 2019.

In a match where she proved almost unplayable it would only be bad luck which could stop her adding to her tally. Kerr came off second best after she collided with a defender while scoring her third goal and was forced to hobble off with what is believed to be a hip injury. The severity of the knock remains at unclear.

Chelsea is now 12 matches unbeaten and sits in third place behind Manchester United and Arsenal.

Sam Kerr’s hat-trick against West Ham was soured by a hip injury. Image BBC

Cadiz

Queue the celebrations.

Cadiz has started the season like a house on fire – defeating both Real Madrid and Barcelona with only a quarter of the season played.

It was the latter who fell victim to the newly promoted side at the weekend, with super-sub Alvaro Negredo scoring the winning goal one minute after coming on.

Cadiz opened the scoring in the eighth minute through forward Alvaro Gimenez, before defender Pedro Alcala’s own goal drew Barcelona level in the 57^th minute.

But this would not ruin Cadiz’s afternoon as Negredo wound back the clock to make an immediate impact after coming on in the 62^nd minute, guiding the side to its fifth win of the season.

Remarkably, Cadiz sit fifth in La Liga and just two points behind the fourth placed Real Madrid.

Alvaro Negredo scored one minute after coming on as a substitute to win Cadiz the game against Barcelona.

Tottenham Hotspur

Christmas has come early for the Spurs.

Not only did they contribute to the exacerbation of Arsenal’s misery but they sit atop of the Premier League table after 11 matches.

Goals from Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane either side of half-time saw Tottenham claim bragging rights in the North London derby, with pressure continuing to mount on Mikel Arteta and his Gunners.

Losers

Schalke

Things continue to go from bad to worse for Schalke, who sit bottom of the Bundesliga and yet to win a match this season.

A three-nil loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen drives the point home even further how disastrous things are looking for a club recently playing in the Champions League.

The club’s issues go well beyond the pitch with several players – including Algerian international Nabil Bentaleb voicing his frustrations on social media while serving an internal suspension for reasons unknown to the public.

Schalke has not won a match in 24 games and sit bottom of the Bundesliga.

Arsenal

The more things change the more things stay the same.

Arsenal has once again failed to meet lofty pre-season expectations – succumbing to its sixth defeat of the season and drift further away from the top six.

To make matters worse, Arsenal fans will be forced to endure an 11-point gap between themselves and league leaders Tottenham – whom they failed to defeat at the weekend – and with fans beginning to return to the terraces, Arsenal’s form will need to turn sooner rather than later.