Premier League Fixtures: Week 18 Schedule, Score Predictions for EPL Matchday
Boxing Day football returns on Saturday, as Week 18 of the 2015-16 Premier League season sees all 20 clubs take to the pitch on the same day, with several tasty matchups on the schedule.
Liverpool will host league leaders Leicester City, while Watford won't have far to travel to take on Chelsea. Arsenal visit Southampton, Manchester City host Sunderland and Manchester United will take on Stoke City.
Here's a look at the schedule for Boxing Day, complete with score predictions:
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| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 12:45 p.m. | Stoke City | 0-1 | Manchester United |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Aston Villa | 1-1 | West Ham |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Bournemouth | 1-2 | Crystal Palace |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Chelsea | 1-1 | Watford |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Liverpool | 1-2 | Leicester City |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Manchester City | 2-0 | Sunderland |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Swansea City | 0-1 | WBA |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 3 p.m. | Tottenham Hotspur | 2-1 | Norwich City |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 5:30 p.m. | Newcastle | 1-3 | Everton |
| Saturday, Dec. 26 | 7:45 p.m. | Southampton | 0-2 | Arsenal |
Liverpool were unfortunate to run into an in-form Watford squad in Week 17, and things don't look any better in Week 18 when the Reds have to go up against the Premier League leaders Leicester.
Claudio Ranieri's men are enjoying a Cinderella run for the ages and have only lost one match all season long. And while Liverpool have looked much improved since manager Jurgen Klopp took over from Brendan Rodgers, the Foxes have still performed much better, per Sport Witness:
The Reds have been hit hard by injuries, particularly in defence, and it showed against Watford. The Hornets regularly carved the Liverpool back line to pieces with their raw pace, and Riyad Mahrez and Jamie Vardy will look to do the same at Anfield.
The two have been in sensational form all year long, via Squawka Football:
Shutting down two players and focusing on the rest of the squad sounds simple enough, but Leicester have proved it just doesn't work.
Attacking the Foxes will be Liverpool's best bet, and against Ranieri's well-organised defence, it won't be easy to find a breakthrough.
Daniel Sturridge's injury concerns have done as much damage as those on the defensive side, and while Christian Benteke and Divock Origi have shown their talent this season, neither has been able to consistently lead the line.
Per the Reds' official Twitter account, Klopp knows how talented his team is:
Consistency is a trait the Reds haven't mastered yet, and against an in-form Leicester, Liverpool could be in trouble.
If Leicester are the story of the 2015-16 campaign, Watford are a close second. The Hornets currently lie seventh in the table, powered by an explosive attack of their own, and new Chelsea interim manager Guus Hiddink was likely hoping for a different challenge in his first match back at the club.
Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney have fired the Watford attack in a similar manner to Mahrez and Vardy for Leicester recently.
Ighalo is enjoying a spectacular season, but Deeney has really come on in the last weeks, and Watford have won four in a row as a result.
The Nigerian was so good last week, he easily won Bleacher Report's Man of the Weekend award:
Chelsea cruised to a 3-1 win over Sunderland in their first match since Jose Mourinho's sacking, but the Black Cats put together a dreadful showing at Stamford Bridge, and the result certainly wasn't an indication the Blues' fortunes are about to improve.
Hiddink has to work with a squad desperately lacking form, with Cesc Fabregas and Diego Costa looking poor in particular. Eden Hazard is also suffering through a miserable campaign, and he wasn't even fit in time to start against Sunderland.
Chelsea's defence looked solid in Week 17, and given the wealth of talent and experience available to Hiddink, they should have a chance of shutting down Watford's explosive attack. But until the Blues' attack starts playing with a little more creativity, matches like these will prove challenging for the defending champions.
