As we head into the final international break of the year, we have one more instalment of Premier League action. This weekend could see a big shift around in terms of the rankings, but I’m sure there’ll be enough twists and turns to keep everyone occupied. 

We begin on Saturday with an early kick off (12:30PM GMT) between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. Following that is two 3PM kick offs where we’ll see Everton up against Fulham and West Ham hosting Burnley. Sunderland vs Arsenal is the 5:30PM kick off. The football on Saturday will be concluded with Chelsea hosting Wolves at 8PM. Onto Sunday and we have a further five fixtures. Four of them kick off at 2PM and that will start with Aston Villa against Bournemouth, Newcastle will travel to Brentford, Crystal Palace will duel Brighton and then Nottingham Forest will be hosting Leeds United. The final game of GW11 will see the heavyweight clash between Manchester City and Liverpool at 4:30PM. 

Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester United 

Two teams that are recapturing some of their former glory, well in terms of a domestic league campaign. Both of these sides had a hideous 2024/25 season that saw them mixing with relegation contenders. But, fortunes have changed and they’re both yo-yoing in and out of the top four spots. Manchester United have been pretty good all season, but it’s only in recent weeks that we’ve seen them rewarded with wins. They haven’t lost in four games, winning three of them. Tottenham Hotspur’s form has been more patchy than they’d like, but it’s mainly down to whether they’re playing home or away. It’s like night and day, they can’t seem to find a win at home, but if they’re playing away then it’s success.

Thomas Frank knows that home form is a major issue as they were completely outplayed by Chelsea last weekend, however, there was some redemption midweek with a 4-0 win over Copenhagen in the Champions League. Spurs have a chance to turn a corner with their home form, but they’ll have to overcome a team that are very much in form. Amorim has pretty much a full squad at his disposal which will be key in this affair due to Tottenham’s injury woes. I don’t see United losing, but Spurs have too much riding on this fixture to just roll over and lose. 

Predicted Score: Tottenham Hotspurs 1-1 Manchester United

Notable absentees:

Spurs: Archie Gray, Dejan Kulusevski, Mohamed Kudus, Radu Dragusin, Lucas Bergvall, Dominic Solanke, Yves Bissouma, James Maddison, Kota Takai, Ben Davies.

United: Lisandro Martinez.

Everton vs Fulham

Two teams separated by a single point in the league, but too close to the wrong end of the table. Expectations ran high for both of these sides heading into the season, but neither of them can honestly be happy with how it’s all panned out. Everton had a good start, but have fallen off a cliff in terms of form. Fulham just seem to get enough points every few weeks to keep them out the jaws of the relegation zone. Just one win in five games for these sides who had serious thoughts of challenging for the European spots. 

Despite only losing once at home, Everton have some of the worst home form in the league. Fulham will hope to capitalise on that element, but the West London side have the 2nd worst away form in the league. So it’s a case of bad against worse. Marco Silva did enjoy a 3-0 win last time out, but that was only against a Wolves side that were reduced to 10 men. However, confidence can be found in the smallest of wins and Silva will use any shred of confidence to energise his team. I think both sides will approach this game with caution as they know a loss will have ramifications to the overall mood in their respective camps. 

Predicted Score: Everton 1-1 Fulham

Notable absentees:

Everton: Nathan Patterson, Iliman Ndiaye, Jarrad Branthwaite.

Fulham: Antonee Robinson. 

West Ham vs Burnley

A relegation six pointer, which may well be too early to throw around such a phrase, but every point matters this season. These two teams have been underwhelming, especially from a West Ham perspective. A side that have aspirations of being one of the biggest clubs in England, but are in serious trouble this season. Burnley can be excused as they came up from the Championship and haven’t quite adjusted to life in the league yet. This is a fantastic opportunity for the East London side to string two wins together in a row which will do wonders for morale. Burnley had seemingly turned a corner prior to last weekend’s game, two wins in a row put some very important points on the board. But, Arsenal brought them crashing back down to earth. They’ll have to dig deep again to make sure that the Arsenal game was just a minor setback and not a sign of things to come. 

Relegation battles are always hard to predict because they can often become dogfights, but home advantage is so key. West Ham have that this weekend and will try their best to ramp up the atmosphere to get the team over the line. They claimed a big scalp, in the shape of Newcastle, last weekend which was a brilliant result and it’s just a warning to the league that this team isn’t dead yet. I do feel as though West Ham will get their way in this tie, but Burnley would rather limit the damage as much as they can than go on a crusade to try and win the game. They’ll be happy with a draw on this occasion. 

