Boxing Day Match-Ups Preview (Part 1)

By Taylor Fisher | 24th December 2008

Boxing Day Match-Ups Preview (Part 1) | read this item

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rooney-winter I hope everybody is having a wonderful holiday season, but now it’s time to break away from happenings of the holidays and talk football. Here’s Part 1 of 3. Enjoy.

Friday, December 26th

Stoke v. Manchester United (12:45): Stoke and United fans alike will certainly not forget this meeting earlier in the season: a devastating/fantastic (depending on which way you look at it) 5-0 scoreline in favor of Man United. I don’t see the same thing happening this time around for a couple reasons. First is that Stoke have gotten all but three of their points at home. It’s just something about their stadium that makes them play well in front of the home crowd, so that will help them out big time. Also, United have been playing poorly as of late. Granted they did win a trophy just the other day, but they need to be performing for consistently. That is not happening. This could be their break out game, but my senses are telling me no. I do think that Manchester United will win the game, but it won’t be by as drastic a margin as the first time around. I think that they will come away with a 2-0 victory, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Stoke sneaks a goal in.

Chelsea v. West Brom (13:00): Nobody wants to win the Premier League this year. I’ve pretty much come to that conclusion. Chelsea had the chance just this past weekend to beat a Yakubu-less Everton side and take over the top spot, but that did not happen. Instead they drew Everton, and as we’ve seen all year, it’s pretty close up at the top. Liverpool and Chelsea could have been pushing the lead up and make it a 2-team race, but instead it is still a 3-team race (sorry Arsenal, no Fabregas, no title chance). Chelsea should be able to win on Boxing Day, though. West Brom did play some great football and beat Manchester City last weekend, but City does not compare to Chelsea. Almost nobody beats Chelsea at Stamford Bridge these days, so I certainly don’t see West Brom taking any points from them on Friday. I expect Chelsea to come out with guns blazing to make up for their poor performance against Everton. Chelsea wins this one handily.

Portsmouth v. West Ham (13:00): Portsmouth football at the moment = not good. Portsmouth has taken a turn for the worst, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. This is certainly not the Portsmouth side that we saw earlier in the season. Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe were scoring goals like it was their job – oh wait, it is. If that’s the case, then they haven’t been very effective employees lately. They need to turn it around. They are still in the top half, but barely. A loss here would most certainly make them slide down the table even further. West Ham is a solid side, but they are not playing up to their potential either. Only one point out of relegation, they need a big win. They need to take advantage of an inconsistent Portsmouth side to get things moving in the right direction. I can’t see this game ending in anything but a draw, unless Crouch and Defoe get things going.

Tottenham v. Fulham (13:00): Let the Fulham slide commence. Fulham has been overachieving this season, and the slide is bound to occur. I feel that it will start this week. Tottenham is a good side now. Everybody is performing, and they are making their ascent up the table. This upward movement will continue on Friday. Fulham had a convincing win last weekend against Middlesbrough, but ‘Boro has not been doing so great lately. Fulham has a very tough stretch of games coming up. They play Spurs this Friday, and then they play Chelsea on Sunday… OUCH! Fulham has been a feel good story this far into the season, but I don’t see it continuing into the new year. 2009 will be the year of the Fulham Slide. Tottenham will win the game, and Fulham will start the move down the table.

Don’t forget to look out for parts 2 and 3 for these Boxing Day match-ups!

Follow the games with the help of our Live Scores, and don’t forget to listen to this Sunday’s Podcast LIVE at 1:00PM EST, 6:00PM GMT.