Weekend Preview: Ancelotti in at Everton, Arteta to Arsenal, Leicester and Man City look to close the gap
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What are the hot topics in the Premier League this weekend?
Hello and welcome to the Sky Sports Weekend Preview. It's the final round of Premier League games before Christmas and this pod's stuffed with hot topics. We'll talk Carlo Ancelotti and that wondrous eyebrow on his way into Everton, Mikel Arteta heading back to Arsenal and a bumper weekend of live football including Man City versus Leicester, Man United at Watford and a Jose Mourinho derby between Tottenham and Chelsea. Your regular host Pete Smith has gone Christmas jumper shopping, so you've got me, Kate Balaga, joined by two of Skysports.com's finest, Jack Wilkinson and Lewis Jones. Guys, how are you? Feeling festive?
Oh, very much so, Kate. Jack, how about yourself? Yeah, I'm feeling good, feeling festive. Excellent. So the big question is, do you have sprouts on your dinner table at Christmas? This has been bouncing around my mind all morning.
I am a sprouts man, as long as they're done correctly and done well. A bit of pancetta? Yeah, I like a little bit of pancetta.
How is Carlo Ancelotti expected to impact Everton's performance?
Just a little bit, okay.
Sprinkling the chestnuts wouldn't go amiss. Oh, lovely. We're getting really Christmassy now. I've not felt it yet, but this is going in the right direction. I'm all about the pigs in blankets myself, Jack. You know this. I could do a whole podcast about my love for those. pesky little pibs and i'm i'm gonna let you into a little secret i'm actually known as the notorious pib at the dinner table on christmas day but i'm sure we've got bigger fish to fry than me talking about pigs in blankets so um i think maybe we should get on and talk about some football cake sensational sprout chat there guys thank you you're both on the road a lot at this football packed time of year you must have got a few stories
Yeah, I suppose it's a case of the Rihannas for us, really, over Christmas. It's just a case of work, work, work, work, work. my main highlight of the Christmas period came a few years ago when I was working on the road with Ian Holloway I spent 10 days in a tour bus with Mr Holloway and his wife Kim where he was the pundit for 10 consecutive live games and we had some got some pretty interesting stories but probably the highlight of that trip for me was actually watching Home Alone with Ian Holloway on the back of a back of the tour bus which was with Ian being one of my childhood heroes it was a real surreal moment and I'd say yeah probably a Christmas highlight of my life Kate I would say watching Home Alone with Ian Holloway.
Jack how can you possibly beat that I'm not even going to try look we always talk about this being a key period this festive one but do the numbers actually stack up what omens can we take?
Well in the in terms of the top of the picture at the top of the table
What challenges does Mikel Arteta face at Arsenal?
In the last 11 years two teams have been top at Christmas and failed to win the Premier League and both of those teams have been Liverpool and that's a statistic that's been used to beat Liverpool really over the last decade and it's one that I'm sure every fan's like haunts every Liverpool fan and one that Jurgen Klopp is really been made aware of. It explains his insistence not to get too carried away with Liverpool's start to the season but what I would say is that if their grip is to start loosening on this title it will be sparked by something that could happen over such a hectic festive schedule.
Yeah, I think that's because the games come thick and fast, Jack, don't they? There's no really time to blink. I know Liverpool aren't going to be partaking in the traditional Christmas fixture list with their being in Qatar at the moment, but... I've got an example here of teams that can spark into life over the Christmas period. If you look at Burnley last season, I'm going to paint the relegation picture here, but they had 12 points after 17 games and everyone was writing Sean Dyche's team off at that point. And I remember that they registered back-to-back victories over, I think it was West Ham and Huddersfield over the Christmas period. And that's just seemed to spark their season into life.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What are the hot topics in the Premier League this weekend?
0:05–1:05
2
How is Carlo Ancelotti expected to impact Everton's performance?
1:05–2:44
3
What challenges does Mikel Arteta face at Arsenal?
2:44–4:21
4
Can Leicester City close the gap on Liverpool this weekend?
4:21–5:46
5
What strategies should Manchester City employ against Leicester?
5:46–7:07
6
What insights can we gain from Manchester United's recent form?
7:07–9:08
7
How can Watford turn their season around under Nigel Pearson?
9:08–10:24
8
What are the key matchups to watch in the upcoming fixtures?
10:24–28:19
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from Sky Sports Premier League Podcast
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