Just like the snow that fell across the country this past weekend, festive football in the UK is coming in thick and fast as we approach the halfway mark in English Premier League title race. There is another full complement of midweek fixtures for fans to feast on, including two mouth-watering London derbies.
Full midweek Premier League fixtures:
Tuesday, December 12th
Burnley vs Stoke City
Chelsea vs Huddersfield
Crystal Palace vs Watford
Wednesday, December 13th
Southampton vs Leicester
Newcastle vs Everton
Swansea vs Man City
Tottenham vs Brighton
Man United vs Bournemouth
Liverpool vs West Brom
West Ham vs Arsenal
Defending Champions Chelsea missed a golden opportunity to eliminate the gap between themselves and second-placed Man United when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat against West Ham United at the London Stadium. Standing in their way on Tuesday will be Huddersfield, who ended a four-game losing run at the weekend by beating fellow top-flight newbies Brighton 2-0. The Terriers famously shocked the Blues at Stamford Bridge in the third round of the League Cup in 1999 when they came away from the capital with a 1-0 win.
Claude Puel will come up against his former employers on Wednesday when his Foxes outfit make their way down the coast to face Southampton. The corresponding fixture last season ended in a 3-0 victory to the home side after a goalless stalemate at the King Power Stadium in October 2016. The Saints, however have won just six of their 22 Premier League meetings against Leicester City dating back to the 1994/1995 season.
Following their impressive outing at Old Trafford, runaway league leaders Manchester City ensured that, with their 11-point lead over neighbours Manchester United and just three games to play before Boxing Day, it will be a merry Christmas indeed for Pep Guardiola and his team. Swansea squashed an eight-game winless run with their 1-0 victory over West Brom and could prove a stumbling block to the Citizens who have won eight of the last 10 league matches between them. The Swans last victory over City came in March 2012 when Luke Moore secured a 1-0 win in their first ever Premier League meeting at the Liberty Stadium.
Jose Mourinho will need to bounce back to winning ways as soon as possible if they are to have any hope of keeping any sort of pressure on their noisy neighbours starting with the visit of Bournemouth on Wednesday. The Cherries won their first-ever Premier League clash against the Red Devils in December 2015 but have only picked up a solitary point in the three games since. That came in the fiery 1-1 draw at the Theatre of Dreams last season which will be remembered for the feud between United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings.
Liverpool will be licking their wounds and wondering how they didn’t come away with all three points against a lacklustre Everton side in the Merseyside derby on Sunday but will have to drag back their tails from between their legs and go again if they are to hang on to their top-four spot. Wednesday’s opponents West Bromwich Albion are winless in 14 in the league since they beat Burnley back in August and have won just one of their previous 10 meetings with the Reds in all competitions. Gareth McAuley and Romelu Lukaku were on target the last time the Baggies beat Liverpool in February 2013.
David Moyes picked up his first win as Hammers boss when he beat the Blues on Saturday and now welcome the Gunners to their famous stomping ground on Wednesday looking to add another scalp to their list of growing achievements at their new home. They will first need to erase the bad memories of last season when they were humbled 5-1 at the London Stadium by Arsenal on a day when Alexis Sanchez netted a stunning hat-trick. West Ham have won just once in the last 18 previous attempts against Arsene Wenger’s side in the league since notching up three in a row over them between February 2006 and April 2007.