December is here. With it comes midweek Premier League matches. We haven’t really had the opportunity to dissect what was an interesting Matchday 13 and yet here we are looking ahead to Matchday 14. But there’s a lot to look forward to. So, let’s get to it.
By Sam McGuire
A bottom of the table clash
On Tuesday evening, two of the bottom four face off as Ipswich Town welcome Crystal Palace to Portman Road.
Both teams on nine points and have won just one game each this term.
Crystal Palace claimed a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Saturday with a 94th minute equaliser. Oliver Glasner’s side are winless in four though, having drawn three and lost one. Their last win arrived in October.
Ipswich Town had been on a three match unbeaten run in the Premier League prior to their trip to Nottingham Forest on Saturday. The Tractor Boys had their good form halted as Kieran McKenna‘s side lost 1-0 to a Chris Wood penalty.
Both sides will be desperate for the win on Tuesday evening. Both sides are in dire need of a win if we’re being honest. A draw doesn’t help either team.
Another six-pointer
On Wednesday, Everton host Wolves in what has the potential to be a huge match for both teams. It is another bottle of the table clash, a real six-pointer.
Everton were humbled by Manchester United on Sunday with Rúben Amorim‘s side running out 4-0 winners against the Toffees.
Sean Dyche‘s men have just two wins in their last 10 and are winless in five. Everton are currently on 11 points, two clear of the drop zone, but defeat here would see them leapfrogged by their opponents.
The Toffees lost a six pointer recently against Southampton. They can’t afford to lose another this week.
Wolves will arrive on Merseyside confident of getting a result. This may come as a surprise to some, considering they lost 4-2 last time out against Bournemouth, but they had been on a good run of form prior to that.
Gary O’Neil‘s side had been on a four match unbeaten run recently. Before the heavy defeat to the Cherries, their last defeat was mid-October. They are back in the relegation zone but they’re scoring goals – a key factor when trying to beat the drop.
The in-form pairing of Matheus Cunha and Jørgen Strand Larsen could cause the hosts some big problems this week.
Old rivals reunited
Arsenal are joint second in the Premier League following their 5-2 win over West Ham.
They have now scored 10 goals across their last two games and 13 in their last three. The return of Martin Ødegaard has them firing.
Only Spurs (28) have more goals than Arsenal (26). Bukayo Saka, meanwhile, is in red-hot form having racked up 10 assists and five goals in the Premier League this term. He was the star of the show against the Hammers on Saturday, registering two assists and a goal as the Gunners jumped ahead of reigning champions Manchester City in the Premier League table.
Mikel Arteta‘s side are in good form but they’ll be tested on Wednesday as they welcome Manchester United to the Emirates.
United are surprisingly on a seven match unbeaten run. They have won successive games under Rúben Amorim and the new era really kicked off on Sunday with a 4-0 win over Everton.
The tweaks worked for the Portuguese tactician
Amad Diallo, for example, grabbed two assists. Bruno Fernandes also claimed two assists while both Marcus Rashford and Joshua Zirkzee both scored twice. Things are clicking and they’ll be dangerous. A performance here against the title hopefuls would see a lot of people sit up and take notice of Amorim and this United team.
Villa in a rut
Aston Villa, earlier in the campaign, looked like title contenders. Now though, they’re eight games without a win across all competitions. Their last win in the Premier League was mid-October and they suffered a heavy 3-0 defeat to Chelsea last time out.
They now find themselves in 12th position and questions are now being asked of Unai Emery.
Brentford, meanwhile, have turned things around.
Thomas Frank‘s side have four wins in seven and now find themselves in eighth position in the English top-flight.
The Bees have scored three or more in each of those wins and four or more in three of those matches. Yoane Wissa and Bryan Mbeumo are both on eight goals, proving once and for all that the club have replaced Ivan Toney and moved on from the England international.
Brentford have scored the second highest number of goals (26) in the Premier League this season with Spurs being the only team to have found the back of the net with greater regularity (28).
It would be a busy night for the Villa defence.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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