Premier League Week 14 Fixtures: EPL Picks and Predictions for Matchday 14

Nothing compares to Premier League football in the month of December, where a quick succession of matchdays always ensures the standings see plenty of change.

The holiday season is where the top teams usually separate themselves from the pretenders, and the action will kick off this Tuesday with Matchday 14.

Wednesday's slate of fixtures looks particularly tantalising, as league leaders Chelsea host Tottenham without the suspended Diego Costa and Arsenal play third-placed Southampton.

The full schedule for Matchday 14:

Date	Home	vs.	Away	Prediction
Tuesday, Dec. 2	Burnley	vs.	Newcastle United	0-2
Tuesday, Dec. 2	Leicester City	vs.	Liverpool	0-1
Tuesday, Dec. 2	Manchester United	vs.	Stoke City	2-1
Tuesday, Dec. 2	Swansea City	vs.	Queens Park Rangers	1-0
Tuesday, Dec. 2	Crystal Palace	vs.	Aston Villa	2-0
Tuesday, Dec. 2	West Bromwich Albion	vs.	West Ham United	1-1
Wednesday, Dec. 3	Arsenal	vs.	Southampton	1-1
Wednesday, Dec. 3	Chelsea	vs.	Tottenham Hotspur	2-0
Wednesday, Dec. 3	Everton	vs.	Hull City	3-1
Wednesday, Dec. 3	Sunderland	vs.	Manchester City	0-2

The current Premier League standings:

Pos	Team	PL	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Chelsea	13	10	3	0	30	11	19	33
2	Manchester City	13	8	3	2	27	13	14	27
3	Southampton	13	8	2	3	24	9	15	26
4	Manchester United	13	6	4	3	22	15	7	22
5	West Ham United	13	6	3	4	21	16	5	21
6	Arsenal	13	5	5	3	21	15	6	20
7	Tottenham Hotspur	13	6	2	5	18	18	0	20
8	Swansea City	13	5	4	4	17	14	3	19
9	Newcastle United	13	5	4	4	14	16	-2	19
10	Everton	13	4	5	4	23	21	2	17
11	Liverpool	13	5	2	6	16	18	-2	17
12	Stoke City	13	4	3	6	13	16	-3	15
13	Sunderland	13	2	8	3	12	19	-7	14
14	Crystal Palace	13	3	4	6	18	22	-4	13
15	West Bromwich Albion	13	3	4	6	13	18	-5	13
16	Aston Villa	13	3	4	6	7	18	-11	13
17	Hull City	13	2	5	6	14	20	-6	11
18	Queens Park Rangers	13	3	2	8	14	25	-11	11
19	Burnley	13	2	5	6	9	21	-12	11
20	Leicester City	13	2	4	7	13	21	-8	10

Southampton's Schedule Will Finally Catch up With Them

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Southampton's fantastic run through the early part of the 2014-15 Premier League season has been fun to watch, but by the end of the December, we may be looking at manager Ronald Koeman's squad quite differently.

A soft schedule to start the season saw the Saints drop the only two matches they played against top competition in a decisive manner—both Chelsea and Manchester City had little difficulty disposing of the team.

As shared by World Soccer Talk, the coming weeks look daunting:

Playing top competition does more than just influence your spot in the standings or your goal differential—the physical battles take their toll on the players as well. Injuries are a part of the game, especially after clashes with the very best teams, and it should come as no surprise that Sunday's fixture claimed some victims.

Morgan Schneiderlin, arguably the team's most valuable player so far, won't be lining up against Arsenal, per ESPN FC's Ben Dinnery:

Koeman remains convinced his team has a good chance against the Gunners, although he acknowledged Wednesday's opponents look like they may be turning the corner, via the club's official website:

"

[The previous result] gives the confidence that we can beat them, but Arsenal in the last two games have had two good results.

I think they are a little bit back with the spirit about these two results. It will be difficult, but you always get space against Arsenal. They like to play, they like to play offensive.

Okay, I think it will be an open game and with our possibilities we believe we will have chances for a good result.

"

Southampton still sit in third place on the standings, and as of right now, they deserve the benefit of the doubt. But with limited depth available on the bench and the busiest period of the calendar coinciding with Saints' toughest matchups, look for Koeman's squad to come back down to Earth in the coming weeks.

Statements at the Top of the Standings

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One week ago, Chelsea were supposedly running away with the Premier League title, and Manchester City's form would prevent them from successfully defending their title. A Blues draw and a City win later, and pundits are flooding us with articles on why the latter team can suddenly overtake Jose Mourinho's men.

The fans are following suit, it would seem, with Sky Sports letting us know 45 percent believe the Citizens will catch up to Chelsea:

Let's pump the brakes here for a second: It was just one match. The Blues looked phenomenal during their midweek fixture against Schalke 04—to suddenly doubt them because they drew with Sunderland makes little sense.

The same goes for City—the gap at the top of the table has been brought back to six points, but even when it was greater than that, it was far too early to rule the defending champions out of the title race.

It's quite simple: These are the two best teams in the Premier League right now, and judging by their current form, they should have little difficulty keeping things that way in the coming weeks. It's no wonder oddsmakers have the duo as the runaway favourites for the title:

I fully expect both City and Chelsea to win their fixtures on Wednesday, making a huge statement toward the rest of the league, the media and the fans in the process: Don't read too much into the result of a single match.

Chelsea are undefeated, City have won three of their last four. That tells you all you need to know.

Premier League Newcomers in Search of Big Scalps

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After 13 weeks of football, the bottom three spots in the Premier League standings are occupied by the three teams who were promoted from the Championship over the summer. Surprised? You shouldn't be.

The difference in sheer quality between the Premier League and Championship is gigantic, and it often comes to the fore in the month of December, when the more accomplished clubs can make a difference with the depth they've accrued over the years.

Burnley and Leicester City will host Newcastle and Liverpool respectively, two clubs who dwarf them when it comes to talent and hard cash. The form of Burnley and Liverpool opens up the possibility of an upset, but it sure doesn't look likely.

Queens Park Rangers will travel to Wales to play Swansea, and like their colleagues occupying the relegation zone, they're not expected to return home with any points.

The Premier League is a massive challenge for the newly promoted clubs, something these three are finding out the hard way.

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