The Boxing Day action gets underway at Wembley this afternoon where Harry Kane will have his eyes on making Alan Shearer’s record his own. Kane currently sits level with Shearer on 36 Premier League goals scored in a calendar year with a visit of Southampton ahead of him today. Southampton will be without Charlie Austin so Pochettino will be hoping that Spurs can follow up on their excellent win at Burnley with a win today.
Both Bournemouth and West Ham suffered defeats on Saturday leaving them in the relegation zone. Today’s clash is a classic relegation six-pointer with Bournemouth desperate for a win to turn their form around. West Ham have improved under David Moyes, but a loss on the South Coast would see the momentum gained in recent weeks all but forgotten.
Chelsea will have had to accept that they will be handing over their crown in the coming months and find themselves in a scrap for the Champions League places. Five points separate them in 3rd and Arsenal in 5th. They welcome Brighton to Stamford Bridge today who sit 12th, five points above the relegation zone. Chris Hughton will be looking for a solid finish to the festive period.
Stoke City might have put talk of Mark Hughes getting the sack on the back burner following their fine 3-1 win over West Bromwich Albion, but if they slip at Huddersfield it could be back on the agenda with immediate effect. Huddersfield Town are riding high in 11th place and will have this game earmarked as one to attack.
Jose Mourinho labelled his players as “childish” as they conceded an injury-time equaliser to Leicester City on Saturday. United entertain Burnley this afternoon looking to close the gap at the top of the league to ten points, albeit it for 24 hours. Burnley will be hoping to recover from their loss to Tottenham at a ground where they usually put up a fair bit resistance.
Watford currently sit bottom of the form table without a win since Marco Silva didn’t get the Everton job. Leicester City are the visitors and will be looking to carry on where they left off against Manchester United.
West Bromwich Albion are still looking for their first win under Alan Pardew and are up against a rejuvenated Everton side, unbeaten under Sam Allardyce.
Leon Britton stays in temporary charge of Swansea City as they head to Anfield to play Liverpool. With Liverpool’s defensive worries well documented, Britton will be hoping to find a way of Swansea scoring a rare goal.
Manchester City travel to Newcastle United tomorrow and Crystal Palace play Arsenal on Thursday evening.