The matches over the festive period continue to come thick and fast, with three more exciting fixtures on Wednesday night.
TV Info - Broadcasters
Brentford will be hoping to end a run of three straight defeats when they host Wolverhampton Wanderers, knowing a win would see them leapfrog their opponents in the table.
Across west London, Crystal Palace visit Chelsea in a London derby. Christopher Nkunku could make his first start for Chelsea after scoring as a substitute at Wolves on his Premier League debut last time out.
At Goodison Park, Manchester City return to domestic action as FIFA Club World Cup champions. But Pep Guardiola's side will be keen on the feel-good factor extending to the Premier League given their run of only one win in their last six matches in the competition.
Brentford v Wolves
Team news
Mathias Jensen is available for Brentford, but Bryan Mbeumo, Rico Henry, Aaron Hickey, Kevin Schade, Josh Dasilva and Kristoffer Ajer are all out.
As for Wolves, Craig Dawson is a doubt after being forced off with a knock in the 2-1 win over Chelsea, while Pedro Neto, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Boubacar Traore are also doubtful.
Last four meetings
Key facts
Brentford have lost three of their last six Premier League home games (W3), as many as in their previous 27 at the Gtech Community Stadium (W13 D11).
Since a 2-0 win at Spurs in February 2022, Wolves are winless in their last 14 Premier League away games against London sides (D3 L11). They’ve lost their last five in the capital, last losing more consecutively in the top-flight between September 2010 and November 2011 (6).
Keane Lewis-Potter scored his first league goal for Brentford in his 21st appearance last time out against Aston Villa. He last scored in consecutive league games in April 2021 while at Hull (a run of three).
Three of Matheus Cunha’s four Premier League away goals this season have been against London sides – it’s the joint-most goals a Wolves player has scored in the capital in a single Premier League campaign (level with Raul Jimenez in 2019/20).
What the managers have said
Thomas Frank: “We need a good performance. We need to come out with big intensity, press very aggressively and have that more complete performance.
“When we are attacking, we need to be close enough together so we can, in spells, pack them in.
“I think he’s [Gary O’Neil] done a good job. They [Wolves] are more energetic now. They’re well organised and you can see that they are trying to build something which looks promising for the future. They have got some really good players.” More
Gary O'Neil: “It a really deep cut on his [Craig Dawson’s] knee. He should be fine, he’s all stitched up, but where it is, every time he bends it hurts a little bit, but the physios and doctors assure me he’ll be OK for the next game which is important to us.
“Big shout for Santi [Bueno]. He’s improved so much since he arrived, around English football, understanding it, and he looked at home in the middle of the defence. Hopefully ‘Daws’ will be fine, but Santi did really well when he came on.” More
Chelsea v Crystal Palace
Team news
Chelsea are without the suspended Raheem Sterling and Cole Palmer, while Enzo Fernandez and Lesley Ugochukwu are also ruled out through injury. But Moises Caicedo could recover from illness to face the Eagles.
Sam Johnstone and Odsonne Edouard are unlikely to be ready to return for Palace, but Eberechi Eze may be fit enough to start.
Last five meetings
Key facts
Chelsea have won their last 11 Premier League games against Crystal Palace – only against West Brom (12 between 1989-2011) have they had a longer winning run in their league history.
Since winning back-to-back away league games against Chelsea in August 2015 and April 2017, Crystal Palace have lost their last six visits to Stamford Bridge, failing to score in each of the last four.
Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino has won 11 of his 13 Premier League meetings with Crystal Palace (D1 L1), more than he’s won against any other opponent.
None of the last 24 Premier League meetings between Chelsea (20 wins) and Crystal Palace (4) have been drawn. The last top-flight fixture to have a longer run without a game ending level was Blackburn Rovers v Tottenham Hotspur, who went 31 meetings without a draw between 1928 and 1997.
What the managers have said
Mauricio Pochettino: “We are so far away from our targets. Our target was to be at the top, even if nobody believed it. Now we are fighting for different things.
“Because of our history the demand is to be at the top, but at the moment, being realistic, we need to increase the way we compete if we want to win more games than we lose. More
Roy Hodgson: “When you look at their [Chelsea’s] squad and their players, I think most teams will look at it and think this is going to be a very, very tough game because they’ve got some very, very good players.
“I believe that we'll go there, and we'll give them as good a game as we've given the last three teams we've played, all of which are teams who are European teams. One's a European champion, the other one's a European champion a year ago, and Brighton are playing in European football after a very good season.” More
Everton v Man City
Team news
Everton's Abdoulaye Doucoure is set to be unavailable again through injury, with fellow midfielder Idrissa Gueye also a doubt.
Erling Haaland is an injury doubt with the foot injury that kept him out of the last two Premier League matches. Rodri is also an injury concern, with this match also likely to come too soon for Jeremy Doku and Kevin De Bruyne.
Last five meetings
Key facts
Everton have won only one of their last 20 Premier League matches against Man City, losing 14 and drawing five. They are winless in 12 against them (L10 D2) since a 4-0 victory in January 2017. Man City have won their last six league matches at Goodison, scoring at least three times in four of those. This is more than they’d won in their previous 26 visits to Goodison Park (W5 D7 L14).
After winning their last two Premier League home matches, beating Newcastle United 3-0 and Chelsea 2-0, Everton as are looking to seal a hat-trick of homes for the first time managing four in September 2021.
City go into this match having won only one of their last six Premier League matches, coming from behind to beat Luton Town 2-1, after drawing four and losing the other one. It’s the first time they’ve had a run of just one win in six league games since February/March 2016 (W1 D1 L4).
Sean Dyche has lost 12 of his 13 Premier League meetings with Pep Guardiola (D1), including the last nine in a row by an aggregate score of 29-1.
What the managers have said
Sean Dyche: “With all the travelling and things they’ve won, I’m not saying they’re used to everything, and this [City's first match since winning the FIFA Club World Cup in Saudi Arabia] is probably slightly different. But at the end of the day, I don’t think they’ll be travelling in economy. I think they’ll be well-looked after.
"So, I’m not going to over-egg the physical side of it. They’ve got so many good players, they’ll still put out a very strong side. If it does help, then great. We’ll take all the help we can get, but the focus will be on us performing." More
Pep Guardiola: “I reflect on the five Premier Leagues, four Carabao Cups, FA Cups and all the semi-finals where we compete really well. But it’s nice to see now all the five trophies and people taking pictures, then you realise the amount of work and effort behind them. It’s nice, I have the feeling the job is really done.
"I thought about it when we won the Champions League but then Super Cup, we didn’t have it, Club World Cup, we didn’t have it, now we have everything. Now it’s [time] to go to the book shop to buy one and start to write again. This is what we have to do.” More
