The final international break of the calendar year is over and the Premier League returns with a round of fixtures that could shift narratives up and down the table. The weekend presents key meetings for clubs chasing honours and those fighting to climb away from trouble. Below are concise predictions and the reasoning that informs them.<\/p>\n
Burnley v Chelsea
\nChelsea remain within striking distance of the summit despite an inconsistent start. They are six points behind Arsenal and host the Gunners next weekend. The Blues travel to newly promoted Burnley, coached by ex-Chelsea midfielder Scott Parker, and should avoid a repeat of their shock slip at Sunderland. Prediction: Burnley 0\u20132 Chelsea.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth v West Ham
\nBournemouth have been one of the season\u2019s feel-good stories but arrive after consecutive defeats, most recently a 4\u20130 loss at Aston Villa. Their home form has been strong, with four wins and a draw from five league games. West Ham have won successive matches under Nuno Esp\u00edrito Santo but have struggled away. Prediction: Bournemouth 2\u20131 West Ham.<\/p>\n
Brighton v Brentford
\nBrighton and Brentford are closely matched on points and goals, and three of their last six meetings have finished level. Both have 16 points and 17 goals apiece, making this a tight fixture where in-form forwards could decide the outcome. Prediction: Brighton 1\u20131 Brentford.<\/p>\n
Fulham v Sunderland
\nSunderland have impressed with results including a win over Chelsea and a draw with Arsenal, guided by the signing of the summer Granit Xhaka. Fulham are looking to derail Sunderland\u2019s momentum. Prediction: Fulham 1\u20131 Sunderland.<\/p>\n
Liverpool v Nottingham Forest
\nLiverpool\u2019s title defence is fragile after a heavy defeat to Manchester City and a poor recent run. Nottingham Forest, under Sean Dyche, have steadied and registered a first league win under him, but this is a demanding assignment for Forest. Prediction: Liverpool 2\u20131 Nottingham Forest.<\/p>\n
Wolves v Crystal Palace
\nRob Edwards returns to Molineux with Wolves still searching for a first league victory, while Crystal Palace have remained competitive under Oliver Glasner despite the departure of Eberechi Eze. Prediction: Wolves 1\u20133 Crystal Palace.<\/p>\n
Newcastle v Man City
\nErling Haaland\u2019s goals have restored Manchester City\u2019s fear factor. Newcastle remain stronger at St James\u2019 Park but face a difficult trip. Prediction: Newcastle 1\u20132 Man City.<\/p>\n
Leeds v Aston Villa
\nAston Villa showed their potency with a 4\u20130 win over Bournemouth and travel as favourites to Elland Road, where Leeds have produced their best displays but lack consistency. Prediction: Leeds 1\u20133 Aston Villa.<\/p>\n
Arsenal v Tottenham
\nThe north London derby is the weekend\u2019s headline. Arsenal need a response after a draw at Sunderland and will rely on a strong defensive record at home against a Tottenham side unbeaten away. Prediction: Arsenal 2\u20130 Tottenham.<\/p>\n
Man Utd v Everton
\nManchester United have won four successive home league games and look in good form at Old Trafford. Everton have struggled away and will need sparks from Jack Grealish or Iliman Ndiaye. Prediction: Man Utd 3\u20131 Everton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gameweek 12 predictions concise assessments of each Premier League fixture and projected scorelines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4616,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192,1273,172],"tags":[1162,1089,1225],"class_list":["post-4617","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal","category-gameweek-12","category-epl","tag-analytics","tag-chelsea-struggles","tag-danny-welbeck"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4617"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4617"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.weplayfpl.com\/news-articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}