Premier League Preview: Match Week 16

It will be two struggling clubs which meet in the Manchester derby on Sunday. Manchester City has now won just one of its last 10 matches after Wednesday’ Champions League loss to Juventus. Manager Pep Guardiola’s side continues to get overrun in midfield and generates little threat from its wing positions as striker Erling Haaland forms a one-man attack. Injuries and illnesses, of course, play into the disastrous run but no relief is clearly on the horizon. Manchester United, meanwhile, could be poised for an overhaul as new manager Reuben Amorim is becoming more familiar with the many flaws of his currently 13th place Red Devils. The abrupt departure of Sporting Director Dan Ashworth must certainly relate, to some degree, to the realization of the flawed roster which Amorim has inherited. Whichever club comes out the winner at the Etihad will still have a lot of work to do.

Liverpool remains perfect in the Champions League after defeating Girona on Tuesday and has just one loss in the Premier League this season. The table leaders are at home on Saturday to face Fulham with the pesky Cottagers having lost but one of their last seven matches after defeating Brighton and drawing with Arsenal in their last two matches. Liverpool is unlikely to underestimate the Cottagers after the Reds surprisingly lost to Nottingham Forest at Anfield earlier this season. If that’s the case, the Cottagers face a rough afternoon as the Forest loss is the only time in the last 13 Anfield matches that Liverpool has not come out the victor. The Reds expect to have Alisson Becker back in goal after the keeper’s extended injury absence.

Anfield in our sights. 🔋 pic.twitter.com/fJoncV61nF

— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) December 12, 2024

Second place Chelsea is home at Stamford Bridge to face Brentford on Sunday with the Blues looking to extend their winning run in the league to five matches. Their visitors have yet to win a match on the road this season while, in true Jekyll and Hyde fashion, they are the best home side in the Premier League. Odder still is the fact that Brentford has come out with the win in all three Premier League matches it has played at Stamford Bridge. Goals should be likely. Chelsea leads the league in finding the net while Brentford are joint second.

Everton, meanwhile, is joint second in goal futility, despite an uncharacteristic four goals against Wolverhampton last weekend. Only Southampton has been less prolific in front of goal than the Toffees who have scored but 14 times in 14 matches, including last week’s outlier performance. That baseline scoring proficiency is not promising for Saturday’s visit to Arsenal. Only Liverpool has allowed fewer goals than the Gunners. The Toffee hopes will likely rest on trying to shut down the Gunner attack. Everton has posted a clean sheet in three of its last four Premier League outings.

Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are level on points just outside the top four as the two clubs prepare to face each other at the City Ground. Villa snapped a four-match losing run in away matches with a 3-2 Champions League win over a bad RB Leipzig team during the week. Their poor away form, however, could return Saturday on short rest and against a surprisingly good Forest side. The Tricky Trees’ Chris Wood is fourth in Premier League goal scoring this season, his 10 tallies being just three short of leader Erling Haaland.

Crystal Palace and Brighton resume their strange non-geographic derby on Sunday with the Eagles heading down to the seacoast to face the Seagulls. A good start to the season has now hit a rough patch as Brighton has captured just two points out of the nine offered in its last three matches. Crystal Palace, meanwhile, has begun to show some life after a somnolent start to the season. The south London side has lost just one of its last seven matches and a four-match unbeaten run has lifted the Eagles out of the relegation zone. Brighton will be trying to get its league form on track while Palace will try to break the hex which has plagued its recent meeting with the Seagulls. Crystal Palace has not won one of these encounters since  2021.

Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle both have aspirations for European qualification yet are level on points with each other just outside the top half of the table. Both clubs should have the opportunity to improve their point totals this weekend when they face newly promoted sides. Spurs could not hope for a better opponent to recover from back-to-back losses. The London side travels to Southampton on Sunday to face the Saints. Southampton is holding up the bottom  of the Premier League table with just one win to its credit this season. A loss Saturday would immeasurably increase the volume of calls for the sacking of Spurs’ Manager Ange Postecoglou. The once popular manager got into it with his own catcalling away supporters after a loss at Bournemouth two weeks ago and the Australian did not improve his standing with a derby loss to Chelsea at Tottenham Stadium last week.

