London, Dec 28 (IANS) The frantic Premier League holiday programme of matches continues on Sunday with six games, which will see table-toppers Liverpool look to extend their lead while defending champions Manchester City will continue their search for an elusive win.
Liverpool travel to play a West Ham side that is slowly looking more cohesive as a team to lift the pressure on coach Julen Lopetegui. Dominik Szoboszlai is suspended for Liverpool, while West Ham have Lucas Paqueta, Guido Rodriguez, and Tomas Soucek all sitting the game out for disciplinary reasons.
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola will be hoping that Leicester City’s fragile defense will offer striker Erling Haaland the chance to recover his form in front of goal and offer his team a route back to winning ways, reports Xinhua. Haaland missed a penalty that would have seen City win on Boxing Day, and his miss means the team’s painful run has extended to just one win in 13 matches.
Leicester have slipped into the bottom three after a run that has seen the team concede 10 goals in three games and score just one, with the scorer of that goal, Jordan Ayew, suspended on Sunday, while veteran forward Jamie Vardy is an injury doubt.
Everton have one win and three draws from the last four matches and Sean Dyche’s team is now at home to Nottingham Forest, with this season’s surprise package sitting fourth in the table. Neither team will take risks, with Everton’s main threat from set pieces, while Forest is comfortable without the ball and will look for the pace of Anthony Elanga and Morgan Gibbs-White on the break.
Two wins from two under new coach Vitor Pereira have lifted Wolverhampton Wanderers out of the bottom three, with the team facing a Tottenham side on the verge of crisis. Four defeats in five league games have increased the pressure on Spurs coach Ange Postecoglou, and another home loss could force the club into drastic action, especially if the fans voice their anger at the Australian.
Crystal Palace are dragging themselves away from the danger zone one point at a time, but the Eagles will be without suspended England defender Marc Guehi when they entertain bottom-side Southampton. Although the Saints look doomed to relegation, the defense has tightened up since the arrival of Ivan Juric as head coach and may fancy taking a result with some solid rearguard action.
Sunday’s final game will see Fulham, fresh from a shock win at Chelsea, at home to sixth-placed Bournemouth, flying high after four wins and two draws from the last six matches. This round of matches will end on Monday with Chelsea playing away to struggling Ipswich, while Aston Villa will be without the suspended Jhon Duran and Matty Cash to receive Brighton.
Elsewhere, Manchester United’s new coach Ruben Amorim faces another stiff test when his struggling team entertains an in-form Newcastle, with the Magpies travelling to Old Trafford on the back of three consecutive wins.
–IANS
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