The highlight games for the next set of EPL matches are WEST HAM versus MANCHESTER UNITED and LIVERPOOL versus ARSENAL. Our feature columnist, John Newsome previews these and all game week 18 matches with his unique and insightful commentary. You can view all previous analysis from John’s regular column here: English Premier League Predictions For Saturday.
Please note all prices quoted below were correct at the time of publication
Game Week-18
********MAN CITY v BRENTFORD*********
This fixture between Man City and Brentford is postponed due to City’s involvement in the World Club Cup in Saudi Arabia, which has been detailed in the Game Week-16 Preview
Thursday 21st
CRYSTAL PALACE v BRIGHTON
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Both of these teams will be over the moon with this Thursday Night Football as not only is this an exciting clash between two rivals but also it means that all the staff and players can have a nice Christmas Eve and Day at home as both don’t play again until the 27th of December for Crystal Palace and the 28th for Brighton.
Crystal Palace somehow came away from the Etihad with a point following a draw against Man City.
After City had scored twice and were by far the dominant team, Jean-Philippe Mateta pulled a goal back to give the Eagle Ultras hope.
That hope materialised when Palace were awarded a penalty in the final minutes that Michael Olise coolly slotted home to gain a point from a 2-2 score.
Whilst it was a brilliant point gained, Crystal Palace had to be resilient against a much better side.
That won’t matter to Roy Hodgson as the Old Boy will be glad of a point that leaves his Eagles in 15th place with 17 from 17 games completed.
Brighton suffered a defeat against Table Toppers Arsenal on Sunday going down by a 2-0 scoreline away at the Emirates.
Most will lose against the Gunners so Roberto De Zerbi just needs to regroup his Seagulls and move on to this fixture against the Palace.
Brighton sit in 9th place with 26 points from the opening 17 games so far.
This fixture is classed as the ‘M23 Derby’, however, the game could be called the ‘1-1 Draw Derby’, with 5 of the last 8 meetings between the two clubs finishing in a draw by a 1-1 score.
The other 3 were either 1-0 or 2-1 to either.
So if one is having a punt, the scoreline of 1-1 is probably the favourite.
At Selhurst Park last season, goals from Brighton’s Solly March and Palace’s James Tomkins earned both a point from the favourite scoreline of 1-1.
Betfred offer Crystal Palace at 23/10, the draw at 12/5 and 23/20 for Brighton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 21/10 that Jean-Philippe Mateta Scores Anytime and slight Odds On 10/11 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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Friday 22nd
ASTON VILLA v SHEFFIELD UNITED
20.00 in England
Sky Sports
Unlike Palace and Brighton both of these teams are back in action on Boxing Day which does seem strange considering this Friday Night fixture will only allow 4 days of recovery.
Also, no Turkey and all the Trimmings for these boys.
Aston Villa gained a victory over Brentford at the GTech Stadium on Sunday with Unai Emery’s Claret and Blues inflicting a defeat on Thomas Frank’s Bees by a 2-1 away day scoreline.
Brentford did score first on the stroke of half-time before losing Ben Mee in the 70th minute through a sending-off.
That really changed the momentum of the game with Alex Moreno scoring the equaliser almost immediately.
The ex-Bee Ollie Watkins came back to haunt the home team and scored the winning goal with 5 minutes remaining.
Villa temporarily moved up to 2nd in the table before Liverpool kicked off but remain in 3rd place with the same 38 points as Jurgen’s Reds but with a slightly inferior goal difference.
Sentiment took over sensible in last week’s column with the news that James from Swinton, nowhere near Bramall Lane has found out that he and the lovely Jade are expecting a new Little Blade next year so a draw was predicted in the game against Chelsea to give the Little Blunt optimism going into the Christmas period.
Unfortunately, for all the Steel City puddings, Chris Wilder’s men suffered a defeat against Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues by a 2-0 away day score.
Chris brought back Ollie McBurnie following the lads 2 game ban which although was approved by John Newsome and Little Jimbo, maybe wasn’t the correct decision.
Ollie lasted 66 minutes and got a Game Rating of 6.6, which is a coincidence really.
There is a new concept of Player Ratings which will pop up from time to time, however, not in every game.
The defeat leaves Sheffield United at the foot of the table with 8 points, the same as Burnley, from the opening 17 games.
