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To give those top-flight fixtures even extra meaning, our writers have picked out some angles.
These are the 10 fixtures in the Premier League this weekend/Monday. Fun facts: Bournemouth could go fifth if everything went their way; Manchester United could end it four points off the drop zone.
Saturday
12.30pm Spurs v Newcastle
3pm Bournemouth v Everton
3pm Aston Villa v Leicester
3pm Crystal Palace v Chelsea
3pm Man City v West Ham
3pm Southampton v Brentford
5.30pm Brighton v Arsenal
Sunday
2pm Fulham v Ipswich
4.30pm Liverpool v Man Utd
Monday
8pm Wolves v Nottingham Forest
The strange case of Dani Olmo rumbles on. If you’ve been following, Barcelona lost a second appeal to register the player for the remainder of the season on Monday, with the club unable to meet La Liga’s wage cap. They remain hopeful of finding a solution for the rest of the campaign - Olmo isn’t able to kick a ball for them until something changes - but Manchester City and Manchester United have their ears pressed up against the wall if an outcome can’t be found.
But what does the Spanish international himself think as he twiddles his thumbs on the sidelines? Well, we know a little more now after his agent, Andy Bara, gave these quotes to Givemesport.
“It’s a stressful situation for Dani as it would be for any other player. But he’s a great player and person, he’s trying to be calm. Of course, Dani is a winner and he loves to play the games, not to watch them! We are not negotiating with any club. Dani is a Barcelona player and he wants to be a Barcelona player. He has made a big effort in his life to be at Barcelona. It was his desire for a long time. Barcelona is the first and last option! Dani, his father, family, me, we’re not thinking about other options.”
And specifically replying to the stories surrounding City and United, Bara replied: “To be honest, I feel calm. It could feel strange but I believe in president Laporta, Deco and I feel they will find a solution for Dani. It’s a massive club. I believe that Barcelona will finalise everything and make it happen. La Liga should help them, instead of these reports of Dani not being available for the national team, but I’m sure he will be at Barca for many years. He’s happy at the club and Dani has a desire to be there.”
This might have been fun in a car crash kind of way but the Wayne Rooney Plymouth doc won’t be seeing the light of day.
With Bukayo Saka sidelined, the obvious solution for Arsenal is to get busy in the transfer market. Today’s Rumour Mill points to two potential targets for the Gunners and just what has Darwin Núñez been up to on social media?
Preamble
With Chelsea faltering over Christmas and Manchester City looking too far back and still in semi-crisis, it seems like Arsenal represent the biggest threat to Liverpool in the title race. An impressive 3-1 win at Brentford on New Year’s Day kept the leaders in sight and the Gunners could close the gap to just two points by winning at Brighton on Saturday evening. The snag for Arsenal is that Liverpool will have two games in hand by then and the first of those is at home to ailing Manchester United on Sunday.
Nottingham Forest won’t end the weekend as Liverpool’s nearest challengers in the table as they’re not playing until Monday. But a victory at Wolves could move them second if Arsenal fall to defeat at Brighton.
The top-flight action kicks off with Tottenham v Newcastle at 12.30pm on Saturday, a game surely destined to give the weekend Premier League goal tally a shot in the arm. We’ll have build-up, team news, managers chatting, transfer news and much more as the day goes on. Let’s do this.
One other problem for Arsenal in their pursuit of Liverpool: injury concerns. And that’s not what you want when facing a January schedule peppered with no less than nine fixtures. Here’s Ed Aarons.
