Liverpool, leader of the Premier, will receive a needy Leicester
Arsenal will close Friday at home against Ipswich on matchday 18
MADRID, 25 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The traditional ‘Boxing Day’ in the Premier League will begin this Thursday (1:30 p.m.) with the match between Manchester City and Everton FC, during a St. Stephen’s Day that will feature Chelsea FC vs. Fulham FC (4:00 p.m.) and Liverpool FC vs. Leicester City (9:00 p.m.) as other notable duels, while this matchday 18 will end next Friday with Arsenal FC hosting Ipswich Town (9:15 p.m.) and chasing the lead.
The Etihad Stadium will open its doors on a designated date in the English calendar, but with bitterness due to the unprecedented crisis of the team led by Pep Guardiola. From Halloween to Christmas, the ‘citizens’ have been the protagonist of one of the most notorious declines in recent times in European football, especially for a club of such size.
A single victory, two draws and nine defeats have been their baggage in the 12 most recent games. Already eliminated from the Carabao Cup, with a difficult future in the Champions League and 12 points below the leader Liverpool in the Premier, even with one more game than the ‘reds’, Manchester City hopes for a speedy recovery and a smile in 2025.
Currently located outside the European positions, Guardiola’s pupils have 27 points from a rare seventh place for their status as a giant achieved through money and titles in the last decade and a half. Their next rival will be a gray Everton this season, with 16 points and close to the relegation zone, although also with a game still pending.
The needy Leicester is somewhat worse, with 14 points delimiting the last place of salvation, but mired in a bad streak and having to visit Anfield. The ‘foxes’ have only won one of their last seven games and will now face the league leader, a Liverpool that has not lost in any competition since last September 14.
The Reds, with 39 points after having played 16 Premier games, distanced themselves from second place last weekend, as Liverpool’s victory in their visit to Tottenham Hotspur was combined with Chelsea’s goalless draw at Goodison Park . So the ‘blues’ will urgently face the most traditional derby in West London.
In their stadium, Enzo Maresca’s pupils have the opportunity to extend their splendid streak of results. Until that recent 0-0 at Everton’s home, they had won eight in a row in all competitions, reaching second place in the Premier League where they have 35 points ahead of title candidates like Arsenal (33 pts.).
Specifically, the Gunners will close this Boxing Day match for the second consecutive year, in their case for Friday’s round of matches. At the Emirates Stadium, the team coached by the Spanish Mikel Arteta will receive Ipswich, which is second to last in the table with 12 points and will watch what Wolverhampton Wanderers does the day before.
Thus, the ‘wolves’ will receive the other Manchester club, a United that has 22 points and on whose bench the Portuguese Rúben Amorim improves little on the time of the Dutchman Erik ten Hag. The executioner of the ‘red devils’ last Sunday was Bournemouth (5th, 28 pts), who on this day will open their home to face Crystal Palace (16th, 16 pts.).
–PROGRAM FOR DAY 18 IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.
-Thursday, December 26.
Manchester City – Everton.
Bournemouth – Crystal Palace.
Chelsea – Fulham.
Newcastle – Aston Villa.
Nottingham Forest – Tottenham.
Southampton – West Ham.
Wolverhampton – Manchester United.
Liverpool – Leicester.
-Friday the 27th.
Brighton – Brentford.
Arsenal – Ipswich.