It’s Boxing Day. It’s football day! Get ready, this will be quite a ride.
December 26th is, and forever will be, football day. The Premier League lines up eight games, and even though there’s no big clashes, there are tons of interesting matchups. What’s most amazing is that this already is must win football games for Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham. Cause if you don’t start collecting 3 points in a hurry… Manchester City will not be caught.
- We talked about the Boxing Day games on ValueLive:
Tottenham vs Southampton
Wembley Stadium – Boxing Day, 13:30 CEST
Referee: Graham Scott
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Tottenham | Southampton |
| Lloris Trippier – Sanchez – Vertonghen – Rose Dier – Sissoko Eriksen – Alli – Son Kane |
Forster Stephens – Hoedt – Yoshida – Targett Lemina – Romeu Tadic – Davis – Redmond Gabbiadini |
Harry Kane finally gave his Fantasy owners something to cheer for with his hat-trick on the 23rd. He’ll be up against a Southampton team without a win on their last five games, and even though Tottenham is at home (such a weird thing to say), they should have no issues beating Soton. Charlie Austin has been in form for the away team, but he serves a suspension after kicking Jonas Lössl in the face.
Prediction:
Tottenham 3 – 1 Southampton
Goal: Kane X2, Alli, Tadic.
Bournemouth vs West Ham
Vitality Stadium – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Robert Madley
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Bournemouth | West Ham |
| Begovic Smith – Francis – S. Cook – Ake Ibe – Cook – Surman – Frasier Afobe Wilson |
Adrian Reid – Ogbonna – Cresswell Zabaleta – Kouyate – Obiang – Masuaku Antonio – Lanzini Arnautovic |
Still no Norwegian goal scorer, nor Jermain Defoe, for Bournemouth, but both Wilson, Afobe – and Ibe are capable of finding the net. West Ham wasn’t able to beat Newcastle last week, and the David Moyes project is already looking like a failure. What is really interesting about this game though, is that Bournemouth has netted a hat-trick in both of their wins over West Ham in the Premier League. Josh King in 2017, and Callum Wilson in 2015. Maybe this is Wilson’s game.
Prediction:
Bournemouth 2 – 1 West Ham
Goal: Arnautovic, Wilson X2
Chelsea vs Brighton
Stamford Bridge – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Mike Dean
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Chelsea | Brighton |
| Courtois Azpilicueta – Christensen – Cahill Moses – Drinkw. – Fabr. – Kanté – Alonso Hazard Morata |
Ryan Bruno – Duffy – Dunk – Bong Schelotto – Stephens – Pröpper – Izquierdo Gross Murray |
This will be the first meeting between these two teams since 1989, and Chelsea won the last four before that. Brightons only win against Chelsea was in … 1933. This is the first time they meat in the top tier. Morata is expected back on top for the home team, and that should be enough for them to keep the winning streak alive.
Prediction:
Chelsea 1 – 0 Brighton
Goal: Morata
Huddersfield vs Stoke
John Smith’s Stadium – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Anthony Taylor
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Huddersfield | Stoke |
| Lössl Smith – Schindler – Zanka – Lowe Hogg – Mooy Quaner – Ince – Van La Parra Mounie |
Butland Edwards – Shawcross – Zouma – Wimmer Cameron – Fletcher Shaqiri – Allen – Choupo-Moting Crouch |
Not the prettiest game of the day, but Huddersfield and Stoke can both do some damage. Huddersfield is actually unbeaten against Stoke in the last five meeting between the two, even though the last time they met were in 2001. Lössl is expected to play with his broken nose, and Stoke isn’t expecting to do any changes to their team.
Prediction:
Huddersfield 1 – 1 Stoke
Goal: Mounie, Choupo-Moting
Man Utd vs Burnley
Old Trafford – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Martin Atkinson
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Man Utd | Burnley |
| De Gea Lindelöf – Jones – Rojo – Young Pogba – Matic Mata – Lingard – Rashford Lukaku |
Pope Lowton – Mee – Long – Taylor Gudmundsson – Defour – Cork – Arfield Hendrick Barnes |
Manchester United can’t afford to lose another game. No, really, they just can’t. Manchester City looks invincible, and if United wants to stay in the title race, only 3 points is good enough at home vs Burnley. Burnley was man-handled by Tottenham, and Jose Mourinho will look to copy his colleagues methods. It’s a copy-cat league.
Prediction:
Man Utd 2 – 0 Burnley
Goal: Lukaku, Pogba
Watford vs Leicester
Vicarage Road – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Chris Kavanagh
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Watford | Leicester |
| Gomes Janmaat – Kabasele – Prödl – Zeegelaar Cleverley – Doucoure Carrillo – Pereyra – Richarlison Gray |
Schmeichel Simpson – Maguire – Morgan – Chilwell Mahrez – Iborra – Ndidi – Albrighton Okazaki Vardy |
Leicester was able to steal a point from Manchester United on the 23rd, and their self esteem is high going into this game against Watford. Mahrez and Vardy is looking like the 2015 version of Mahrez and Vardy, and the home team has a lot of injuries and suspensions.
Prediction:
Watford 0 – 3 Leicester
Goal: Vardy x2, Gray
West Brom vs Everton
The Hawthorns – Boxing Day, 16:00 CEST
Referee: Roger East
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| West Brom | Everton |
| Foster Nyom – Hegazi – Evans – Gibbs Livermore – Barry – Brunt Robson-Kanu – Rondon – Rodriguez |
Pickford Kenny – Holgate – Williams – Martina Schneiderlin Lennon – Davies – Rooney – Sigurdsson Calvert-Lewin |
Everton suddenly looks like a good fotball team again. They managed to get a draw against Chelsea, but this week the roles has turned. West Brom will be clinging to that one point, while Everton must attack. Rooney should be back from his illness, but is that enough to break through Tony Pulis’ wall? The Baggies has lost their last three home games vs Everton…
Prediction:
West Brom 1 – 1 Everton
Goal: Rondon, Calvert-Lewin
Liverpool vs Swansea
Anfield – Boxing Day, 18:30 CEST
Referee: Kevin Friend
| Expected line-ups: | |
|---|---|
| Liverpool | Swansea |
| Mignolet Trent – Lovren – Klavan – Robertson Ox – Milner – Wijnaldum Salah – Solanke – Coutinho |
Fabianski Rangel – Fernandez – Mawson – Olsson Mesa Dyer – Clucas – Carroll – Ayew Abraham |
I think Klopp is thinking about resting some players for this match. Solanke will most likely get a start, and Oxlade-Chamberlain deserves a spot in the starting eleven as well. Swansea is the worst team in the league, and I can’t imagine them being able to stop Salah and/or Coutinho. Good luck Fabianski.
Prediction:
Liverpool 4 – 1 Swansea
Goal: Salah X3, Milner, Ayew
WRITTEN BY MATTIS HOLT, SPORTS WRITER AND VALUELIVE SHOW HOST
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