Premier League Weekend Preview – Gameweek 19
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Premier League Weekend Preview – Gameweek 19
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Premier League Preview and Betting Tips
Manchester United will look to at least maintain their four point lead over neighbours Manchester City on Boxing Day, having dropped points at Swansea in their previous fixture. Newcastle United are the visitors to Old Trafford, who though experiencing something of a mediocre season, managed to pick up three points in their previous fixture. With a busy Christmas and New Year period ahead of the home side, Sir Alex Ferguson may very well choose to make changes to the premium starting eleven that began the game at the Liberty Stadium. United will be expected to win, but still have yet to hugely impress in the Premier League for the most part this season.
Van Persie & Williams Clash
The same can be said of Manchester City, yet the two Manchester clubs look certain to fight it out directly for the Premier League title again. Having secured an injury time win against Reading, second-placed City travel to face another relegation side on Boxing Day in the shape of Sunderland. Manchester City went down by a single goal in this fixture last season, and having closed the gap at the top to four points, City will be hoping to avoid such a slip up again this time round.
Norwich’s long unbeaten run came to an end at The Hawthorns in their previous fixture, so although they are back at Carrow Road on Boxing Day, they would rather face different opposition than a Chelsea side who put eight past Villa in their previous game. It will be intriguing to see what Chelsea team begins this game, as an eight goal winning margin would seem to suggest that the same starting eleven is a certainty, yet Chelsea really started to play with vim and verve in the Villa game once Oscar came off the bench. There may also be a need to rotate a few weary legs with the likes of 34 year-old Frank Lampard having started against Villa. This could be a very interesting fixture if Norwich play at their best, but on paper Chelsea ought to have too much for them.
Tottenham can take advantage of the postponement of Arsenal’s Boxing Day fixture by usurping them in the Premier League top four. With this in mind, it is hard to say whether it is a good or bad time to be playing Aston Villa, who were walloped 8-0 by Chelsea in their previous fixture. This may quite conceivably have damaged morale at Villa Park, or alternatively it may galvanise them to give a far more determined display against Tottenham. Despite the fact few Tottenham supporters are entirely convinced by Andre Villas-Boas as of yet, Spurs are faring fairly well, and will start as slight favourites for this match. A score draw could ensure here.
Everton picked up a very valuable three points at West Ham United to climb to fifth in the table last time out. And they will look at a home fixture against Wigan as a good opportunity to cement this and reclaim their place in the top four, with Arsenal out of action on Boxing Day. Wigan certainly look like a team who will struggle to stay in the division this season, and this could just be the season in which Roberto Martinez’s luck runs out and Wigan are relegated. On the other hand, this appears to be the case virtually every season, yet Wigan somehow escape. On current form, however, they will be distinct second favourites at Goodison Park, and would probably settle for a point.
Crouch to play against old club Liverpool
Stoke and Liverpool are currently tied on points, so their game at the Britannia Stadium on Boxing Day could see either side three points ahead of the other at the end of the ninety minutes. Liverpool will certainly have their work cut out to ensure that it’s them, with Stoke still having conceded only two goals at the Britannia this season. The home side will go into the game fresh from shutting out Spurs at White Hart Lane in their previous fixture, and it’s pretty inconceivable that this will be anything other than a tight, tense, low-scoring affair.
Fulham have been experiencing something of a freefall toward the bottom of the table in recent weeks, so they will be glad to be back on home turf on Boxing Day to face a Southampton side that have lost all but one of their away fixtures in the Premier League so far this season. The Cottagers will be hoping to greatly improve on their display in the 4-0 defeat at Anfield which Martin Jol described as poor. The home side will be favourites to win, particularly if Dimitar Berbatov is at his best.
Reading must recover from the ignominy of last minute defeat at Manchester City via a dubious goal with a home match against Swansea. If the game at City offered a modicum of hope to Reading fans desperate to see the Royals avoid the drop, they really need something more concrete in the form of points pretty damned quickly. Swansea continue to impress, once playing some slick football in their 1-1 draw with leaders Manchester United.
Finally, QPR play West Brom at The Hawthorns in a match-up between two sides who would have had fairly similar expectations at the start of the season. Unfortunately for QPR, 12 places and 20 points separate the two teams, and West Brom will be fancied to take at least a point from Loftus Road.
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