Premier League results, previews & predictions: Gameweek 17

Got enough football into your veins recently? No? Well, you're in luck. Yes? Well, here's another heavy dose regardless.

We're well into the hectic festive schedule English football loves to provide around this time of year, with games coming thick and fast for clubs up and down the land.

Brentford vs Manchester United has already bitten the dust because of a Covid-19 outbreak at Old Trafford, as has Burnley vs Watford due to the Hornets' own problems, but there's still plenty of action to cast our eyes over.

League leaders Manchester City put on a show on Tuesday night, absolutely thumping Leeds, while Aston Villa secured a dominant away victory at Norwich.

On Wednesday, Arsenal secured an important victory over West Ham while Wolves beat Brighton on the road, and Crystal Palace played out an entertaining score-draw with Southampton.

Here's all the action from gameweek 17, as it happens.

Tuesday

Norwich 0-2 Aston Villa

Norwich boss Dean Smith failed to get one over his former club as Aston Villa ran out comfortable winners at Carrow Road.

Young midfielder Jacob Murphy opened the scoring with a goal his manager would have been proud of, making a driving run from midfield with the ball at his feet and smashing the ball beyond Tim Krul to cap it off.

Villa were in control throughout and doubled their lead when Ollie Watkins supplied the finish to a fine pass from Carney Chukwuemeka.

You can read 90min's player ratings from the match here.

Manchester City 7-0 Leeds

Manchester City flexed their title credentials with a seven-goal demolition of Leeds at the Etihad.

It was a stunning display, involving six different goalscorers as Pep Guardiola's men ran riot. Phil Foden and Jack Grealish netted early on, with Kevin De Bruyne making it 3-0 before half-time.

Riyad Mahrez made it four early in the second half before De Bruyne smashed in the pick of the bunch (see above). The defensive duo John Stones and Nathan Aké completed the rout, with the score 7-0 when there were still 12 minutes to play.

You can read the player ratings from an outrageous victory for the Cityzens here.

Wednesday

Crystal Palace 2-2 Southampton

Jordan Ayew scored for the first time in forever as Crystal Palace grabbed a 2-2 draw at home against Southampton, who had themselves come from behind to take a first-half lead.

Wilfried Zaha got the ball rolling when he put Palace ahead in just the second minute. But a quick-fire double from the Saints through Armando Broja and James Ward-Prowse turned the score-line on its head by the time the interval came.

Both sides will probably be disappointed with the result. Palace for not building on a recent win over Everton and Southampton for dropping yet more points from a winning position.

You can read full player ratings from the game at the Selhurst Park here.

Brighton 0-1 Wolves

Wolves ended a run of four consecutive Premier League games without a win and simultaneously condemned Brighton to an 11th straight game without one.

Romain Saiss scored the only goal of the contest at the very end of the first half thanks to a delicious assist from Ruben Neves. Having been largely disappointing in the opening 45 minutes, Wolves were well organised, disciplined and were eventually well worth the victory.

In one of the more curious moments of the season so far, rookie referee Tony Harrington on his Premier League debut had to pause the match multiple times during the second half to get his earpiece and/or microphone seen to because it wasn't working properly.

You can read full player ratings from the game at the Amex Stadium here.

Arsenal 2-0 West Ham

Arsenal had rising stars Gabriel Martinelli and Emile Smith Rowe to thank for a 2-0 win against West Ham that could prove to be enormously important come the end of the season.

The Gunners leapfrogged the Hammers into the top four as a result of this victory, with the goals coming at either end of the second half. Alexandre Lacazette, the stand-in captain for the night after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was stripped of the armband, also missed a penalty.

Conceding the penalty resulted in Vladimir Coufal being sent off for the visitors, having already been cautioned. West Ham played the final 23 minutes plus stoppage time with 10 players.

You can read 90min's full player ratings from the north vs east London derby here.

Thursday

Leicester vs Tottenham

When is kick off? Thursday 16 December, 19:30 (GMT)
Where is it being played? King Power Stadium, Leicester
TV channel? BT Sport 3 (UK), Peacock (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? BBC Match of the Day (UK), Sky Sports Football YouTube channel
Referee? Craig Pawson
VAR? Lee Mason

This is another game where it remains to be seen whether it'll go ahead.

Some Tottenham players have returned to training after the first team area of their training ground was shut following a spate of positive Covid-19 results.

More testing will be required, and while there's been no official word yet, communication from the Premier League is expected soon.

Chelsea vs Everton

When is kick off? Thursday 16 December, 19:45 (GMT)
Where is it being played? Stamford Bridge, London
TV channel? BT Sport 2 (UK), NBCSN (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? BBC Match of the Day (UK), Sky Sports Football YouTube channel
Referee? Michael Oliver
VAR? Darren England

Everything seemed to be going swimmingly for Chelsea, but their characteristic stodginess at the back has crumbled recently. They've conceded eight goals in their last three games, surrendering their position at the top of the Premier League to Man City in the process.

However, Everton should prove to be a pretty good tonic to the Blues' current issues.

While the Toffees recently scored a memorable victory over Arsenal courtesy of Demarai Gray's stunner, the defeat at Palace on Sunday again highlighted problems in their side. Rafa Benitez hasn't been helped by injuries, and things likely won't get any better in their trip to Stamford Bridge.

Prediction: Chelsea 3-0 Everton

Read 90min's full preview of Chelsea vs Everton here.

Liverpool vs Newcastle

When is kick off? Thursday 16 December, 20:00 (GMT)
Where is it being played? Anfield, Liverpool
TV channel? BT Sport 1 (UK), Peacock (US), DAZN (Canada)
Highlights? BBC Match of the Day (UK), Sky Sports Football YouTube channel
Referee? Mike Dean
VAR? Simon Hooper

Liverpool put their feelings to one side on Saturday by dispatching of Gerrard's Villa, though they were made to work hard for that victory and only got there courtesy of a Mohamed Salah penalty.

The Reds are second in the league and have netted 45 goals in the process. Newcastle, by contrast, are 19th and have the worst defence in England's top flight, having shipped 45 goals. Their fans had a pretty miserable trip to Leicester on Sunday, seeing their side lose 4-0.

There's really only one possible result here, and it's a heavy Liverpool win. Make sure you make Salah your FPL captain this gameweek, folks.

Prediction: Liverpool 5-0 Newcastle

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