The busy festive season begins in earnest on 'Boxing' Day, 26th December, with another round of fixtures to follow two days later and again on New Year's day.  Nine absolutely vital points are available and this period can dictate the realistic prospects and battles ahead for the sides right across the Barclays Premier League.

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26th December 2015 Predictions

Stoke 0 v Manchester United 0 Star Player Chris Smalling

Aston Villa 1 West Ham United 2 Star Player James Collins

Bournemouth 1 v Crystal Palace 3 Star Player Wilfrid Zaha

Chelsea 1 v Watford 0 Star Player Oscar

Liverpool 2 v Leicester City 2 Star Player James Milner

Manchester City 3 v Sunderland 0 Star Player Yaya Toure

Swansea 0 v West Bromwich Albion 1 Star Player James Morrison

Tottenham Hotspur 2 v Norwich City 0 Star Player Harry Kane

Newcastle United 0 v Everton 2 Star Player Ross Barkley

Southampton 0 v Arsenal 2 Star Player Theo Walcott

The heat is definitely on Louis Van Gaal and walking out of press conferences will do very little to endear him to the media. They have their knives out for him and have installed either Ryan Giggs or Jose Mourinho in his job already. We wouldn't be surprised to see the latter arrive at Old Trafford maybe as early as the FA Cup ties in the first week of January 2016. If Mourinho could lead Manchester United to the EPL crown it really would be one of the most amazing stories in the history of English football and we would never write off the idea of the Special One doing just that.  His powers of motivation in a new environment are legendary but this weekend we expect a goalless draw at Stoke and, inevitably, for the demands for change to reach an even higher pitched crescendo.

Aston Villa picked up a point on Saturday, but a point is really not enough especially at relegation rivals such as Newcastle. West Ham United have dropped off in recent weeks, but this is a great opportunity to get back on track after a heartening clean sheet at Swansea.  We expect the pressure to be too much for Villa and West Ham will be able to create enough goal scoring opportunities against a fragile Villa rear guard to get all three points.

Bournemouth are on the up, three more points albeit with much help from WBA, and they return home bolstered by their movement away from the dreaded relegation zone. Crystal Palace are, however, a side designed to play on the counter attack and we think they can shred the Bournemouth defense apart and take a comprehensive win. We like this as our banker prediction for this series of fixtures.

Chelsea's squad of multi-millionaires should be ashamed of themselves.  Their performance this weekend was a marked contrast to their work effort for Jose Mourinho and whatever went on in the dressing room they should, in our opinion, be better professionals.  With Jose now a lingering memory, expect Chelsea to continue to perform at a much higher level, but in Watford they face a challenging opponent well organized and increasingly resolute defensively.  Oscar was the stand out player last weekend, anonymous for much of this season, but perhaps he has now decided to put in a little more effort.  We expect the little Brazilian to work his magic and to help secure the much needed win.

Liverpool are back to being an enigma, spectacular at the Etihad and yet comprehensively outplayed by Watford.  They need a defining performance at home to the league leaders for whom we have run out of superlatives. James Milner needs to take charge in central midfield for Liverpool and whilst we believe he can do so, we still expect Leicester to score (they always score), concede (they always concede) and secure something to take back to the King Power Stadium.

Manchester City must secure three points against Sunderland to sustain their challenge. Talk of Pep Guardiola taking the manager's mantle is unsettling the club, but they will have enough against their opponents, who remain way too prone to conceding early goals. Yaya Toure can be the driving force to this win.

Swansea are still without a manager and the longer they are in without a leader, the more their season becomes a relegation struggle. The dismissal of Garry Monk, without having a replacement in mind, seems very odd and not normally the way Swansea do their business. West Bromwich Albion are in a relegation fight, whether they like to admit it or not. The double sending offs and three match bans for two of their more attacking threats at the weekend have done little to help their cause. That said, it will allow Tony Pulis to play as he always prefers, with huge emphasis on defensive responsibilities, and we can see them stealing the points with a set piece.

Tottenham Hotspur are now into the top four. This may, arguably, be more as a result of other sides failings than necessarily their own form, but they have more than enough to beat Norwich despite their excellent win at Old Trafford. Harry Kane is back to his best and we expect him to score, and indeed possibly get both goals in a comfortable home win.

Increasingly, Arsenal are looking like the real deal and we remain convinced that they are the favorites to lift the EPL title. Southampton still seem shell shocked by the Capital Cup exit to Liverpool and confidence has drained from the players. Ronald Koeman has much to do to restore them to winning ways and it will not be on this occasion. Expect Arsenal to have way too much going forward and for old boy Theo Walcott to come back to inflict pain on his former team.

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