Newcastle has lost only one of its last 21 matches against newly promoted sides as it prepares to face Leicester at St. James’s Park on Saturday. This marks the first away match for Leicester under new manager Ruud van Nistelrooy who has a win and a draw in his two matches in front of home supporters. The Foxes scored five goals over those two matches with Jamie Vardy scoring in both contests for the man whose record he broke for consecutive Premier League matches with a goal scored. Newcastle’s defense has been suspect at times which could present an interesting matchup with the reinvigorated Fox attack. Leicester is currently five points above the relegation zone where the other two promoted sides reside. Southampton is in the cellar.

Ipswich Town faces fellow relegation occupant Wolverhampton in a key survival battle at Wolves Molineux Stadium on Saturday. Ipswich has won just once on the road this season, a shock result at Tottenham Hotspur. Wolverhampton, however, has won just once at home amid a miserable season which might see Manager Gary O’Neil lose his job with a loss on Saturday.

West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui got a much-needed win over Wolves last week but the Hammers must travel to Bournemouth, winners of three consecutive league matches. That win streak has seen the Cherries climb the table from 13th position to their current eighth place standing. In a highly congested Premier League table, Bournemouth is just three points from fourth place Manchester City. 

Premier League Results Match Week 15: Chelsea Gives Spurs A Case Of The Blues; Merseyside Derby Postponed; No Vacation At The Cottage As Arsenal Drops Points In Derby With Fulham; Manchester City Draws At Crystal Palace; Manchester United Loses Again Under Amorim As Technical Director Ashworth Departs

Chelsea is within four points of Liverpool after the Blues triumphed 4-3 at Tottenham Hotspur while Liverpool was idled by Storm Darrah weather conditions which postponed the league leaders’ Merseyside derby with Everton. Chelsea is now bearing down on Liverpool after Manager Enzo Maresca’s side spotted Spurs two goals before launching a comeback which delivered a fourth consecutive win and extended its unbeaten run to seven matches. Cole Palmer scored twice on penalties against a habitually undisciplined Spurs side whose manager, Ange Postecoglou, once again came under fire for his wide-open tactics. Tottenham Hotspur has now won just one of its last five league matches to fall out of the top half of the table. Chelsea, meanwhile, continued its torrid scoring pace with Jadon Sancho and Enzo Fernandes also finding the net on Sunday. It was Sancho’s second goal in as many matches while Fernandes has redefined himself as an attack minded midfielder for Chelsea, scoring three goals during Chelsea’s four match winning run.

Arsenal is two points back of Chelsea after the Gunners dropped points in a 1-1 draw at Fulham. The equalizer by Arsenal’s William Saliba came by way of a corner, the means for each of Arsenal’s two goals against Manchester United the week before. The Gunners have scored from corners more than any club in Europe since the start of the 2023/24 season.

Manchester City’s celebration of its midweek win over Nottingham Forest, which ended a four-match losing run, did not last long. The Citizens drew 2-2 at Crystal Palace, dropping points for a seventh time this season. It could have been worse as the Citizens trailed twice during a match which saw Erling Haaland tie Mohamed Salah for the league scoring lead. While surely disappointed at giving back two leads, Crystal Palace still extended its unbeaten run to four matches as it tries to distance itself from the drop line after the club’s terrible start to this season.

Leicester remained a point above the 17th place Eagles as the Foxes’ new manager, Ruud van Nistelrooy remained undefeated as a Premier League manager. Van Nistelrooy was undefeated in four matches as interim Manchester United Manager and his streak continued as Leicester Manager after a Bobby De Cordova-Reid stoppage time goal gave the Foxes a 2-2 draw with Brighton. Van Nistelrooy now has a win and a draw with Leicester after winning three times and drawing once as interim manager of the Red Devils. Jamie Vardy has ironically scored in both matches for Van Nistelrooy, having broken his new manager’s Premier League record for scoring in consecutive Premier League matches back in 2015 when the Leicester legend scored in 11 straight matches.

