Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Premier League football returns this weekend with Saturday hosting 6 crucial games at the top and bottom of the table. December’s fixtures come think and fast, with a real opportunity to get some points on the board.
In the lunchtime fixture Everton travel to Watford without £30m summer signing Yannick Bolasie having picked up an injury against Manchester United. Seamus Coleman is expected to feature despite suffering a head injury last weekend.
Watford midfielder Roberto Pereyra will miss the match due to a one match suspension following his sending off against West Brom. The Hornets will be looking to beat Everton for the first time since March 1987.
Stoke head to The Emirates to face an in-form Arsenal, who have scored 9 goals this week. The bookies odds will have Arsenal as favourites for the fixture, with bettingandcasino.net offering the best odds. Arsene Wenger has been full of praise for his team, saying “we have a good team dynamic, we have a very strong team spirit and we have more maturity, definitely."
Stoke will be full of confidence going into the game, having lost just one of their last nine and have not conceded more than one goal in any of those games. However, Ryan Shawcross is set to miss out on the game with a calf problem and Geoff Cameron is still out with a knee problem.
Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe faces his former club, Burnley, as his side are looking to build on their impressive victory against Liverpool. Junior Stanislas and Andrew Surman are still sidelined, however Charlie Daniels is once again fit. Tom Heaton is set to walk back into the Burnley side, in which a win would see them a point behind Bournemouth.
19th placed Hull City host Crystal Palace in a game that Hull City boss Mike Phelan knows is a crucial. Hull City could jump out of the bottom three with a win. “It's a big thing - to be out of the bottom three. It gives you breathing space and the opportunity to progress. We've had occasions in the past to be able to do that and we haven't taken them" said Phelan.
Palace manager Alan Pardew is hoping to build on the teams 3-0 over Southampton last week, saying "if our players put in a performance like they did against Southampton, with the concentration, the effort and running power, then Hull are going to find it very difficult to beat us."
The key relegation battle this weekend sees Swansea City face Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium. Swansea will be missing Ki Sung-yueng and Federico Fernandez who both miss out with br​oken toes, however Fernando Llorente is set for a recall.
Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore has been ruled out for the rest of the season, but Jason Denayer and Steven Pienaar are likely to return to the Sunderland squad.
Swansea boss Bob Bradley knows the extent of this game. "We all know how big this match is, our version of a cup final. We've had a few of those already, but it feels like the biggest one. We have to defend better in all areas. We're not going to survive if we continue to concede that number of goals."
Finally, Premier League Champions Leicester City face Manchester City in the evening kick off. Kasper Schmeichel has returned to training after picking up a hand injury in the Champions League. Danny Drinkwater still remains banned for the fixture, along with Manchester City trio Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi.
City boss, Pep Guardiola, has identified why Leicester are struggling this time around, "maybe the players were so focused on the Champions League, the first experience in their lives, the travel, the music, everything. Sometimes you are not focused on the Premier League."
Tony Incenzo has been to over 2,000 football grounds - is he the world's barmiest football fan? Read about his love for Non-League football and groundhopping obsession, including watching a match in prison!
An in-depth look at the biggest football attendances ever recorded, from the 1950 World Cup to pre-season friendlies in the States and the Scottish ground with dozens of 100,000+ attendances
23 interesting things to do to pass the time until the football season restarts
The 91 biggest football stadiums in Europe. From Manchester to Munich, Villa Park to Valencia - each one with a capacity over 40,000