Xmas Premier League

THE PREMIER LEAGUE won't be won or lost over the Christmas period but it sure can make a difference to both ends of the Premiership Table.

Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal will jostle for early 2010 ascendancy. Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham will be bumping shoulders for the vital Champions League spots. And at the other end of the table Pompey, West Ham and all the teams up to Wolves in 12th position will be praying at the Christmas table for extremely rare and valuable points.

By why do managers, players and fans bemoan and rejoice in the Christmas and New Year schedule? Well for one thing it is an exciting and festive period but on the other hand it is a gruelling psychological and physically demanding time. The smaller squads such as Aston Villa and Portsmouth will be stretched by the tough schedule of back to back games.

Saturday, December 26, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 26 12:45 UK	Birmingham	v	Chelsea	St Andrews Stadium
Dec 26 13:00 UK	Fulham	v	Tottenham Hotspur	Craven Cottage
Dec 26 13:00 UK	West Ham United	v	Portsmouth	Upton Park
Dec 26 14:00 UK	Burnley	v	Bolton Wanderers	Turf Moor
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Manchester City	v	Stoke City	City of Manchester Stadium
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Sunderland	v	Everton	Stadium of Light
Dec 26 15:00 UK	Wigan Athletic	v	Blackburn Rovers	DW Stadium
Dec 26 17:30 UK	Liverpool	v	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Anfield

Sunday, December 27, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 27 13:30 UK	Arsenal	v	Aston Villa	Emirates Stadium
Dec 27 16:00 UK	Hull City	v	Manchester United	Kingston Communications Stadium

Monday, December 28, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 28 12:45 UK	Tottenham Hotspur	v	West Ham United	White Hart Lane
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Blackburn Rovers	v	Sunderland	Ewood Park
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Chelsea	v	Fulham	Stamford Bridge
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Everton	v	Burnley	Goodison Park
Dec 28 15:00 UK	Stoke City	v	Birmingham	Britannia Stadium
Dec 28 19:45 UK	Wolverhampton Wanderers	v	Manchester City	Molineux Stadium

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 29 19:45 UK	Aston Villa	v	Liverpool	Villa Park
Dec 29 20:00 UK	Bolton Wanderers	v	Hull City	Reebok Stadium

Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Time	Home		Away	VENUE
Dec 30 19:45 UK	Portsmouth	v	Arsenal	Fratton Park
Dec 30 20:00 UK	Manchester United	v	Wigan Athletic	Old Trafford

My prediction; top seven at and around Christmas:
1. Chelsea 46-48 points
2. Man United 41-43 points
3. Arsenal 36-38 points
4. Aston Villa 33-35 points
5. Man City 32-34 points
6. Tottenham 31-33 points
7.Liverpool 28-30 points

REFERENCE 

http://www.foxsports.com.au/

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/

Have a great and safe Xmas! AND GO VILLA!