Ed Sheeran is currently beating Wham! in the Christmas number one race

18 December 2017, 10:10 | Updated: 31 January 2018, 17:04

The Christmas number one race for 2017 is officially on, and we have an update for you.

Currently, Ed Sheeran is sitting pretty in the pole position with his song 'Perfect', mainly thanks to his clever duet releases (which count as the same song) with Beyoncé and Andrea Boccelli.

The Official Chart Company has confirmed that Ed is also at number two, thanks to his collaboration with Eminem on the track 'River'. The American rapper released his brand new album Revival last Friday, meaning that lots of fans have rushed to download and stream it.

Wham! are currently third with classic 'Last Christmas', as George Michael fans attempt to get the track to number one in tribute to the late star, who died on Christmas Day last year.

Other Christmas classics from Mariah Carey, The Pogues and Band Aid are also expected to be in the Top 10, which is announced on Friday (December 22).

The cut-off point for this year's Christmas number one is midnight on Thursday, so there's still plenty of time to get those downloads and streams in.