Rejuvenated Liverpool travel away to face Tottenham
A rejuvenated Liverpool and a regressing Tottenham Hotspur side collide in Saturday evening’s Premier League main event at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The reigning champions endeavour to extend their unbeaten run to a pleasing six games in all competitions, whereas the Lilywhites risk a record-setting home defeat in their final pre-Christmas fixture.
Just when Tottenham appeared to have turned a corner under Thomas Frank, who had overseen a sterling comeback draw with Newcastle United before dominant home wins over Brentford and Slavia Prague, catastrophe struck at the City Ground.
As the hosts languish in the bottom half of the Premier League table, speculation over Frank’s future has inevitably been heating up, but he is believed to retain the board’s backing for the time being.
Nevertheless, there are understood to be some internal concerns about the Dane, who could be part of unwanted Spurs history this weekend; if the North London outfit lose, they would have suffered 11 Premier League home defeats in 2025, their most ever in a single calendar year.
The seventh-placed Reds could now crash the top four if results go their way this weekend.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Everton welcome Leaders Arsenal to the Hill Dickinson Stadium
Ex-Everton midfielder Mikel Arteta visits the Toffees’ new home for the first time on Saturday night, when his Arsenal side head to the Hill Dickinson Stadium in the Premier League.
The Gunners somehow got the better of doomed Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend, while David Moyes‘s men were no match for Club World Cup winners Chelsea.
Perhaps feeling the effects of the unrelenting winter schedule, a formerly resolute Arsenal side have kept just one clean sheet in their last six Premier League games, and they head north having conceded the first goal in each of their last three top-flight away matches.
Victory will at least guarantee their position at the top of the table on Christmas Day, but that has historically been a bad omen for the visitors – in each of the four Premier League seasons where they have been first on December 25, they failed to win the title.
Festive cheer is not in short supply on the blue half of Merseyside either, as if results go Everton’s way this weekend, there is the smallest chance that Moyes’s men could break into the top five of the rankings.
Everton held Arsenal to two draws last season, though, and they have only lost one of their last seven Premier League home matches against the Gunners, although the Goodison Park factor no longer applies.
With a full week’s preparation under their belts and the pressure to respond to last weekend’s near-disaster, Arteta’s men should make light work of their depleted hosts.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Valencia and Mallorca lock horns today
Both entering the match off the back of contrasting results in the Copa del Rey, Valencia and Mallorca will be looking to claim all three points in La Liga when the pair lock horns on Friday night.
Los Che are currently 17th in the La Liga table, level on points with 18th-placed Girona, while the home side have also found it tough this term, sitting in 14th spot in the division.
Valencia have a record of three wins, six draws and seven defeats from their 16 La Liga matches this season, with 15 points leaving them down in 17th spot in the table, level on points with 18th-placed Girona on the same number of fixtures.
Los Che have struggled at both ends of the field this season, only netting 15 times in La Liga, while they have conceded 25, which is the third-worst defensive record in the division.
Carlos Corberan‘s side, who finished 12th in La Liga last season, suffered a 2-1 defeat to Atletico Madrid last weekend, which actually proved to be their first loss in Spain’s top flight since the start of November.
Valencia did manage to return to winning ways on Tuesday, though, beating Sporting Gijon 2-0 in the Copa del Rey to secure a spot in the round of 16.
This is a really tough match to predict, as cases can be made for both to pick up all three points, but there is not an awful lot between the teams in terms of quality, and we can see the points being shared in a low-scoring draw.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Bournemouth host Burnley at the Vitality Stadium
Bournemouth’s quest to end their seven-game winless run in the Premier League continues when they host Burnley at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday, December 20.
The Cherries are desperate to rediscover the form that had them second in the league table at the end of October, while the visitors will want to avoid equalling a top-flight club record that has stood for over 130 years.
After Bournemouth saw off Nottingham Forest at the end of October, the club were the closest challengers to Arsenal for the league title.
However, they have not won a single league match since then, losing four and drawing three, which has seen them slide all the way down to 13th ahead of this round.
The hosts did the double against Burnley in the 2023-24 league campaign, and they look set to end their winless run against the relegation-threatened team.
Burnley boss Scott Parker was treated to a tune of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’, after his side slumped to a 3-2 defeat away to Fulham last weekend.
Like Bournemouth, things were looking promising for the newly-promoted side in the early knockings of the league campaign, but that has unravelled quite quickly.
Seven league defeats in a row have sent the Clarets down to 19th place, four points away from safety, and with no respite in sight.
It would require a small miracle for the visitors to resume the form that saw them win four head-to-heads in a row between 2018 and 2020.
The Cherries are primed to make it count, especially since they have the talent of Semenyo available to them this weekend.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Saturday
Newcastle United 12:30 Chelsea
Manchester City 15:00 West Ham United
Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00 Brentford
Tottenham Hotspur 17:30 Liverpool
Leeds United 20:00 Crystal Palace
Sunday
Aston Villa 16:30 Manchester United
Saturday
Real Oviedo 13:00 Celta Vigo kick off
Levante 15:15 Real Sociedad
Osasuna 17:30 Alavés
Real Madrid 20:00 Sevilla
Sunday
Girona 13:00 Atletico Madrid
Villarreal 15:15 Barcelona
Elche 17:30 Rayo Vallecano
Real Betis 20:00 Getafe
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