Graham Ruthven
Leicester City to be confronted by the ghost of relegated champions past
It’s at this time of year that the spirits of years gone by tend to visit. They usually visit on Christmas Eve, draped in chains, going by the name of Marley and Marley, but Leicester City will be confronted by the ghost of relegated champions past on on Saturday.
Manchester City were the last English champions to be relegated the very next season, going down in 1938 despite finishing the season as top scorers. The Foxes, just a few months after sensationally lifting the Premier League trophy, are now just two points above the relegation zone. It couldn’t really happen, could it? Perhaps the ghost of relegated champions past will make Leicester change their ways. Maybe they’ll give Bob Cratchit Christmas Day off after all.
Charlie Adam to assume the Ryan Shawcross role at the Emirates
Arsenal and Stoke City haven’t always enjoyed the easiest of relationships with each other. Arsene Wenger won’t be sending a Christmas card to the Bet365 Stadium. Neither will Aaron Ramsey, who still has a picture of Ryan Shawcross’ face on his dart board after what he did to the Welsh midfielder all those years ago.
Referees now know what to expect from Shawcross, though. They keep an eye on him at all times, particularly at the Emirates. If he so much as breathes on Ramsey’s perfectly coiffured hair this Saturday, red card. And so another Stoke player will have to take on the role of Arsenal destroyer.
Charlie Adam is well qualified for the position. The Scot might have the turning circle of the Exxon Valdez, but he is among the very best at snapping achilles. Gareth Bale will attest to that. Adam is a limited player, a player Andrew Flintoff once described as “a bloke who looks like a bus driver,” but he possesses a very specific skill-set. Arsenal better get in some sturdy shin pads.
Marouane Fellaini to be tripped inside the box by one of his own teammates
1-0 up with 10 minutes left to play - who you gonna call? Marouane Fellaini, of course. Who else can you count on to consistently provide a late moment of drama to alter the course of a game? The problem is Fellaini tends to do this at his own expense, costing Manchester United two valuable points by conceding an 89th-minute penalty at Everton last week.
So when the Belgian is introduced late on in United’s clash with Spurs this weekend his teammates will take it upon themselves to prevent the inevitable. This time it will be Fellaini who is tripped inside the penalty area. He’ll look around to find the culprit, but all he will see are red shirts, all doing their best to look innocent, staring into the middle distance, whistling. Mission accomplished.
Chelsea will win again, because that’s all they do now
This season was supposed to be the most competitive in living memory. There were six teams that could win the Premier League table, they said. There would be no runaway winner, apparently. Somebody forgot to tell Chelsea.
Antonio Conte’s side have now won eight straight games to go three points clear at the top of the table. This weekend they face West Brom, and so we might as well hang another three points on the board. Chelsea will chart another won because that’s all they do now. No jokes here. The Blues are deadly serious this season.
Someone, somewhere will earn themselves a Kevin Nolan Christmas
All Kevin Nolan wanted to do was to kick up his feet, open a tin of Quality Street and watch repeat after repeat of Porridge over Christmas. But with three games to be played over the hectic festive period there was little prospect of that for the then West Ham midfielder. He came up with a plan, though.
Three years he stamped on Jordan Henderson in West Ham’s final match before the busy Christmas run, earning himself his fifth consecutive Christmas/New Year off through suspension. The implementation of a winter break in English football has been a hot topic for quit some time now, but Nolan got one every year. So which player will work out how to play the system this year?