Sunday 22nd December, 2024
Spurs @ 3/1
Liverpool @ 3/4
Draw @ 10/3
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Tis the season for self-flagellation! At least in the Guardiola household it is. Every advent calendar window opened by Pep so far this month has contained a boxing glove on a spring.
But as the cartoonish birds fly around his head, the punch-drunk City coach should be aware that we are only just arriving at the mid-point of the 2024/25 Premier League campaign.
So, although Manchester City’s current run is unprecedented for its manager, and remarkable for the sheer scale of its unexpected calamitousness, there are still tons of games left to play…and many in the next couple of weeks from which momentum can be re-established.
When it comes to writing out your Christmas list – of teams who could go on to win the Premier League title from this point, that is – are you brave enough to leave off Manchester City?
A vast sack of festive fixtures is about to fall into all our laps. So many games, in fact, that they may seem to merge into one big, gooey, amorphous, alcoholic blob…rather like your Auntie’s ‘special’ Christmas trifle…though hopefully without the stomach-liquifying side-effects.
The wobbling City are away to Ason Villa this Saturday in a 12:30pm kick-off to open the weekend’s top-flight action. And if they survive that without sustaining too much of a beating, they will also commence the ominously named Boxing Day games with a home tie against Everton; who, buoyed by a positive result last weekend, will be confident of landing a few stiff jabs of their own.
Because a further consequence of a poor run is that teams no longer approach you with eyes wide open in terror. The veneer of fear disappears. Teams suddenly start approaching you with eyes wide open…only now open in ravenous anticipation, with saliva streaming; as if a large bowl of pigs-in-blankets has just been placed under their noses.
Both these match-ups now look tough, and they will be quickly followed by a third assault – an away trip to Leicester on the 29th of December. As John Major once said: ‘when your back is against the wall, it’s time to turn around and fight.’ On the weekend of Usyk v Fury II, it will be fascinating to see how the next few rounds of Manchester City’s forthcoming battle progress too…
At the other end of the table, a couple of managers – Wolves’ Gary O’Neill and Southampton’s Russell Martin – graciously got themselves fired just before Christmas, so that they could spend more quality time with their loved ones.
Taking over a struggling outfit, and trying to implement significant change, while also being peppered left and right by an unforgiving fixture list, however, could be seen as undesirable gift. But as well as debauched gluttony, Christmas is a time for receiving undesirable gifts; and new, expectant bums will soon be taking their places on the respective hot seats.
The festive period is also characterised by simmering family feuds and escalating squabbles based on years and years of perceived grievance and bitterness.
And, to that end, it will be interesting to see how Marcus Rashford sees out his 2024. A part of Manchester United’s extended family since the age of 7, he is suddenly referencing the pursuit of new challenges…and I don’t think he is talking about eating turkey sandwiches for 12 consecutive days.
This weekend’s biggest single game sees Tottenham Hotspur host Liverpool in a 4:30pm kick-off on Sunday.
With Darwin Núñez finally back among the goals, against a Tottenham side who displayed the full gamut of ‘Spursiness’ in their creaky Carabao Cup win on Thursday night, this fixture has the potential to set alight the bloated plum pudding of all the forthcoming festive clashes.
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