The Boxing Day fixtures are finally here. If someone had shown me a screenshot of the league table at Christmas in August, I would have thought they were coming down from a David Coote-style bender. With the likes of Forest, Bournemouth, and Villa all firmly ahead of Manchester City on points, it truly does seem that this is not, in fact, real life. Thanks to Evertonian shithousery and Spurs’ makeshift backline, Arne Slot’s Reds find themselves 4 points clear at the top of the table with a game in hand—another statement that would have seemed too good to be true 3 months ago. It’s Christmas, kick your feet up, grab a pint, and get stuck into some Matchweek 18 predictions.
Manchester City vs. Everton
12:30, Thursday, December 26th, The Etihad
Another week, another City loss. What started as a blip quickly turned into a tailspin, and has now become a full-blown crisis. City sit 7th in the league table, and Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Villa added to the current disaster, making it 1 win in their last 12 matches. For the first time in my life, I really don’t think Pep has the answers to bring them through this catastrophe that the season has developed into. The Ev, on the other hand, have looked respectably solid against good opposition in their last several games. They built on the nil-nil draw with Arsenal at the Emirates two weekends ago with, yep, you guessed it, another nil-nil with Chelsea at Goodison on Saturday. While the Toffee attack is downright grim more often than not, I think they’ve shown themselves more than capable of comfortably remaining in the division come May. Given City’s woes, I see no reason why they can’t do it again.
Prediction: 0-0
Bournemouth vs. Crystal Palace
15:00, Thursday, December 26th, Vitality Stadium
The Cherries went to Old Trafford for the second consecutive season and battered the hosts 3-0, which I think is one of the most hilarious things that’s happened thus far this season. Given the year that Bournemouth have enjoyed to this point, it shouldn’t have come as a major shock either. Andoni Iraola currently has his side sitting 5th, just three points behind Forest in the Champions League places. After Palace’s impressive 3-1 victory over rivals Brighton on the South Coast two weekends ago, it seemed the Eagles had turned a corner—but they followed this up by being battered at home by Arsenal 5-1 on Saturday. While Palace still remain clear of the drop zone, it is most definitely too close for comfort at the moment. While losing to Arsenal is nothing to be ashamed of, the manner in which they did so does not fill me with confidence ahead of their journey to the Vitality.
Prediction: 2-0 Bournemouth
First Goal Scorer: Evanilson
Anytime Goal Scorer: Justin Kluivert
Newcastle United vs. Aston Villa
15:00, Thursday, December 26th, St. James’ Park
The Geordies seem to have found their footing again, hammering in 8 goals over their last two league games. The Toon put 4 past a floundering Ipswich on Saturday afternoon at Portman Road, again bringing life to Eddie Howe’s push for the European spots as the season wears on. When Isak is fit, I think Newcastle are capable of competing with any side in Europe, and the Swede proved why this is again on Saturday, firing home another hat-trick. Villa’s victory over free-falling City took them to 6th in the table—not a bad place to be considering some of the difficulties they faced throughout November. This one should be an entertaining game for the neutral, and Villa definitely have the quality to win the game. However, I think that the lift that St. James’ Park always seems to provide will just see the Magpies over the line.
Prediction: 2-1 Newcastle
First Goal Scorer: Alexander Isak (x2)
Anytime Goal Scorer: Jhon Duran
Chelsea vs. Fulham
15:00, Thursday, December 26th, Stamford Bridge
Ironically, both of these sides participated in nil-nil draws in matches that they would have expected to win at the weekend. Chelsea was held scoreless at a blustery Goodison Park, a result that may not have been all too surprising given the Blues’ record in recent seasons at the Grand Old Lady. Fulham, on the other hand, found themselves unable to break down Southampton, as the Saints earned their 6th point of the season. Both sides will be disappointed with these results, particularly Chelsea, as they continue their chase of Liverpool, who currently sit 4 points clear with a game in hand over Maresca’s side. Fulham have been good in recent weeks, picking up a point at the Emirates and Anfield respectively, before failing to find the back of the net at Craven Cottage on Saturday. It will be a tough ask for them to do the same at Stamford Bridge on Thursday, and given Fulham’s mounting injury concerns, I fear it may be too tall a task.
Prediction: 2-0 Chelsea
First Goal Scorer: Noni Madueke
Anytime Goal Scorer: Nicolas Jackson
Southampton vs. West Ham United
15:00, Thursday, December 26th, St. Mary’s
Southampton was able to claim a rare point last weekend at Fulham as the Saints continue their chase to catch Derby’s lowest-ever points total in the Premier League. With Southampton currently on 6 points at Christmas, I’d say that they’ll more than likely eclipse that pesky 11-point mark, but I wouldn’t be surprised by either outcome, to be honest. With Russell Martin’s departure, the Saints seem less inclined to play 1-2s inside their own 6-yard box until they give the ball away as often, but it could hardly have gotten any worse. The Irons picked up a point at Brighton, as Julen Lopetegui continues to desperately fight for his job each week—and to be fair to him, it seems to have worked relatively well in the last several games. West Ham look far less vulnerable in defense and have been able to pick up several points as a result. I think they’ll pick up 3 more on Thursday.
