The Premier League will enter 2020 with a runaway leader in the title race, but there are still many factors yet to be decided. All eyes will be on the battle for a top-four place on New Year's Day.
Arsenal vs Manchester United
All eyes will be on the Emirates on Wednesday evening as Mikel Arteta looks to get his first win as Arsenal manager. The Gunners have won just once in their last 15 matches, with that victory coming against West Ham United during the Freddie Ljungberg era. However, since then the Swede has been kicked out of the hot seat and replaced by Arteta.
The former Manchester City number two was unable to get an immediate response as the Gunners squandered a 1-0 lead with ten minutes remaining to lose to Chelsea. Jorginho and Tammy Abraham scored the goals in the final minutes to get the win for the Blues. There is a lot of work for Arteta to do, but they will need to start getting wins soon to turn their luck around and get themselves back up the table.
Meanwhile, Manchester United made it two wins in two over the festive period with a hard-fought success against Burnley at Turf Moor. United were brilliant defensively to get just their second clean sheet of the season. Anthony Martial opened the scoring after a mistake from Charlie Taylor. The Red Devils doubled their lead in the final stages as Marcus Rashford capped an excellent breakaway with another goal.
United are on the verge of recording their 100th win against the Gunners, while Arsenal have recorded 89 wins. The Red Devils will be hopeful that their counter-attacking prowess will ensure that they get all three points against an Arsenal side that will be looking to dominate possession. It should be a win for the travelling United side.
Manchester City vs Everton
Manchester City's title hopes are hanging by a very thin thread. If anything, the best that they can actually achieve now is a finish in the second spot. The gap between themselves and Liverpool is now at 14 points following a fatal defeat on the road against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Their trip to the West Midlands was a disaster, as they threw away a two-goal lead to lose the game in the final stages. The red card to Ederson was the game-changing moment as he was sent off early in the game and will miss this clash against the Toffees.
They got back to winning ways in their last game, however, with a gritty 2-0 win against Sheffield United. The Citizens should have gone behind in the opening stages, but VAR ruled out a contentious goal. City then took control of the game and scored twice through Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne. The Blades were hugely unfortunate to have been beaten by the champions, but Pep Guardiola admitted after the game that their title chances are effectively over already.
Carlo Ancelotti got his reign at Goodison Park underway with two straight wins. That first success came against Burnley on Boxing Day as Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored the only goal of the game. The Englishman made it three goals in two in their next fixture as he scored a brace at St James' Park to get the Italian his second win on the bounce against Newcastle United.
Everton showed grit to get their win, but they will have to show more quality in the final third to get anything from their clash at the Etihad on Wednesday. It is extremely difficult to see anything other than a Manchester City win.