As for Little Jimbo, all the best to you and Jade and the impending New Blade at Christmas.
It was September 2020 when Villa last hosted Sheffield United with a single Ezri Konsa goal being the difference giving Dean Smith’s Claret and Blues the victory over Chris Wilder’s Blades by a 1-0 score.
That wasn’t the whole story as Sheffield United had John Egan sent off after 12 minutes plus the away faithful saw John Lundstrem miss a penalty just before half-time.
Betfred offer Aston Villa at Odds On 2/11, the draw at 6/1 and 14/1 for Sheffield United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 3/1 that Ollie Watkins Scores First and 13/8 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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Saturday 23rd
WEST HAM v MANCHESTER UNITED
12.30 in England
TNT Sport
The strange anomaly with this pre-Christmas fixture is West Ham are not in action again until the 28th (Merry Christmas Bubbles!) yet Manchester United are back out on Boxing Day, giving the Red Devils just 3 days to recover.
West Ham gained a great victory on Sunday following a disastrous outing the week before where the Hammers suffered a defeat by a 5-0 scoreline.
Goals from Mohammed Kudos (2) and Jarrod Bowen gave David Moyes Boys the victory over Wolves by a 3-0 scoreline.
It was a great performance against the Gold and Blacks that left West Ham in 8th place with 27 points.
Manchester United gained a great, if unexpected point against Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday which saw both teams fail to trouble the scorers with the game ending in a draw by a 0-0 score.
Most predicted a home victory and whilst Liverpool were the dominant team, United hung in there and gained the point.
The game wasn’t that inspiring with most of the watching millions at home upset that B and Q wasn’t open, as purchasing paint, putting on the walls and watching it dry, would have been a better couple of hours viewing.
That said, it was obvious that Liverpool were head and shoulders above Manchester United and have better players but to be fair to Erik Ten Hag’s men, United did work hard and had the odd chance that a better team (Arsenal) would have taken and possibly come away with a victory.
It was a disappointing week for United who were not only knocked out of the Champions League but finished at the bottom of that particular group which also meant that there wasn’t entry into the Europa League, so the Passports won’t be needed and by the looks of things, won’t be needed for a few years to come.
United sit in 7th place with 28 points from the 17 fixtures played.
The Manchester Ball Thrower was out on his Christmas Doo last week and bumped into the legendary Midfielder Paul Scholes.
The two had a riveting conversation whilst crossing on the stairs,
‘Hey up!’ Said MBT.
‘Hey up!’ Replied Mr Scholes.
John Newsome advised the Ball Thrower not to open with that encounter on Piers Morgan.
In last season’s encounter between the two, West Ham gained the home victory over Manchester United by a 1-0 scoreline, Said Benrahme with the solitary winning goal before the break.
Betfred offer West Ham at 6/4, the draw at 13/5 and 13/8 for Manchester United to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Jarrod Bowen Scores Anytime and 6/5 that there are Under 2.5 Goals.
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FULHAM v BURNLEY
15.00 in England
Both these teams are back out on duty straight after Christmas on Boxing Day.
Merry Christmas Premier League Fixture Compilers!
Fulham suffered a defeat against Newcastle on Saturday at St James Park with the home team getting the victory by a 3-0 scoreline.
Probably what didn’t help was the Red Card received by Raul Jimenez in the 22nd minute for a challenge on Sean Longstaff that was bordering on MMA (Mixed Martial Arts).
Out of the last 7 Premier League games, the Cottagers have won 3 and lost 4 leaving Marco Silva’s boys in 11th place with 21 points from the 17 fixtures played.
Rebecca Welch has been appointed as the Referee for this fixture, which is a first for the Premier League having a female in charge.
All the best Rebecca.
Burnley themselves suffered another defeat on Saturday, this time against Everton at Turf Moor by a 2-0 scoreline.
That’s the 13th loss from the 17 fixtures completed with 2 wins and 2 draws from the remaining, meaning just 8 points on the board so far.
That leaves the Clarets in 19th place with the same points as Sheffield United but with a slightly (slightly) better goal difference.
It was May 2021 when Burnley last went down to Craven Cottage to take on Fulham.