Manchester United’s new permanent manager is not enjoying a great deal of success yet. The Red Devils dropped a second consecutive league match with a 3-2 home loss to Nottingham Forest. Though it is little fault of Amorim who just got there, Manchester United has its lowest point total after 15 matches of a league season since 1986/87. The mediocrity of the roster certainly may have played a role in the departure of Manchester United Sporting Director Dan Ashworth after just five months with the club. Patience is clearly wearing thin under the management of Sir Jim Ratcliffe and part owners INEOS. Nottingham Forest won at Old Trafford for the first time in almost thirty years as the Tricky Trees rose to seventh in the table with a second win in their last three matches.

All three of the currently relegation-bound clubs lost yet again with Wolverhampton Manager Gary O’Neil feeling the most pressure after Monday’s 2-1 loss at West Ham. Jarrod Bown scored in the 72nd minute to give Julen Lopetegui the edge in an endangered managers derby. Frustration boiled over after the match when Bowen was thrown to the pitch by  Wolverhampton player Mario Lemina during the postgame handshakes.

Bottom of the table Southampton were 1-0 losers at Aston Villa as Jhon Duran scored his first Premier League goal since September. The Saints have taken only five points this season and are currently eight points from safety in the table.

Ipswich Town, like Wolverhampton, is four points from safety after the Tractor Boys lost for a third consecutive time in 2-1 home loss to Bournemouth. A 95th minute goal by Bournemouth substitute Dango Ouattara broke the hearts of Ipswich home supporters and moved the Cherries to eighth in the table, one point ahead of deadlocked Brentford and Fulham.

The Bees stung Newcastle with four goals in a 4-2 home win at GTech Community Stadium. Brentford is somewhat shockingly the most successful home side in the Premier League this season, four points better than Liverpool with seven wins and a draw in their eight matches before home supporters. The Bees’ joint leading goal scorers, Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa, each scored their ninth goal of the Premier League season in Saturday’s victory. 

Premier League Update: Liverpool Drops Points; Manchester City Snaps Winless Run; Chelsea Is Flying; Arsenal Corners Manchester United; Van Nistelrooy Wins Leicester Debut; Cottagers Take Down Seagulls Before Derby Date With Arsenal; Goodison Park To Host Its Final Merseyside Derby; Spurs Look For A Rebound In London Derby Versus Chelsea

The drought is over for Manchester City as the Citizens scored their first win in eight matches across all competitions. The much need victory moved City back into the top four and two points closer to Liverpool which dropped points on Wednesday. Manchester City is still nine points back in the table despite the 3-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. The Tricky Trees, meanwhile, lost for a third time in four matches as their fairy tale beginning of the season is quickly turning into a pumpkin. The falling Trees scored only two goals across those four matches and have now scored five fewer goals than any other club in the top half of the table.

Liverpool, meanwhile, looked set for a fifth consecutive victory before an error by goaltender Caoimhin Kelleher led to a Newcastle equalizer in the 90th minute of a 3-3 draw at St. James’ Park. Mohamed Salah scored twice and registered an assist as reports indicate a contract offer could be shortly forthcoming for the club’s third all-time leading scorer. Salah’s second goal on Wednesday gave the Reds a lead in the 83rd minute before Kelleher misjudged a Newcastle cross which Schar easily deposited in the net.

Chelsea, meanwhile, edged past Arsenal into second place on goal differential after a 5-1 rout of Southampton. The Blues’ 31 goals lead the Premier League this season and are one more than Southampton has conceded after Wednesday’s  colossal mismatch.

