The festive show must go on as the English Premier League continues on Boxing Day, in the face of the latest wave of Covid-19.
Three fixtures fell from a full programme thanks to various Coronavirus outbreaks, including the clash between title-chasing Liverpool and limping Leeds at Anfield.
It’s a postponement that could see defending champions Manchester City prize open the gap at the top of the EPL table to six points.
That’s if Pep Guardiola’s imperious side can do the business against inconsistent Leicester at the Etihad Stadium.
Chelsea have the chance to draw level with Jurgen Klopp’s Reds in the title race when they make the trip to Aston Villa.
The Blues have notched back-to-back top flight draws but won’t be facing old nemesis Steven Gerrard, after the Villa boss tested positive for the virus.
Arsenal have won three on the bounce to threaten the supremacy of the top three and stand a great chance of making it four when they head east to tackle Norwich at Carrow Road.
Manchester United have an extra 24 hours to let their turkey settle, meanwhile, before they step out at St James’ Park to play Newcastle, who are just days away from springing open the Saudi Arabian cheque book in the January transfer window.
Elsewhere on Boxing Day there’s a London derby to be had as improving Tottenham play host to Crystal Palace, with Antonio Conte’s Spurs on the brink of the top six shake up.
Across the capital, stuttering West Ham are battling to hold on to fifth place in the table as they welcome Southampton to the London Stadium.
The evening match sees the focus turn to the south coast when Brighton take on Brentford.
Burnley’s north west tussle with Everton and the clash between Wolves and Watford at Molineux were the two other fixtures to fall to Covid-19.
English Premier League predictions for 26 – 27 December
Prediction methodology explained: The expected win percentage is based off publicly available odds. For example, if a team’s odds are 2.30, the expected chance of winning is 43%. If the odds are 1.62 the expected chance of winning is 62% and so on. These are accurate at the time of writing but are subject to change. Where there is no value listed, the odds were not available at the time of writing.
