Without fail, every December brings with it a relentless run of Premier League action and this weekend sees the festive football get underway.
Will the challenging barrage of matches finally bring an end to Manchester City’s dominance? Will the chasing pack make up some lost ground? Will new faces in the managerial hot seats bring renewed hope and vital points?
Seán O’Regan previews tomorrow’s matches.
Chelsea v Newcastle
Chelsea welcome Rafa Benitez back to the Bridge in Saturday’s early kickoff, as they play host to Newcastle at 12:30.
Since a shock 2-1 defeat against London rivals Crystal Palace, Chelsea have taken 16 points out of a possible 18 in the league. A tight and tense affair on Wednesday night against Swansea saw Conte sent to the stands but three points in the bag courtesy of a 55th minute header from Antonio Rudiger.
Newcastle head to Chelsea having lost 4 of their last 5 league matches and drew midweek at West Brom having being 2-0 behind. Will it be a happy return to London for Benitez? History would say otherwise as the Toon Army have won only one of their 22 Premier League away matches versus the reigning champions (W1-D7- L14).
Cesc Fabregas is only one goal short of becoming the third Spanish player, after Fernando Torres (85) and Diego Costa (52), to score 50 league goals.
Chelsea Midfielder Cesc Fabregas (4) heads away during the Premier League match between Chelsea and Swansea City at Stamford Bridge, London, England on 29 Nov 2017. (Photo by Kieran Galvin/NurPhoto/Sipa USA)
Stoke v Swansea
There have been 16 top flight fixtures between Stoke City and Swansea City. Both clubs have won six with four draws but the Swans have outscored the Potters 24-23 in those matches.
Both sides come into this weekend’s clash on the back of midweek defeats. Stoke were humbled by a Mo Salah inspired Liverpool as they lost 3-0 while Swansea fell short against Chelsea.
Should Stoke fail to win on Saturday, it’ll be their 1,000 top flight defeat, but should they be worried? Probably not seeing as Swansea have scored the fewest goals this season (7) with 4 of them coming from Tammy Abraham.
Brighton v Liverpool
This will be the first league meeting between these two sides since Brighton were last in the top flight. That game finished 2-2 in the 1982/83 season.
The Seagulls have been flying this season and sit in 10th place on 17 points, winning 4, drawing 5 and losing 5. Chris Hughton will be hoping to exact revenge on Liverpool, a side who he has never beaten as a manager. His Norwich side were hammer 5-2, 5-0 and 5-1, with Luis Suarez scoring 8 of Liverpool’s 15 goals.
Liverpool could set a new outright record by scoring a premier league goal at their 57th different stadium. Their 3-0 away win against Stoke midweek was their first PL away clean sheet of the campaign and they’ll hope to replicate their fine win on the road tomorrow.
The in form Mo Salah could become the first player to score in 5 consecutive Liverpool league matches since Daniel Sturridge set the club league record of 7 in a row from January to February 2014.
Watford v Tottenham Hotspur
The last time Marco Silva faced Spurs, he was on the receiving end of a 7-1 hammering at the hands of Mauricio Pochettino’s Spurs, in what proved to be his last game in charge of Hull City.
All has changed since then however, and with Watford, Silva is enjoying a fantastic start to the season, sitting in 8th on 21 points. Another stat that will please the Silva is the fact that Watford have had 12 different goalscorers in the league (excl. own goals) this campaign, a joint-league high with Chelsea and Manchester United.
Spurs on the other hand, their league form in their last 5 outings looks like this: L, D, L W, L. They have Spurs already lost 4 matches this season having only lost 4 in the whole of last season.
They have been impressive in Europe and the ever reliable Harry Kane has been impressive in front of goal, scoring 48 goals in 46 appearances for club and country in 2017.
West Brom v Crystal Palace
Alan Pardew takes charge of West Brom for the first time this weekend, against a club he made 128 appearances for and more recently managed (unsuccessfully).
Crystal Palace have won only 2 of their 12 top flight away fixtures versus West Brom, 4-0 on 10 February 1973 and 2-0 on 4 March 2017. They’ll be hoping for more of the same but the Eagles have failed to score in all 7 away matches this season.
West Brom won their opening 2 league fixtures of the season, but are winless in all 12 since. Many of the West Brom players are familiar with Palace boss Roy Hodgson. Jake Livermore and Jay Rodriguez were both given their senior England debut by Hodgson. Kieran Gibbs, Ben Foster and Gareth Barry also played for England under the 70 year old.
Everton v Huddersfield
Big Sam is back and is taking over from David Unsworth on the back of a 4-0 hammering of West Ham. An incredible Wayne Rooney hattrick on Wednesday night, as well as one from Ashley Williams means Allardyce will be taking charge of his 7th different Premier League club while spirits are high.
It’s been a tricky season for the Toffees but their impressive destruction of the Hammers will have many hoping they can now push on and up the league table. They could win consecutive league matches for the first time since April 2017, when they had home victories against Leicester City (4-2) and Burnley (3-1).
David Wagner’s Huddersfield are on a club top flight record run of 6 consecutive away matches without a goal and they could equal the club record for most consecutive league away fixtures without scoring if they fail to do so at Goodison on Saturday.
Leicester v Burnley
Leicester have had an up and down sort of season but have been scoring at home which has pleased the Foxes fanbase. Manchester City have been the only visiting team to keep a clean sheet in the league at King Power Stadium so far this season.
Jamie Vardy (49) is one short of becoming the first player to score 50 league goals for Leicester, but Vardy and co. will be cautious of an impressive visiting Burnley outfit.
Seán Dyche’s men have won 4 of their last 5 league fixtures, the only exception in that run was a 1-0 home defeat against Arsenal last weekend, when Alexis Sánchez scored a 92nd minute penalty.
They taken 14 points out of a possible 21 in PL away matches this campaign (W4-D2-L1) and only Manchester City (21) and Chelsea (16) have won more away points in the league than themselves.
Arsenal v Manchester United
Undoubtedly this is, on paper, the game of the weekend. But will it live up to it’s billing?
United boss Jose Mourinho has been very cautious away from home against the big teams this season, and they are winless in all 7 league away matches with Mourinho as manager against the other clubs that finished in the top six of the table last season (W0-D3-L4).
However, their 4-2 midweek victory over Watford has them coming into this clash in good form, even if Lukaku isn’t. He has scored only 1 goal in his last 7 league appearances.
Arsenal and United are the only clubs remaining with a 100% PL home winning record this campaign and at home, Arsenal have scored in 32 of their last 33 PL home fixtures. The only exception in that run a 0-0 draw against Middlesbrough on 22nd of October 2016.
Sunday afternoon sees Bournemouth host Southampton at 13:30 in the opening game of ‘Super Sunday’ before the seemingly unstoppable Manchester City welcome David Moyes and West Ham to the Etihad Stadium at 16:00, in what you’d presume is, yet another, guaranteed 3 points.
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
