The 26-year-old sparked a late fightback away to Watford, equalising for struggling Swansea in the 86th minute. Dutchman Luciano Narsingh netted the winner as new coach Carlos Carvalhal enjoyed a dream debut.
MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)
He will likely be hailed as the signing of the season as Liverpool push for a Champions League spot. His double against Leicester at Anfield brought Liverpool back from a goal down to win 2-1 and collect the three points.
SOFIANE BOUFAL (Southampton)
The goal-shy 24-year-old Moroccan showed his class against Manchester United at Old Trafford, going toe to toe with the likes of Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan at the heart of an impressive showing by a side that made a nonsense of their lowly Premier League position with a 0-0 draw.
WILFRIED ZAHA (Crystal Palace)
Ivory Coast winger Zaha won the penalty that could have given Palace a shock win against Premier League leaders Manchester City, but Luka Milivojevic missed the spot kick and the match ended goalless.
ITALY
AMADOU DIAWARA (Napoli)
Guinean Diawara narrowly missed scoring his first Serie A goal for Napoli in a 1-0 win at Crotone. The 20-year-old's dipping effort at goal was palmed away by Alex Cordaz, but Napoli finished 2017 top of the table thanks to captain Marek Hamsik's early goal.
UCF coach Scott Frost will be on the sidelines despite being hired as head coach at the University of Nebraska shortly after UCF won a 62-55, double overtime shootout with Memphis to capture the American Athletic Conference title.
UCF has hired former Missouri offensive coordinator Josh Heupel as its next head coach.
What's at Stake?
With a victory over the SEC runner-up, the Knights would prove they belong on college football's biggest stage. A victory in the Peach Bowl would bring some respect to the American Athletic Conference as well.
If not for a loss in its last visit to Mercedes-Benz Stadium one month ago, Auburn might have been playing for even more. A loss to Georgia in the SEC championship game kept Auburn out of the College Football Playoff.
Key match up:
UCF's offensive line against Auburn's defensive front. The Knight's have moved the ball at will all season, but have not faced a defensive unit like Auburn's. The Tiger's own one of the nation's best defenses and the UCF has the No. 1 scoring offense. Look for Auburn's pass rush to pressure UCF quarterback McKenzie Milton.
UCF will be without their starting left tackle, Aaron Evans. Evans is out due to an undisclosed injury. Evans has started all but one game at left tackle the last three seasons. Jake Brown is likely to start in Evans' place
Player's to watch:
UCF: Shaquem Griffin. A birth defect forced the Knight's linebacker to part ways with one of his hands at the age of 4. But the 2016 AAC defensive player of the year has never let a it hold him back. Griffin has 154 tackles with 17 sacks over the past two seasons.
Auburn: Kerryon Johnson. The running back is the biggest key to Auburn's offensive success. The health of Johnson, who suffered a late season injury, is crucial to Auburn's hopes to keep pace with the nation's top-scoring team.
How to watch:
The game will be televised on ESPN. Kickoff is at 12:30 p.m.
ATLANTA — Auburn and UCF football meet on Monday, January 1, 2018 in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Find the score and live updates below.
Auburn 3 UCF 3 (11:11, 2Q)
UCF QB McKenzie Milton didn’t look great for most of the first half, but he did pick up a 22-yard gain and bring the Knights close to the end zone. Milton has to throw it away on the next play and UCF can only manage a field goal.
Auburn 3 UCF 0 (14:15, 2Q)
Chip Lindsey’s offense isn’t perfect on this drive, either. At one point Jarrett Stidham steps up in the pocket and slips, giving UCF a “team sack.” However, Stidham recovers by delivering a long ball to Darius Slayton on third down. Marquis McClain makes a great grab on the next play, but Auburn isn’t doing much on the ground. Stidham slips again and is sacked once more on second down and Auburn faces a long third down. Daniel Carlson comes out and attempts a 53-yard field goal, but doesn’t get it.
Auburn 3 UCF 0 (7:01 1Q)
Auburn’s offense didn’t get off to a great start on its first drive, but gets it together on its second — a little bit at least. Jarrett Stidham turns a broken play into a great ball to Nate Craig-Myers, who looks more than ready for 2018. The Tigers miss out on a scoring opportunity on third down and Daniel Carlson gets Auburn on the board with his first field goal of the day.
