Liverpool can nick it at Arsenal while don’t be surprised if Everton shock Chelsea at Goodison
Elsewhere Anthony Knockaert will be relishing getting some revenge over Watford's Miguel Britos after last year's horror tackle - SunSport casts an eye over the Christmas weekend
IT'S Matchweek 19 and the start of a mad fortnight of football festivities.
Yes, they’ll be more football than you can shake a pig in a blanket at over Christmas and New Year and much can – and will – change over the holidays.
Well, I say things will change but Newcastle still won’t win and Jose Mourinho still won’t be gracious in defeat.
Never mind.
Season’s greeting to you all and have a wonderful, football-filled Christmas.
ARSENAL v LIVERPOOL
This should be a barnstorming start to the weekend’s festivities as Arsenal, with their exemplary home record, host Liverpool, a team that can demolish anyone when they’re on form.
Under Jurgen Klopp, the Reds have scored at least three goals in each of their four Premier League games against the Gunners, scoring an impressive 14 in total with three wins and one draw.
Keep a look out for the the cat in the hat today as Petr Cech is just one clean sheet away from becoming the first keeper in Premier League history to amass 200 shut-outs.
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, will have Shkodran Mustafi back in contention and will be hoping that Francis Coquelin can return from injury (while Arsenal fans won’t).
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: AWAY WIN
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EVERTON v CHELSEA
Chelsea might just be ticking along at the moment but Everton have moved up several gears since the arrival of Sam Allardyce and we fancy them to take the spoils here.
The ex-England boss has won his last two Premier League against Chelsea and if Everton win here he’ll become the first coach in the competition’s history to win against them with five different clubs.
He’s also getting a decent tune out of Wayne Rooney.
The occasional garden centre worker has scored 10 goals in 16 PL appearances this season and that’s the fewest amount of matches it’s taken him to reach 10 goals in a season since the giddy days of 2011/12.
That said, Chelsea have won their last three league games against the Toffees, and by an aggregate score of 10-0 too, so maybe it won’t be such a cakewalk after all.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: HOME WIN
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BRIGHTON v WATFORD
This is a huge game for Brighton. Win here and they’ll reach 21 points at the halfway stage of the season and keep them firmly on track for survival.
The trouble with the Seagulls is two-fold. Firstly, they’re drawing too many games (five of their last eight) and, secondly, they just aren’t scoring any goals (no goals from open play in their last six matches).
They’ve also got a stinker of a record against Watford having won just one of their last 11 against the Hornets (D5, L5) but may benefit from the fact that the visitors will be without both top scorer Abdoulaye Doucoure and all-round threat Troy Deeney.
It’ll also be a chance for Anthony Knockaert to get his own back on Miguel Britos after that horror challenge back at Vicarage Road back in August.
I’d watch your back Miguel.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: HOME WIN
MANCHESTER CITY v BOURNEMOUTH
Short of bricking up their goal or tampering with the brakes on the City team bus, it’s difficult to see how Bournemouth are going to stop Pep Guardiola’s rampant side here.
All the evidence points to a City victory, not least because they’ve won nine and lost precisely none of their 11 previous league matches against Bournemouth, winning all five in the Premier League.
They could also be the first team ever to score 100 Premier League goals in a calendar year if they score three here.
Which they will, obviously.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: HOME WIN
SOUTHAMPTON v HUDDERSFIELD
You’re not quite sure how it’s going to go with Southampton this season.
Though they’re in 12 th place they are just three points off the relegation zone and they’re notoriously inconsistent.
Mind you, they do seem to do well against newly-promoted sides, losing just one of their 26 home encounters against them.
Saints have also triumphed in their last three home games against Huddersfield, bagging a healthy 13 goals in the process and conceding just the one.
Two wins from their last three league games have seen Huddersfield pull themselves up the table and their 4-1 win at Watford last week ended a dismal run of seven away games without a goal (D1, L6).
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: HOME WIN
STOKE v WEST BROM
Hands up who can think of a more unappealing fixture?
Anyone?
Nope, me neither. But it is what it is – and that’s a relegation dogfight.
If the Baggies can claim there first win under Alan Pardew’s reign they’ll leapfrog their hosts here and, you’d think, really ramp up the pressure on Potters boss Mark Hughes.
Every chance they could do it too as Pards had won eight league games against Stoke as a manager and that’s more than he’s managed than against any other club.
The Baggies are also unbeaten in six league matches against Stoke (W2, D4) while the home side have just one win from their last eight league games (D2, L5). We suspect that’s not going to change here either.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: AWAY WIN
SWANSEA v CRYSTAL PALACE
As Leon Britton takes the reins at the Liberty, can we expect to see an uplift in the fortunes of the Premier League’s bottom-placed team?
It’s going to be a big ask.
Palace are now unbeaten in seven games (W3, D4) and arrive in the Valleys on the back of a brilliant 3-0 away win at Leicester last week.
Indeed, only Manchester City (26 games) and Liverpool (9) have longer unbeaten runs in the division.
There were 12 goals in the two matches these sides played last season as well – the most of any 2016/17 Premier League fixture – so it’s looking good for the neutral, in theory.
It’ll be 0-0 now, you watch.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: DRAW
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WEST HAM v NEWCASTLE
What on God’s good earth has happened to Newcastle United?
It’s over two months since Newcastle last won a league game and they come into this game on a run that’s seen them lost eight of their last nine games.
Not surprisingly, they’re also in the relegation zone now too.
The last thing they need is a visit to London, where they’ve lost a record 71 Premier League games, and a game against a West Ham side that have turned a corner and are looking for their fourth clean sheet on the spin.
Rafa ‘The Gaffer’ Benitez may have won 10 of his 13 Premier League matches against the Hammers but you can’t see that happening here. January can’t come soon enough for the miserable Magpies.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: HOME WIN
BURNLEY v SPURS
Having seen Burnley at the Amex last week I’m afraid I don’t buy this ‘aren’t they amazing’ narrative that seems to be spreading like Nutella at the moment.
Yes, they’ve done brilliantly to get to where they are but they’re hardly the most thrilling team to watch in the division, are they? I mean, 16 goals in 18 games? Fight for a ticket!
The Clarets have only won one of their seven Premier League games against Spurs (D2, L4) and that was back in May 2010 when they won 4-2. Spurs, meanwhile, can win back-to- back league games at Turf Moor for the first time in 92 years
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: AWAY WIN
LEICESTER v MANCHESTER UNITED
Fresh from a humiliating defeat (and a predictably tiresome and ungracious response from Jose Mourinho), United will look to build on a record against the Foxes that’s seen them win 13 of the last 17 league meetings.
In fact, United have only lost one of their last 12 league trips to Leicester and that was that memorable 5 3 thumping back in September 2014.
You know, when Angel Di Maria used to play for them Jamie Vardy scored that day – that was his first in the Premier League –and he’s now just one goal away from reaching 50 in the competition.
SUNSPORT PREDICTION: DRAW
