Manchester City seeks to follow in the wake of Mikel Arteta’s men and Liverpool wants to get closer to European positions

The English Premier League returns to competition after the break for the World Cup in Qatar 2022 on the traditional ‘Boxing Day’, in a new day in which Arsenal will seek this Monday against West Ham to establish themselves at the top of the table, although he must keep in mind the serious and constant threat of a Manchester City that will face Leeds United and that continues to haunt the Londoners.

On matchday 17 of the English competition, Mikel Arteta’s men do not lose their rhythm and hold their own in this first half of the competition. A regularity already confirmed thanks to its good dynamics in the league championship, with only one defeat in 13 games, and five points away from its main competitor, Manchester City.

With a better start than that of 2004 of ‘The Invincibles’ with their immaculate title, Arsenal will face off, in their first game after the World Cup, with the team led by David Moyes, who will arrive at the match in a bad way after losing in their last three Premier games and occupying the sixteenth position in the table.

In this particular race for the lead, Manchester City will close the day next Wednesday, in a duel against Leeds in which they will try to take the three points to follow in the wake of Arsenal and put pressure on those from London. The team led by Pep Guardiola has two defeats in the Premier League -against Liverpool and Brentford-, but will go into the duel with sky-high morale after eliminating Jurgen Klopp’s men from the Carabao Cup (3-2) last Thursday.

Also on Monday, an animated Newcastle -with five consecutive wins and without losing since August- will examine their candidacy for the ‘Big Six’ this season -it is third- against a Leicester who arrives motivated for the match and who will try to channel his positive streak after winning the last two games against West Ham and Everton.

In addition, both teams will meet again in the quarterfinals of the Carabao Cup next January. The ‘Magpies’ will look askance at what happens at Tottenham-Brentford, since the Londoners close the ‘Top4’ to just one point, and a puncture from Eddie Howe’s men would give them the opportunity to pass them.

The other highlight on Monday will be the match between Liverpool and Aston Villa. The ‘reds’ will seek to make up for their cup elimination and put pressure on Manchester United in the fight for the places that give access to European competitions. Now they are sixth, and with 22 points, they will be out of Europe whatever they do against the team led by Unai Emery.

Thus, the Red Devils, in the second game after Cristiano Ronaldo, will receive a Nottingham Forest on Tuesday on a positive streak, with only one defeat in the last four league games and in the cup quarterfinals. Erik ten Hag’s men mark the European zone and a victory could take them to Champions League positions, on a roll after the win also in the cup against Burnley last Wednesday.

Finally, Graham Potter’s Chelsea will try to take advantage of the return of the competition to stop their losing streak dead and get closer to the top positions again. After five games without knowing victory in the domestic competition, the London team receives Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. While Everton will face Wolves, in the league premiere on the bench of Spanish coach Julen Lopetegui.