Predicted Score: West Ham 2-1 Burnley

Notable absentees: 

West Ham: Lukasz Fabianski, Konstantinos Mavropanos, Oliver Scarles, Niclas Fullkrug. 

Burnley: Hjalmar Ekdal, Connor Roberts, Jordan Beyer, Zeki Amdouni.

Sunderland vs Arsenal

The challenge of beating Sunderland this season has only been completed by two teams this season, Burnley and Manchester United. But, Arsenal have been in the mood to overcome challenges this season and will relish the chance to put Sunderland to the sword and give them a reality check. However, Granit Xhaka knows Arsenal inside-out and has worked under Mikel Arteta, and this will complicate his former sides approach. Sunderland have only lost once in five games so it’s going to be a very tough game for Arteta’s men. But, Arsenal have only lost once all season and just went through the whole of October not conceding a goal in any competition. That form has continued into November with two wins away from home in which clean sheets were kept in both. 

What will appeal to Arteta is that Sunderland do struggle to score. The Black Cats have scored the least amount of goals of any top 10 side. The power comes from their defence which Regis Le Bris has regimented into one of the best backline’s in the league. Eight goals conceded all season puts them as the joint 2nd best defensive unit in the league, tied with Manchester City and behind Arsenal. The Gunners have conceded just three Premier League goals all season. Arsenal are navigating their way through an injury crisis in attack, which jeopardises any fluidity in the front line. It won’t be a high scoring affair, but Arteta will be happy to take a 1-0 win and run. 

Predicted Score: Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal

Notable absentees:

Sunderland: Omar Alderete, Ajibola Alese, Dennis Cirkin, Leo Hjelde, Habib Diarra, Romaine Mundle.

Arsenal: Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus, Martin Odegaard, Gabriel Martinelli, Noni Madueke, Viktor Gyokeres.

Chelsea vs Wolves

These two met very recently in the EFL Cup and played out an exhilarating 4-3. Unfortunately, Wolves were on the receiving end of the four goals which saw Chelsea progress in a competition that the former were doing well in. Wolves will have a chance for revenge, but will have to do it under an interim boss as they fired their head coach earlier in the week. It was a matter of when, not if. This presents a slightly awkward challenge for Chelsea as this Wolves side will perhaps feel a tad more fired up than usual. It’s unclear how they’ll approach the game, but Enzo Maresca’s side will simply have to remain calm, coordinated and clinical. 

Maresca will be wary of Chelsea’s home form as they have a similar situation to Tottenham. The contrast between home and away form is alarming, it’s literally relegation contending form at Stamford Bridge and that will be the only silver lining that Wolves can take from this tie. Chelsea can be a free scoring unit and they’ll threaten to turn this game into a rout, but that home form looms over the West London side. I don’t think home form in this one will matter to Chelsea all that much as Wolves are just that bad this season, but I said the same when they faced Spurs earlier in the season and they almost took all three points in that one. 

Predicted Score: Chelsea 3-0 Wolves

Notable absentees:

Chelsea: Cole Palmer, Benoit Badiashile, Levi Colwill, Dario Essugo, Romeo Lavia. 

Wolves: Emmanuel Agbadou, Rodrigo Gomes, Matt Doherty.

Aston Villa vs Bournemouth 

Bournemouth are a top side this season, but Manchester City showed them the difference between a top side and being one of the elite. 3-1 defeat at The Etihad isn’t a bad showing, but City could’ve had many more. That was Bournemouth’s first defeat in the league since the Liverpool game at the start of the season, but that defeat dropped them from 2nd to 5th in the league. Aston Villa, on the other hand, actually inflicted defeat upon Manchester City a couple of weeks ago which proved that Unai Emery’s men are still to be feared despite a disastrous start to the season. Villa put in mature performances against Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City, but Liverpool was a step too far last weekend. 

This game has the potential to be one of the most intriguing games of the weekend as we’ll see how both sides deal with a setback in form. Villa will be looking to crack into the top 10, whereas Bournemouth will want to keep up the pressure on other top four hopefuls. It’s hard to predict how this game will go due to both managers willing to battle with tactics over brute force. A draw would be a fair outcome. 

Predicted Score: Aston Villa 2-2 Bournemouth

Notable absentees:

Villa: Andres Garcia, Tyrone Mings.

Bournemouth: Enes Unal. 