Ashley Westwood and Chris Wood scored the goals to give Burnley the away night victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
At the time there were no spectators allowed due to the Coronavirus situation, so the Claret faithful will love a trip down to London if only to get in some last-minute Christmas shopping.
The victory saw Burnley pull away from Fulham eventually avoiding relegation after finishing in 17th place with 11 points more than Fulham who went back to the Championship for another season.
The two swapped places the year after, when Fulham were promoted and Burnley relegated.
Betfred offer Fulham at Odds On 8/13, the draw at 3/1 and 4/1 for Burnley to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/4 that Willian Scores Anytime and 9/5 that Fulham Win To Nil.
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***Premier League Team of the Week***
GOALKEEPER- Lukasz Fabianski- West Ham
RIGHT-BACK- Valentino Livramento- Newcastle
CENTRE-BACK- Jonny Evans- Manchester United
CENTRE-BACK- Tom Lockyer- Luton
LEFT-BACK- Luke Shaw- Manchester United
MIDFIELDER- James Ward-Prowse- West Ham
MIDFIELDER- Michael Olise- Crystal Palace
MIDFIELDER- Miguel Almiron- Newcastle
FORWARD- Jarrod Bowen- West Ham
FORWARD- Ollie Watkins- Aston Villa
FORWARD- Mohammed Kudos- West Ham
STAR MAN- Tom Lockyer- Luton
LUTON v NEWCASTLE
15.00 in England
Once again, both teams haven’t much time off between the pre and post-Christmas shenanigans with both having fixtures on Boxing Day.
In last week’s column, it was just a coincidence that John Newsome highlighted the differences between the experienced Premier League players and the Luton players, in particular Tom Lockyer.
It was mentioned that Tom wasn’t dug out individually but just as an example of Luton’s inexperienced players.
On Saturday, Tom suffered a Cardiac Arrest on the pitch at the Vitality that resulted in the game between Bournemouth and Luton being abandoned.
The score when the game stopped is irrelevant, as football takes a back seat in times like these.
Our thoughts go out to Tom and his family from someone who has experienced heart problems himself and wishes the guy all the best for the future.
Respect Mr Lockyer!
Newcastle come into this fixture following a mixed emotional week where the Magpies were knocked out of Europe and then gained a victory over Fulham at St James Park by a 3-0 scoreline.
After a goalless 1st-half that did see Fulham have a player sent off for a horrendous challenge on Sean Longstaff, Lewis Miley scored his first goal in a Black and White shirt.
Young Lewis has the World at his feet, having just turned 17, not yet old enough to go to the boozer but playing like a Man in the Middle of the Newcastle team.
Miguel Almiron added a 2nd before Dan Burn, who was returning from a bad injury rounded off the scoring to give the Toon Army something to cheer about after the disappointing Champions League exit.
Newcastle sit in 6th place with 29 points from the 17 games played so far.
It was January 1993 when Kenilworth Rd last welcomed the Toon Army for a Championship affair that saw both teams fail to hit the back of the net with the game finishing in a draw by a 0-0 score.
The two have met 3 times since, all in the FA Cup with the latest being in a 3rd- Round tie in January 2018, where Newcastle gained the home victory by a 3-1 scoreline.
Dan Potts, Luke Berry and Pele-Ruddock Mpanzu all played in the fixture at St James Park and are all still at the club in the Premier League.
Javier Manquillo, Jamaal Lascelles, Paul Dummett, Jacob Murphy and Matt Ritchie were in the Newcastle starting eleven and will be up for this clash in the Promised Land, fitness provided.
Betfred offer Luton at 18/5, the draw at 10/3 and Odds On 8/13 for Newcastle to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 23/10 that Carlton Morris Scores Anytime and 23/20 that Callum Wilson Scores Anytime.
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NOTTINGHAM FOREST v BOURNEMOUTH
15.00 in England
Forest take on Newcastle in the Boxing Day clash with Bournemouth facing Fulham on the same day, meaning neither of the set of players will be able to have much of the Christmas Pudding and Brandy Sauce.
Steve Cooper is still in charge of Nottingham Forest, despite another defeat last time out.
Tottenham gained the victory at the City Ground by a 2-0 scoreline leaving Forest sitting in 17th place with 14 points.
Probably the solace that the Tricky Tree faithful can take is there are 3 worse teams in the Premier League so their idols should be safe, however, do need to start picking up some points.
