Liverpool host  Tottenham in top-of–the-table clash

Christmas will come early for Premier League fans when the champions host the leaders in a mouth-watering midweek showdown as Liverpool welcome Tottenham Hotspur to Anfield on Wednesday night.

The two sides are separated by only goal difference heading into the contest, but both will be looking to bounce back from underwhelming 1-1 draws at the weekend.

The scene could hardly be set more enticingly for this Christmas cracker of a fixture as the league’s top two sides go head to head under the Anfield lights while level on points.

Liverpool and Spurs have an identical record of seven wins, four draws and one defeat so far this season, and also have identical form of two home wins and two away draws from their last four league games.

Wednesday’s contest also pits the league’s best attack against the league’s best defence, and the best home form against one of the best away records in the division this season.

There are plenty of perfectly-poised elements to this game, then, but despite being so well matched in so many areas, it is Liverpool who will go into it as favourites due largely to their home form.

Mourinho has never won in five previous away meetings with Klopp, which is his worst such record against any manager in his career.

Whether he can end that hoodoo – and Tottenham can end their poor recent record against Liverpool – remains to be seen, but it is a very finely poised encounter which could prove to be pivotal at the end of the season.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

 

Arsenal to salvage pride against high-flying Southampton

Out-of-form Arsenal will be looking to ease the pressure on under-fire manager Mikel Arteta when they welcome high-flying Southampton to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.

The Gunners go into their 13th match of the campaign sitting 15th in the table, just five points above the relegation zone, whereas Southampton climbed into the top four with a comfortable victory over Sheffield United at the weekend.

In what has been one of the most unpredictable Premier League seasons ever, these two teams perhaps best typify the narrative of big clubs underperforming and underdogs punching above their weight.

For Arsenal, the picture looks more and more bleak with each passing week, whereas hopes of a successful campaign for Southampton seem to grow almost every time they take to the field

It is easy to see why the pressure is mounting on the shoulders of Arteta, then, and another defeat in midweek would only increase those calls for him to be sacked just short of his one-year anniversary of taking over.

Things will not get any easier for them against Southampton either, although in terms of the history of this fixture the Saints could actually be ideal opponents for the misfiring Gunners.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

 

Leicester welcome Everton to the King Power Stadium

Leicester City welcome Everton to the King Power Stadium on Wednesday evening sitting just one point adrift of Premier League leaders Tottenham Hotspur.

However, the Toffees remain just four points adrift of their hosts after recording an impressive 1-0 victory over Chelsea at the weekend.

Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers would have naturally had concerns over whether his squad were beginning to falter after a hectic schedule.

Three wins in eight days have been enough to end such worries for the Foxes boss, who witnessed Leicester blow away Brighton with a ruthless first-half showing at the weekend.

While the efforts of James Maddison and Jamie Vardy got the job done for Leicester, Rodgers would have been equally satisfied with a first league clean sheet since before the November international break.

Everton were the early pacesetters during the opening weeks of the season, Carlo Ancelotti‘s side soon wilted once other teams had gotten up to speed.

However, the Toffees are now back on track, their 1-0 triumph at home to Chelsea on Saturday evening improving their recent return to seven points from four matches.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

 

Barcelona, Real Sociedad in mouthwatering showdown

A mouthwatering showdown between two giants of the Spanish game takes place at Camp Nou on Wednesday evening as Barcelona play host to Real Sociedad.

Barcelona’s narrow victory over Levante was not pretty by any stretch, but it was a win. Ronald Koeman‘s men desperately needed the three points and they got just that, with the Blaugrana boss indebted to his talisman once again.

Koeman’s men will be determined to kickstart a run of wins following their recent success over Levante, with Barcelona currently eighth in the table – five points off the top four as things stand.

Sociedad are becoming renowned for their stalemates in recent weeks, with the league leaders drawing their sixth game in a row in all competitions with a 1-1 against Eibar.

For now, though, Sociedad will simply be thinking of ways to stop Barcelona in their tracks and remain on their perch by the close of play this week, with Wednesday’s visitors winless against La Blaugrana since the 2015-16 campaign.

Credit: sportsmole.co.uk

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