2025/26				Overall									Home						Away
				P	W	D	L	F	A	Gdf	Pts	Form	P	W	D	L	F	A	P	W	D	L	F	A
	1		Arsenal	20	15	3	2	40	14	+26	48	WWWW	10	9	1	0	26	5	10	6	2	2	14	9
	2		Manchester City	20	13	3	4	44	18	+26	42	XOWW	10	8	1	1	26	7	10	5	2	3	18	11
	3		Aston Villa	20	13	3	4	33	24	+9	42	WLWW	10	8	1	1	18	8	10	5	2	3	15	16
	4		Liverpool	20	10	4	6	32	28	+4	34	XOWW	10	6	2	2	15	10	10	4	2	4	17	18
	5		Chelsea	20	8	7	5	33	22	+11	31	XXLX	10	4	3	3	15	11	10	4	4	2	18	11
	6		Manchester United	20	8	7	5	34	30	+4	31	XXWL	10	5	3	2	18	13	10	3	4	3	16	17
	7		Brentford	20	9	3	8	32	28	+4	30	WOWW	10	6	3	1	20	10	10	3	0	7	12	18
	8		Sunderland	20	7	9	4	21	19	+2	30	XOXO	10	5	5	0	16	8	10	2	4	4	5	11
	9		Newcastle United	20	8	5	7	28	24	+4	29	WWLX	10	6	2	2	18	12	10	2	3	5	10	12
	10		Brighton & HA	20	7	7	6	30	27	+3	28	WXLO	10	5	4	1	18	11	10	2	3	5	12	16
	11		Fulham	20	8	4	8	28	29	-1	28	XXWW	10	5	2	3	17	12	10	3	2	5	11	17
	12		Everton	20	8	4	8	22	24	-2	28	LWOL	10	4	2	4	13	14	10	4	2	4	9	10
	13		Tottenham Hotspur	20	7	6	7	28	24	+4	27	XOWL	10	2	3	5	12	12	10	5	3	2	16	12
	14		Crystal Palace	20	7	6	7	22	23	-1	27	LXLL	10	2	5	3	10	12	10	5	1	4	12	11
	15		Bournemouth	20	5	8	7	31	38	-7	23	LXLX	10	4	4	2	13	9	10	1	4	5	18	29
	16		Leeds United	20	5	7	8	26	33	-7	22	XOXW	10	4	4	2	18	13	10	1	3	6	8	20
	17		Nottingham Forest	20	5	3	12	19	33	-14	18	LLLL	10	3	1	6	12	17	10	2	2	6	7	16
	18		West Ham United	20	3	5	12	21	41	-20	14	LXLL	10	2	1	7	12	23	10	1	4	5	9	18
	19		Burnley	20	3	3	14	20	39	-19	12	LLOX	10	2	2	6	8	13	10	1	1	8	12	26
	20		Wolves	20	1	3	16	14	40	-26	6	WXLL	10	1	1	8	10	23	10	0	2	8	4	17

 

 

This is the final round of holiday fixtures, through which clubs will have played five hugely competitive games inside 18 days in a stressful period when players are away from friends and family for extended periods, most of whom will have been celebrating Christmas and New Year. Of course they are very well rewarded for the privilege, but if you do not think that this puts additional pressure on players, then I would suggest that you are not married/ in a relationship,or do not have children! This probably goes some way to explaining why there are traditionally a few shocks at this time of the season. Anyway, after this midweek there are only domestic cup games until the weekend of the 17th and most players will get a couple of days off , a chance to recharge batteries and all EPL teams will be rotating heavily for the FA Cup games this weekend. But first ....

 

 

 

 

I have been discussing Palace's issues a lot recently and ahead of their post Christmas game at home to Tottenham I noted ....

 

 

They lost that 1-0 and are now seven games without a win, scoring just 5 goals, two coming against a Finnish side who would probably struggle in the Championship. They lost 2-0 at Newcastle on Sunday when they had to make their longest trip of the season with 48 less time between games than their hosts and they have to go again today. Villa played Saturday lunchtime with less travel and have won 12 of 13 starts, getting back on track with a 3-1 win over Forest following a loss at the Emirates .....

 

Villa's long winning run came to an end in a heavy 4-1 defeat at Arsenal on Tuesday, but that was very flattering to the Gunners IMO. I am not saying that they didn't deserve the win, but the stats...BC's 6-5, xG 3.0-2.7 and hit woodwork 0-2 paint a fairer picture IMO and if Villa had taken their early chances, they might even have been joint leaders of the EPL this morning. I am expecting a bounce back and an 11th straight home win in all competitions.

 

Away win, but .....

 

 

Good luck!