With Xmas now over, its tis the time to be a jolly good sport and tuck into a Boxing Day full of Premier League goodness with the top eleven all in action.
Festive highlights include table topping Liverpool’s clash with Newcastle whilst title rivals, Manchester City visit Leicester. Elsewhere, Arsenal and Chelsea are amongst sides facing tough away trips as Manchester United’s Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes his Old Trafford debut.
Fulham vs Wolverhampton Wanderers (12:30pm)
Fulham need to start winning games like this if they want to survive but Wolves will be tough opposition, having both come up in the summer from the Championship.
Recent weeks have seen the visitors find another gear in attack and do press the opposition quite high up, which I can see the Cottagers’ defence struggling with throughout the match.
For me, Fulham going to have to just take the game to Wolves if are going to get a result here.
Prediction: Fulham 0–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Jake predicts: Fulham 2-2 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Result: Fulham 1-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
Burnley vs Everton
We could have a cracker on the cards here after Everton’s defence was just ripped to shreds at weekend, whilst Burnley are continuing to get back to their usual standards.
Turf Moor however hasn’t been much of a fortress this season for the Clarets with only nine goals, adding extra pressure onto Sean Dyche although they have won and lost two of last three games by a 1-0 result.
Everton however have been shambolic on their travels with only one away win and just eight goals for their away efforts. They now need to let Sunday’s dire performance be the kick-start that they need to get this season on track although this will be a tough game.
This therefore is either going to be a defensive shambles with goals galore or an absolute borefest.
Prediction: Burnley 1-1 Everton
Jake predicts: Burnley 1-2 Everton
Result: Burnley 1-5 Everton
Crystal Palace vs Cardiff City
Embed from Getty ImagesSaturday’s upset over Manchester City should hopefully provide Crystal Palace with festive momentum to move forward as they welcome Cardiff to Selhurst Park.
Strong confidence, excellent attack and clinical finishing even if rebounded out initially were all evident at weekend, and I want to see more of that here if they’re to push on towards a tight midfield scrap.
Cardiff meanwhile were just outplayed by Manchester United although the defence was shambolic during Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial’s goals, when could of easily prevented the thrashing that they received.
Now, they need to just regroup and go again despite having the worst away record of no wins and more conceded goals than Fulham.
This however should be a rather routine home win if Palace are on song.
Prediction: Crystal Palace 2-0 Cardiff City
Jake predicts: Crystal Palace 1-1 Cardiff City
Result: Crystal Palace 0-0 Cardiff City
Leicester City vs Manchester City
Both sides experienced contrasting fortunes at weekend, having drawn 1-1 here in League Cup last week.
Leicester were just exceptional on the defence against Chelsea before Jamie Vardy finished off a ruthless but clinical counter early in second half. Now they need to repeat that here because Man City will dominate this game with players like Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne likely to feature.
The Citizens however need to either tweak formation depending on availability for positions or players learn to adapt to playing out of position, after John Stones was exposed by Palace on numerous occasions.
A draw therefore wouldn’t be a bad result but I am going for a shock here as Leicester’s Boxing Day losing run since returning to this division surely has to end sometime.
Prediction: Leicester City 2-1 Manchester City
Jake predicts: Leicester City 1-2 Manchester City
Result: Leicester City 2-1 Manchester City
Liverpool vs Newcastle United
Liverpool are in fierce form and if continue to produce strong performances, they should see off Newcastle with ease.
The Magpies however are unbeaten in their last four on the road and kept clean sheets in last two league outings. Here, they need to be super defensive and clinical on counter if are to get anything which is a huge ask of a side who aren’t the best defensively or at finishing.
Unfortunately, I do fear that it will be a game which exposes Newcastle’s fragilities rather heavily.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United
Jake predicts: Liverpool 3-0 Newcastle United
Result: Liverpool 4-0 Newcastle
Manchester United vs Huddersfield Town
Manchester United certainly can certainly get the job done away from Old Trafford under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but can they entertain at home?
Their performance on Saturday had everything typical of a Man Utd side because they were confident, dominant and finished chances clinically. If can build on that here at home then this will be a really difficult side to beat between now and May which Huddersfield could very well find out here.
The Terriers have been quite unlucky to have lost their last five games but their finishing has been unacceptable this season with just 11 goals from 61 shots on target.
Count in a defence who play too loosely with plenty of space which Southampton completely exploited when running riot at weekend.
All in all, I can see Man U just simply walking this to a dominant three points.
Prediction: Manchester United 4-0 Huddersfield Town
Jake predicts: Manchester United 2-0 Huddersfield Town
Result: Manchester United 3-1 Huddersfield Town
Tottenham Hotspur vs Bournemouth
Embed from Getty ImagesTottenham were simply outstanding on Sunday and its hard to see them not winning here.
Its hard not to pick up one key player in this Spurs team because as a unit, they have stretched the opposition and created various chances which was highlighted by the amount of opportunities set up across the entire pitch against Everton.
Bournemouth meanwhile produced a more solid performance rather than maximising the flanks to beat Brighton.
This however will be a tougher test but can see a respectable result coming here, compared to usual thrashings by Spurs in this fixture.
Prediction: Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 Bournemouth
Jake predicts: Tottenham Hotspur 3-0 Bournemouth
Result: Tottenham Hotspur 5-0 Bournemouth
Brighton & Hove Albion vs Arsenal (5:15pm)
Brighton will be looking to get back to winning ways after three straight defeats as they welcome Arsenal, who have also dipped in form to the Amex Stadium.
At home, the Seagulls are difficult to beat with only two defeats and are yet not to score at least once.
Both defeats came against Arsenal’s two biggest London rivals by 1-2 scorelines so perhaps this could be crucial, as they do say that things do come in threes.
Arsenal meanwhile ended a tough week by thrashing Burnley 3-1 on Saturday but have kept just one clean sheet since end of September and are yet to do so on the road domestically this season.
We therefore should see some goals here but Arsenal have conceded more than they have scored in this Boxing Day round across the last three seasons.
Prediction: Brighton & Hove Albion 2-1 Arsenal
Jake predicts: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Arsenal
Result: Brighton & Hove Albion 1-1 Arsenal
Watford vs Chelsea (7:30pm)
Embed from Getty ImagesAfter suffering a shock defeat at weekend, Chelsea need to strike back here if are to get their title hopes back on track as they visit Watford.
The Hornets however are a solid side who will pose a stern test with Gerard Deulofeu proving a particularly difficult player to beat with his pace into the box.
Chelsea’s main issue has been finishing off chances which has been an issue in two of their last three away games. Alvaro Morata’s return therefore will be a welcome boost in a fixture which has seen both sides score in five of last six league meetings.
We therefore should see goals here and given the quality of both teams, I can see a fun draw here.
Prediction: Watford 2-2 Chelsea
Jake predicts: Watford 1-2 Chelsea
Result: Watford 1-2 Chelsea
Prediction Wars
With the season nearing half way point, so is Prediction Wars between me and Boro Rants writer, Jake Self.
Rules remain the same as last season and goes as follows alongside latest standings;
Correct score – 3 points
Correct result – 1 point
Incorrect result – 0 points
| Name | Points |
| James Gregory | 127 |
| Jake Self | 126 |
Leave a Reply