This finish from Noni! 🤩#CFC | #SOUCHE pic.twitter.com/BuiYQp2M18

— Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) December 5, 2024

Arsenal handed Manchester United Manager Reuben Amorim his first Premier League defeat as the Gunners triumphed 2-0 at the Emirates. Arsenal’s’ artistry on set pieces was on display once again as defenders Jurrien Timber and William Saliba each scored goals for the Gunners off expertly place corner kicks.

Aston Villa put an end to a five-match winless run to beat Brentford decisively in a 3-1 final at Villa Park as all three of the Villans’ goals were scored in a frenetic thirteen-minute period of the first half. Brentford’s defeat left the Bees with the joint worst away record in the league this season.

Tottenham Hotspur players are also far from road warriors. Manager Ange Postecoglou was seen jawing with unhappy traveling supporters after his club lost for the ninth time in its last thirteen away matches in a 1-0 loss at Bournemouth. Tenth place Spurs have now scored just one goal and garnered one point in two matches since an encouraging 4-0 win at Manchester City two weeks ago.

Back-to-back losses over which his club has leaked eight goals to the opposition have pushed West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui closer to the door. The Hammers lost 3-1 to Leicester in Ruud van Nistelrooy’s first match on the touchline for the Foxes after the sacking of Steve Cooper. Jamie Vardy scored less than two minutes into van Nistelrooy’s debut and the Foxes trotted to a three-goal lead before a stoppage time consolation by West Ham’s Niclas Fullkrug. The victory moved the Foxes four points clear of the drop line and just two points behind the struggling Hammers who spent heavily in the summer with the expectation that Lopetegui would deliver a better return.

Crystal Palace supporters are feeling better about their club’s survival chances after Palace defeated fellow relegation candidate Ipswich Town 1-0 on a goal by JP Mateta. A return to the big Frenchman’s form of last season would be a huge boost for the Eagles who, while safe for now, are still hovering only three points above currently relegation bound Ipswich.

Everton is another club battling to stay in the league for next season and home supporters were treated to an uncharacteristic score line as the Toffees were 4-0 winners at Goodison Park over Wolves. Wolverhampton defender Craig Dawson was responsible for two of Everton’s goals as the poor bloke twice deposited the ball in his own net in the second half. Ashley Young and Orel Mangala scored for their own team, Young scoring his 50th Premier League goal to become the fourth oldest player to score a goal in the league. Wolverhampton’s league worst defense has conceded eight goals in its last two matches, 36 on the season. Chaos at the back for Manager Gary O’Neil’s club saw not just an own goal brace on Wednesday but the concession of three penalties versus Bournemouth last weekend.

Brighton conceded three goals for just the second time this season as the Seagulls were rudely treated in a 3-1 loss at Craven Cottage by Fulham. Alex Iwobi is currently on fire for the Cottagers. The former Arsenal and Everton man has scored three goals and assisted on two others in his last five appearances. Fulham are suddenly sixth in the Premier League table after winning three and drawing two of their last six matches. Ironically, Fulham’s only loss during that run has been to downtrodden Wolverhampton. The Cottager’s mettle will be tested this coming weekend when Arsenal visits the Cottage.

Elsewhere in London, Spurs and Manager Ange Postecoglou will host a derby versus high flying Chelsea while in South London, Crystal Palace will play Manchester City after both clubs got much needed wins during the week. London Stadium will be the site of a crucial match for two managers in deep trouble. Home supporters are unlikely to be kind to unpopular West Ham Manager Julen Lopetegui unless the Hammers can get off to a good start against currently relegation bound Wolverhampton. Wolves Manager Gary O’Neil has some credit in the bank for Wolves performance last season but the club’s current relegation status and deplorable play, particularly in defense, has the manager clearly on sack watch. In the north of England, Goodison Park will host its final Merseyside derby when the Toffees host archrival Liverpool. Everton is scheduled to begin playing at its new Bramley Moore Dock stadium beginning next season after calling Goodison home since 1892.