Boxing Day set of matches

With only the Premier League in action over the coming days, I figured it would be cool to preview some of the games I'm intrigued by.

I wake up relatively early, so the "midday kickoff" between Leicester and Man Utd will be nice to start my Saturday. I'm not overly excited, but what I'll be looking at is which team is able to not have the majority of possession. Both teams are more effective without the ball than with it, so the expectation is whoever scores first (duh) and has less of the ball will win.

Later that day, I'll combine Fulham-Saints and Blades-Everton. Both feature a club trying to crash the "top six" traveling to a relegation battler. I'd expect Saints and Everton, respectively, to win, as they're more talented, and there aren't any obvious issues matchup wise. Fulham will probably have more of the ball, and that will suit the visitors, while Wilder's side is just not good.

On Sunday, I look at Wolves-Spurs to be similar to the first game I mentioned. Both are atrocious trying to score goals and thrive when they're able to defend all game, so one will be in an uncomfortable position. I'm interested in how each team sets up, and which Portuguese manager will impose his playing style on the other.

There are a number of "relegation" matchups on Tuesday. This isn't meant to be a dig at Arsenal, BTW, but they travel to Brighton in a game featuring maybe the two most disappointing teams this season. I reckon Arsenal win, simply because Brighton are horrible, but the Londoners are playing their worst football in many years under a clueless manager. Burnley v Sheffield Utd is at the same time, and I won't be watching. I don't know why anyone would watch that, even fans of those teams. West Brom host Leeds in a match of promoted sides as well. Not sure what to expect, other than WBA sitting back and Leeds trying to break them down. In terms of the bottom half, the three in the drop zone currently are the worst teams. Insightful, I know, but the ones above them, especially above Brighton, shouldn't be troubled going forward if I'm honest. Newcastle and Palace are dreadful to watch, but they're effective enough when it matters. Arsenal are in a bad place, and it would be one of the funniest things ever if they were relegated, but it won't happen. They'll realistically finish 10th at worst, like Chelsea when they quit playing for Mourinho.

As I'm typing this up, I'm much less excited for these games than I was going in. For what's supposed to be the most exciting league, most games are predictable and go exactly as I expect them to. That's not the same thing, by the way. Man City can "dominate" all they want, but if their "world class" squad decide not to score goals, that's not on me. Personally, I like watching a small number of teams. Liverpool, Leeds, Southampton, Villa, and that's about it. The rest bore me. You could ask why I don't like Chelsea or City. With Chelsea, I don't see a style of play, and it's unclear what Lampard is doing with them. City, on the other hand, are more defensive than before, and still aren't scoring enough goals. The bottom four are just bad teams. I somewhat appreciate the football Brighton, Fulham and Sheffield Utd try to play, but it's just something about bad players trying to play decent football that doesn't do it. Like, Brighton in particular, should be top half at the very least (5th on expected points), but the quality is so bad, especially in either box, that they're at risk of going down. Burnley, Palace, Newcastle, West Ham, Wolves, and Spurs all fall into the "defensive football" category, which is fine in doses, but when over half the league play crap football it's just boring. Leicester and Man Utd fall into that category as well, to be honest, but they're currently top 4 so the ends justify the means. They're also both "overperforming" their expected points, if you're into that.

Last thing; I'm a bit bummed German and Italian football are taking a break. It's good to have a break, don't get me wrong, but I was enjoying the rhythm of having games each weekend, especially since I've been working.