Prediction: 2-1 West Ham
First Goal Scorer: Jarrod Bowen
Anytime Goal Scorers: Mohammed Kudus, Paul Onuachu
Nottingham Forest vs. Tottenham Hotspur
15:00, Thursday, December 26th, The City Ground
Nuno and the Tricky Trees notched another impressive win last weekend as they dispatched Brentford 2-0 at the Gtech. Forest currently sit 4th in the league, and their remarkable season seems to be in as strong of form as ever. Spurs are coming off the back of a 6-3 thrashing at home to Liverpool, a game that at one stage was 5-1 and could easily have been 7 or 8 on another day. It’s not all negative for Big Ange’s side, though—decimated by injuries, the team could have easily laid down in the 60th minute of last weekend’s defeat. However, they showed their character and quality to claw themselves back into the game, at least making the scoreline more respectable. While I dislike blaming injuries for teams dropping points, Spurs’ crisis is undeniable, and there are very few sides in world football that would be able to effectively cope with the situation that Spurs currently find themselves in. They need to get healthy—and quickly; unfortunately, this weekend will come too soon.
Prediction: 3-1 Forest
First Goal Scorer: Chris Wood (x2)
Anytime Goal Scorers: James Maddison, Callum Hudson-Odoi
Wolverhampton Wanderers vs. Manchester United
17:30, Thursday, December 26th, Molineux
Where do I begin? After being demolished at Old Trafford 3-0 for a second consecutive season by historical juggernauts Bournemouth, you may have assumed that life could not possibly get more grim for a United supporter. As tortured soul Ruben Amorim trudged to the podium post-match, to begin fielding questions like “You left a decent club for this?” and “Did you see that Jim Ratcliffe has now sacked the canteen staff the week before Christmas for refusing to accept a 5-quid credit at Gregg’s in lieu of a salary?”—a new question from the gallery arose: “Is that a leak?” Looking dejectedly at the ceiling—from which a steady trickle of water was steadily pouring—the former Sporting boss simply shrugged and moved out of the splash zone. Rotten from the inside out. Wolves picked up a victory over Leicester last weekend, and if United look anything close to what we saw on Sunday, then expect more of the same.
Prediction: 1-0 Wolves
Only Goal Scorer: Jorgen Strand Larsen
Liverpool vs. Leicester City
20:00, Thursday, December 26th, Anfield
For about 80 minutes of Sunday’s game at Tottenham, it was one of the most dominant displays I’ve ever seen from Liverpool, much less Arne Slot. The Reds were simply rampant, and Spurs’ makeshift backline could not deal with what they were faced with. While offensively, Liverpool looked like the best team in Europe, momentary lapses in judgment defensively took some gloss off what was a resounding victory. Conceding 3 goals, particularly in the manner in which we allowed them, will surely have caused frustration and hopefully can be used as a learning experience as we near the midpoint of the season. Leicester experienced a 3-0 defeat at home to Wolves on Sunday—they’ve now been outscored 7-0 in their last 2 league games. Anfield is probably not the place to remedy these troubles. It may get ugly, and quickly.
Prediction: 3-0 Liverpool
First Goal Scorer: The Egyptian King
Anytime Goal Scorers: Virgil, Darwin Núñez
Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Brentford
19:30, Friday, December 27th, The Amex
Last weekend’s draw with West Ham made it 5 on the bounce without a win in the league for Fabian Hurzeler’s Seagulls, who have now fallen to 10th in the table. Brentford’s form is no better, with Saturday’s defeat to Forest at the Gtech making it three losses on the spin for Thomas Frank’s side. This is one that both managers will be desperate to win in the fight for European places, but given both sides’ form in recent weeks, there’s just not enough to separate the two sides in this one for me. I think it’ll be a draw, and possibly not spectacular viewing if I’m honest.
Prediction: 1-1
First Goal Scorer: Yankuba Minteh
Anytime Goal Scorer: Yoanne Wissa
Arsenal vs. Ipswich Town
20:15, Friday, December 27th, The Emirates
Arsenal’s journey to Palace was a productive one, as Arteta’s side seemed to discover that they are indeed allowed to score goals from open play. The Gunners cruised to a 5-1 victory, in what was an overall disappointing display from the Eagles, who had seemed to have turned a corner as of late. Even with Saka sidelined by a hamstring injury that looks as though it will keep the winger out through January, I fear that Arsenal will be far too strong for Kieran McKenna’s side this weekend. The Tractor Boys were trounced at Portman Road 4-0 by Newcastle last weekend, and I’m expecting a similar result in this one.
Prediction: 3-0 Arsenal
First Goal Scorer: Gabriel Martinelli
Anytime Goal Scorers: Kai Havertz, William Saliba
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