Brentford vs Newcastle

It’s probably a bad moment in time for these two sides to clash as they’re both in relatively good form. For Brentford it’s three wins in five games in all comeptitions, for Newcastle it’s four wins in five games. However, last weekend saw both these sides lose quite convincingly. Crystal Palace dispatched Brentford with ease, whereas Newcastle couldn’t handle a resurgent West Ham side. This duel is quite similar to the Everton vs Fulham encounter as only a point separates these two sides, but they’re both in a position to muscle their way into the top 10 with a win. 

Brentford have found success in the Gtech Community Stadium and they’ll have every confidence they can do it again, especially as Newcastle have struggled on the road. Eddie Howe’s men have scored just twice, in the league, outside of St James Park and that will be a huge concern. Brentford have also beaten Liverpool at home as well as holding Chelsea to a 2-2 draw, so they’ll be optimistic they can beat Newcastle or at least avoid a loss.

Predicted Score: Brentford 2-2 Newcastle

Notable absentees:

Brentford: N/A

Newcastle: William Osula, Harrison Ashby, Yoane Wissa, Tino Livramento.

Crystal Palace vs Brighton 

The M23 derby. An underrated derby in English football due to them not exactly being neighbours, but still hold a brooding hatred for each other. These two sides hold position in 9th and 10th, so whoever loses could be shot out of the top 10. Palace had an unbeaten start to the season which lasted until they faced Everton at the start of October. Since that loss it’s been a rocky slide down the table, only winning once in the three games post Everton. For Brighton it’s been a change of fortune. Having only won once in their first five games, it’s since been three wins in their last five games. Oliver Glasner will recognise that he needs more from his players, but juggling European football with domestic is a challenge for even the most ardent of managers. 

Brighton are certainly the team most in form heading into this game, but Palace showed what they’re capable of against Brentford and that should worry Fabian Hurzeler. Palace still haven’t lost at home yet, so the ball is in Glasner’s court. Couple that with Brighton only winning once on the road and that’s a recipe that has only one conclusion. 

Predicted Score: Palace 3-1 Brighton

Notable absentees:

Palace: Caleb Kporha, Chadi Riad, Cheick Doucoure, Eddie Nketiah.

Brighton: Kaoru Mitoma, Adam Webster, Jack Hinshelwood, Joel Veltman, James Milner, Brajan Gruda, Solly March. 

Nottingham Forest vs Leeds United 

Are Forest going through a revival? Yes, maybe.. kind of.. It’s one loss in the four games that Sean Dyche has coached, but only one win. It’s better than what Ange Postecoglou produced, but it’s still not great form. Having said that, a 2-2 draw against a rejuvenated Manchester United is a good result. For Leeds it’s a case of avoiding a loss as they look to tally up their points that’ll keep them from the drop. It has been a miserable few weeks for the newly promoted side, but that was punctuated with an extremely important victory over West Ham a couple of weekends ago. That’s what Daniel Farke needs to do, pick up wins wherever he can, even if they might feel few and far between sometimes. 

Even if Forest win this tie, they can’t escape the clutches of the relegation zone, but it takes them a step closer. Five points separate these two sides, so a Forest victory will cut that gap to just two points which can be easily gained in the following weeks of football. It’s all about building on a foundation and a win for Dyche will provide that. They just need to start putting more balls into the back of the net as they only have seven in ten games, which is dire at this stage of the season. 

Predicted Score: Forest 2-1 Leeds 

Notable absentees:

Forest: Oleksandr Zinchenko, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Ola Aina, Douglas Luiz, Dilane Bakwa, Chris Wood, Angus Gunn.

Leeds: Wilfried Gnoto, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Sebastiaan Bornauw.

Manchester City vs Liverpool 

The juggernaut clash of the weekend and it wraps up Premier League football for two weeks. City have been on a barnstorming run of wins that has only seen them lose to Aston Villa since the end of August. Erling Haaland has been instrumental to that form, the Norwegian will break all kinds of records this season if he maintains this consistency. Liverpool have almost put their miserable run of form behind them, winning their previous two matches and not conceding a goal in the process. Within those two games was a huge win over Real Madrid, but a bigger test lays in wait for Arne Slot and his men. 

This game has all the makings to be a classic, but fundamentally it’ll be decided by whether Liverpool can keep Haaland quiet. If they can then they’ve got a chance at grabbing something. Take nothing away from Liverpool’s attack, but they’re not even in the same stratosphere as Haaland. Having said that, the Merseyside club can inflict plenty of damage in a variety of ways. 

Predicted Score: Manchester City 3-1 Liverpool 

Notable absentees:

City: Mateo Kovacic. 

Liverpool: Giovanni Leoni, Alisson, Alexander Isak, Jeremie Frimpong, Stefan Bajcetic.

That’s it for this weekend of football, enjoy!