Bournemouth took on Luton in the ill-fated game that was abandoned after 65 minutes, so not much else can be said.
The Cherries sit in 14th place with 19 points from 16 games completed.
Cheikhou Kouyate and Brennan Johnson scored for Forest in last season’s encounter at the City Ground to give the home team a comfortable lead at the break.
Brennan’s goal was a converted penalty.
Unfortunately, for the watching Tricky Tree faithful, 2nd-half goals from Philip Billing, Dominic Solanke and Jaidon Anthony gave Bournemouth the away day victory by a 3-2 scoreline.
Betfred offer Nottingham Forest at 7/4, the draw at 5/2 and 7/5 for Bournemouth to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 11/5 that Kieffer Moore Scores Anytime and 12/5 that Bournemouth Score in Both Halves.
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TOTTENHAM v EVERTON
15.00 in England
These two sets of players will be much happier as both are not back in action until the 28th for Tottenham and the 27th for Everton meaning a nice Christmas Dinner can be had by the LilyWhites and the Toffees.
Tottenham come into this fixture having not played since last Friday where Ange Postecoglou’s men gained an away night victory over Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.
Goals from Richarlison and Dejan Kuluseveski gave Spurs the points from a 2-0 scoreline.
There was a slight negative to the victory with Yves Bissouma receiving a straight Red Card midway through the 2nd-half meaning the lad won’t be playing today.
Tottenham remain in 5th place with 33 points from the opening 17 games, now only a point adrift of Man City who don’t play this weekend so Ange’s Spurs can jump above Pep’s Low Flying Blues with a victory against Everton.
That said, Everton are in form at the moment with victories in the last 4 games and in 5 of their last 7.
The latest came against Burnley at Turf Moor on Saturday with goals from Amadou Onana and Michael Keane, both in the 1st-half giving Sean Dyche’s Toffees the points over his old team by a 2-0 scoreline.
The 10-point deduction still irks the Toffee faithful but those have been clawed back with Everton now sitting in 16th place with 16 points.
Harry Kane and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the goals in last season’s encounter between the two at the Chas and Dave Memorial Stadium giving the home team a victory by a 2-0 scoreline.
Harry’s goal being a converted penalty.
Antonio Conte was in charge of Tottenham with Frank Lampard being at the Everton helm, meaning both teams come into this fixture under the guidance of different Managers.
Betfred offer Tottenham at slight Odds On 4/5, the draw at 3/1 and 3/1 for Everton to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 8/5 that Richarlison Scores Anytime and 11/8 that there are Over 3.5 Goals.
Home Win 3-1- Get 11/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
LIVERPOOL v ARSENAL
17.30 in England
Sky Sports
The Premier League Fixture Compilers (PLFC) and the TV Companies, this being Sky Sports, have decided to pitch these two together in a late Saturday Afternoon contest and then send Liverpool out again on Boxing Day (26th).
Arsenal have a couple of days extra rest with Mikel Arteta’s Young Guns not playing again until the 28th.
One suspects Jurgen Klopp won’t be happy about that scenario.
A better team than Manchester United would have beaten Liverpool last Sunday, with Jurgen’s Reds gaining a point from a drab draw by a 0-0 score.
B and Q were unhappy that they were shut.
That better team is Arsenal so if Liverpool don’t improve from the game against United, Mikel’s Young Guns will get the victory.
That said, it is unlikely that Liverpool will perform as badly so don’t rule out a pre-Christmas home win to set the Anfield Rappers up for a nice festive period.
Arsenal jumped to the summit of the Premier League table following Sunday’s victory against Brighton at the Emirates.
Goals from Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz, both in the 2nd-half, gave the home team the points from a 2-0 scoreline.
Arsenal’s Champions League progression was taken care of in midweek, Mikel’s Young Guns will now face Porto in the Last-16 knockout stage which will start in February 2024.
The only other English team left, Man City, have been pitched against FC Copenhagen.
Although Liverpool had a bad 90 minutes on Sunday, this will still be a tough ask up on Merseyside.
At Anfield last season, both shared the points from a draw by a 2-2 score.
The Archbishop was happy.
It was 2 of Arsenal’s 3 Angels that scored first, those being Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus before Mo Salah pulled a goal back to halve the deficit at the interval.
