It’s turning out to be a real battle for the Christmas number one spot this year with X Factor winner James Arthur’s single Impossible still selling extremely well after its peak week of sales.

The song gave James his first number one in its first week of release and very quickly became not only the fastest selling X Factor winner’s single ever but also the fastest selling song of the year having shifted an immense 490,000 copies.

This week, since the song reached number one, it has also shifted a further 76,000 copies meaning that it is also firmly in the run to top the Christmas chart.

The bookies favourite has been He Ain't Heavy, He’s My Brother by The Justice Collective which features Robbie Williams and Paul McCartney among other big stars in a tribute to the Hillsborough disaster.

At the moment though, it looks like James might just pip them to the post as he is currently 3,000 copies ahead of them.

Of course, there is still a little way to go yet before close of play on Sunday and last minute sales could tip The Justice Collective over the edge.

Martin Talbot, managing director of the Official Charts Company commented on the situation saying: "While James Arthur has an early lead over The Justice Collective after just two days of sales, it is exceptionally tight – especially with Christmas gift purchases likely to impact on both releases as the week progresses."

"It looks like being an extremely exciting race for this year's Official Christmas number one."

It has been the closest race to Christmas number one in years with previous winners of the X Factor mostly dominating the position but this year and at this stage, it is truly anyone’s race.

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