Premier League Predictions: Gameweek 18

While Europeans will be forced to discuss political issues and answer uncomfortable questions about their love lives on Boxing Day, English football fans will once again be treated to a Premier League feast.

There are eight Premier League games coming your way this Boxing Day and two more gracing our screens on Friday night.

The schedule is packed in the lead up to the new year with the game weeks hard to tell as we enter that strange point in the calendar when the days merge into one great joy.

Here's how 90 min PROJECTS Premier League The 18th week will take place.

Champions just can't catch a break, can they? The poor senior citizens will train on Christmas Day before Boxing Day kicks off.

Manchester City have won just one of their previous 12 games in all competitions and have dropped to seventh in the table. Given how one-sided and predictable their offense has looked in recent weeks, Thursday's home clash for Evertonwho have shut out Arsenal and Chelsea in back-to-back games, looks a tricky game on paper.

It's certainly not likely to be the best you want to enjoy to kick off the day's action.

Chelsea lost ground to Liverpool at the top of the table after drawing at Goodison Park on Sunday, so they will be eager to get back to winning ways at the first attempt when they face off. Fulham in the London Derby in the not-so-wild west. The leader of the league Liverpool were at their incredible best at Tottenham last time out and hold a four-point lead at the summit with a game in hand. They are finishing Boxing Day at home to fight Leicester.

Newcastle vs. Aston Villa the highlight of the day appears at 3pm with both teams going into the race with the wind in their sails. These two clubs have embarked on similar trajectories in recent years, and this game could be crucial in determining which team makes a push for the top four during the second half of the season. Newcastle will leapfrog their opponents in the table with another win at St James' Park.

Bournemouth AND Nottingham Forest enter Boxing Day as two of the form teams in the division, and they are both at home having enjoyed the festivities. WHEREAS Bournemouth face a Crystal Palace the team thwarted by Arsenal last week, Forest face a besieged Tottenham team that is desperate to enter the new year.

Southampton offered sharp pragmatism in their deadlock in the Fulham on Sunday, and it will be interesting to see what Ivan Juric will serve up in his managerial bow. The loss for West Ham at St Mary's would pile the pressure on the already under fire Julen Lopetegui.

Vitor Pereira's mandate in Wolves got off to a great start and the new manager will see this as a great time to be in charge Manchester United. Ruben Amorim has a seismic job on his hands and is unlikely to get immediate relief after the Red Devils were beaten by Bournemouth at the weekend. These two teams played a classic at Molineux last season.

It's a less hectic Friday night football, and the overlap is a little annoying. Just hit the Brighton game at six, lads.

However, the Seagulls could do with a win here as they face one Brentford the team who are yet to win a Premier League game away from home this season. The Bees have also lost their previous three in all competitions with Thomas Frank managing a long injury list.

Brighton have endured a miserable December, mind. Their last home win came on November 9 against Premier League boys Man City.

The game week ends in north London as one Arsenal side mourning the loss of Bukayo Saka to a torn thigh faces the new graduates Ipswich Town. The Tractor Boys have won just two league games this season, both away from home and one in North London.

Despite the loss of Saka, the Gunners remain in the title discussion and are expected to end 2024 with three points on home soil.

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