Mo Salah then missed a penalty early in the 2nd-half and when it appeared that Arsenal were going to get the victory, Roberto Firmino scored the equaliser for Liverpool to give both teams a share of the points.
At the time it did put a big dent in Arsenal’s Title Challenge and blew the race for the Premier League wide open.
Betfred offer Liverpool at 5/4, the draw at 13/5 and 15/8 for Arsenal to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 6/4 that Mo Salah Scores Anytime and 15/8 that Liverpool Score in Both Halves.
Home Win 2-1- Get 15/2 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
Sunday 24th
WOLVES v CHELSEA
13.00 in England
Sky Sports
Don’t adjust one’s Telly, this fixture at Molineux is going to take place on Christmas Eve and will be the first Premier League game to take place the day before Christmas since 1995, when Manchester United faced Leeds United on the 24th.
That was the only time since the Premier League started in 1992.
Whilst this is a controversial decision that throws up all kinds of problems such as travel, staffing issues and the like, it is going to happen.
Football on Boxing Day has long been a Christmas tradition, however, back in the day, there were fixtures played on Christmas Day then the reverse would occur the day after.
For example, the last game to take place on Christmas Day saw Blackburn Rovers take on Blackpool at Ewood Park with the game ending in a victory for the home team by a 1-0 scoreline.
The day after, on Boxing Day, Blackpool hosted Blackburn Rovers at Bloomfield Rd, this time with Blackpool getting the home victory by the same 1-0 score.
Wolves suffered a defeat on Sunday at the London Stadium with West Ham gaining the home victory by a 3-0 scoreline.
After a win and a draw in the 2 previous games, maybe a loss was on the cards.
The fact that this is on Christmas Eve could throw up all kinds of connotations but Wolves, like most teams, are better at home, so a draw could be the worst that could happen.
Wolves are in 13th place with the same 19 points as Bournemouth and Brentford.
Chelsea come into this pre-Christmas affair off the back of a professional victory over Sheffield United at Stamford Bridge.
After a goalless 1st-half, Cole Palmer and Nicolas Jackson scored to give Mauricio Pochettino’s Blues the points from a 2-0 scoreline.
Chelsea remain in 10th place with 22 points from the 17 fixtures completed so far.
In last season’s affair at Molineux a single Matheus Nunes goal on the half-hour mark gave Julen Lopetegui’s Gold and Blacks the victory over Frank Lampard’s Blues by a 1-0 scoreline.
Betfred offer Wolves at 5/2, the draw at 11/4 and slight Odds On 19/20 for Chelsea to come away with all 3-points.
Betfred offer 13/5 that Hwang-Hee Chan Scores Anytime and 13/8 that Christopher Nkunku Scores Anytime.
Draw 1-1- Get 6/1 on Betfred & Claim your new account welcome offer!
The streets of Melbourne were overflowing with Rangers fans on Sunday following the Teddy Bears victory in the Scottish League Cup at Hampden Park.
When one says overflowing, it was just the loveable OzScot and Boy running around in the ‘Gers shirt with the Queen anthem playing full blast over the Sony Walkman,
‘We are the Champions of the World!’
In truth, despite the phenomenal victory over Aberdeen (who?) by a 1-0 scoreline, the game wasn’t that inspiring and the South Glasgow Wickes DIY Store was inundated with Scots, purchasing tins of paint to put on the walls.
There was a bit of conflict, however, as the Beautiful Folk of Glasgow couldn’t carry the tins of paint for all the tins of Tennants Extra they were holding.
It didn’t bother the two lads in Melbourne who were not only celebrating the superb Cup Win that will mean that Rangers qualify for the Europa League next season but also there was a Double Up with the arch-rivals Celtic suffering their 2nd defeat in a row on Saturday, this time against Hearts (who?)
The Green and White Hoops remain at the summit of the Pub League, however, are now only 5 points clear of the Blues, with Rangers now having 2 games in hand.
As for Braveheart and Lad, the two were last seen at the McDonald’s DriveThru trying to purchase breakfast but unable to as neither were in a car.
It was funny though with the loveable OzScot pretending to wind his window down.
John Newsome wants to wish everyone out there a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Thanks for taking the time to read this EveryTip column.
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