Liverpool welcome Arsenal in mouthwatering Xmas tie
The latest mouthwatering item on the festive Premier League menu is a top-of-the-table showdown between Liverpool and Arsenal, who lock horns in Saturday evening’s headline encounter at Anfield.
The Gunners boast a one-point advantage over their Merseyside counterparts at this juncture, although Aston Villa are also within touching distance and are waiting to pounce on any slip-ups from their podium rivals.
Refusing to hand out any early Christmas gifts to their bitter adversaries, Manchester United set up to subject Liverpool to 90 minutes of frustration last weekend, where Jurgen Klopp‘s troops bombarded the Red Devils’ door with an incessant onslaught of attacks to no avail.
Klopp’s team reignited the blue-touch paper in Wednesday’s EFL Cup quarter-final clash with West Ham United, producing a five-star display in a 5-1 crushing to set up a semi-final showdown with Fulham.
However, after witnessing his charges drop points at home for the first time this season at the weekend, Klopp conceded that he was left disappointed by a perceived lack of Anfield atmosphere in midweek and issued a rallying cry to supporters as Liverpool endeavour to avoid going scoreless in back-to-back Premier League home games for the first time since March 2021.
With all due respect to West Ham United, facing a full-strength and well-rested Arsenal side will be a totally different proposition to a weakened Irons troupe for Liverpool, whose 11-year streak without an Anfield defeat to the Gunners will be at risk if Klopp’s rallying cry to the crowd falls on deaf ears, which it should not.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Manchester United travel away to face West Ham United
Manchester United will be aiming to build on a welcome point at Anfield last weekend when they resume their Premier League campaign away to West Ham United on Saturday afternoon.
Erik ten Hag‘s side drew 0-0 with Liverpool in their last match, with the result leaving them in seventh spot in the table on 28 points, while West Ham will enter this game off the back of a 5-1 defeat to Jurgen Klopp‘s side in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup on Wednesday night.
West Ham’s inconsistency has been on display in December, winning three, drawing one and losing two of their six games this month, and their two defeats have been heavy ones – a 5-0 at Fulham in the Premier League and a 5-1 at Liverpool in the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.
Head coach David Moyes made the decision to rest some important players against Liverpool, and a hugely disappointing performance saw the Hammers bow out of the League Cup.
Man United, meanwhile, have not been in action since the 0-0 with Liverpool in the league last weekend, which was a positive result considering the noise surrounding the club entering the contest.
There has not actually been a draw between these two sides since July 2020, with each of their last nine meetings producing a winner. West Ham’s league form is strong, though, and both managers might have to accept a share of the spoils in the capital this weekend.
Man United are out of the EFL Cup and Champions League, while they did not even qualify for the latter stages of the Europa League, with a poor group-stage campaign in the European Cup seeing them finish bottom.
Ten Hag’s team will follow this match with a home game against high-flying Aston Villa on December 26, before finishing the year away to Nottingham Forest, so it is a big period of the season for the club.
Credit: sportsmole.co.uk
Premier League Previews & Fixtures
FRIDAY 22ND DECEMBER
Aston Villa20:00Sheffield United
SATURDAY 23RD DECEMBER
West Ham United12:30Manchester United
Fulham15:00Burnley
Luton Town15:00Newcastle United
Nottingham Forest15:00AFC Bournemouth
Tottenham Hotspur15:00Everton
Liverpool17:30Arsenal
SUNDAY 24TH DECEMBER
Wolverhampton Wanderers13:00Chelsea
