[funkdoctorspock]

SAF makes mention that this month will be extremely important for securing points.

With that said, who do you think will finish the remainder of the month with the most wins: Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool or United?

Arsenal games for December: 16th - Chelsea, 22nd - Tottenham, 26th - Portsmouth

Chelsea games for December: 16th - Arsenal, 23rd - Blackburn, 26th - Aston Villa, 29th - Newcastle

Liverpool games for December: 16th - Man United, 22nd - Portsmouth, 26th - Derby County, 30th - Man City

United games for December: 16th - Liverpool, 23rd - Everton, 26th - Sunderland, 29th - West Ham

Also keep in mind players out:

Arsenal: M Flamini - Thigh Muscle Strain, A Hleb - Hamstring Injury, C Fabregas -Hamstring Injury, V Diaby - Back Injury, R Van Persie - Knee Injury [All should be ready to go for Dec 16th

Chelsea: D Drogba - Knee Injury - no return date, F Malouda - Knee Injury -8th Dec 07, R Carvalho - Back Injury - 16th Dec 07, P Cech - Calf Muscle Strain 8th Dec 07, P Ferreira - Sprained Ankle - 16th Dec 07, M Ballack - Sprained Ankle - no return date

Liverpool: J Pennant - Broken Leg - 2nd Jan 08, X Alonso - Metatarsal Fracture - 16th Dec 07, D Agger - Metatarsal Fracture - 16th Dec 07

Man United: G Neville - Ankle/Foot Injury - no return date, P Scholes - Knee Injury - 2nd Feb 08, M Silvestre - ACL Knee Injury - Mar 08, B Foster - ACL Knee Injury - Feb 08, P Ji-Sung - Knee Injury - 1st Jan 08

Sir Alex Ferguson believes the Premier League title race is entering a crucial phase.

Manchester United are four points behind leaders Arsenal and will be looking to keep the pressure on with victory over Derby this weekend.

Ferguson has urged his side to stay in contention over a packed festive programme, although he also expects Chelsea and Liverpool to challenge.

"December, as we know, is a crucial month," said the United boss. "By the end of December, I think we will know for certain who is going to be challenging for this league.

"There may be some points dropped here and there but the important thing is to be at the top or round about the top on 1st January and therefore look to the second part of the season as a real progressive step to try and get the title.

"For a couple of weeks we thought that Chelsea and Liverpool were maybe going to get caught short, but they have recovered terrifically and they are playing really well.

"They are up there challenging and there is not really a lot between the teams now so I think you can expect a very competitive top of the league clash now."


Jewell praise


Ferguson is full of respect for Derby despite their dismal run of form as he thinks Paul Jewell is capable of steering them to safety.

Jewell kept Wigan in the Premier League last season and took charge of The Rams at the end of last month hoping to do the same again.

"When Paul went to Wigan he knew it was a rugby league town but he did a

fantastic job for them," said Ferguson.

"Now he has gone to Derby, with their amazing history; with people like Raich

Carter, Dally Duncan, Tommy Lawton and Brian Clough.

"They are in a dire position at the moment and it is going to take time.

"But Paul is such a bubbly, likeable coach and he will be hoping January will give him some funds to bring in players of his choice and enhance their chances of survival.

"The position they are in is not an easy one but he can make a difference."
Click

[vrider]

hard to say, but i reckon Man Utd, rooney's back, teams starting get back into shape, while arsenal are starting to get rusty, chelsea would be missing drogba, pretty hard to say about liverpool tho, they keep switiching on and off.

hopefully by new year's man utd be on top go the reds

[Dirtycheat]

i admit im probably a bit bias here but i think that united could do be top come january, crazier things have happened. If not then my bet is on chelsea to bag the most points that month.

liverpool and everton are not easy games at all, they always seem to raise their game when playing us. However, i think we have enough quality in the side to beat them both. If we do that then the rest of the month is practically in the bag.

i can see liverpool tripping up against man city and portsmouth are no walk overs at all. liverpool dont really seem as sharp as the other big teams atm.

chelsea are probably dark horses atm. I could see them beating arsenal on their day, blackburn and aston villa will be hard but they would get at least a draw from those games.

chelsea i think will win against arsenal, niot sure about spurs but i think portsmouth can get at least a draw.


it all depends on the 2 liverpool games really, win those and i think we can be top come january. We will need to be more efficient in front of goal though, we miss too many great chances.

[Mila]

I reckon - as long as we keep winning - we'll do just fine

Anfield will be a hard place to be, and if they crash out of Europe - they'll be not only though but anxious to prove they are not as bad as everyone thinks they are.

[GocartMozart]

there's a lot of behind the scenes drama at Anfield that seems to be having an effect. If I was Steven Gerrard and had an over-hyped reputation for being a good captain, I'd think that now was the time to step-up and not only solidify my managers position, but also prove that drama will not effect results.

the real problem with this schedule is that United are Away at all of those games except for Everton, while Chelsea has pool, villa, and the barcodes at home. They of course have a more packed schedule than we do, but it's still nice to be at home. With Arsenal their two tough matches are Chelsea and Spurs, and both are at home. That said I think having to go away to Fratton Park and Goodison in late December, with injuries does not look good for them. To me Arsenal will have the toughest run. Liverpool have the best schedule at a time when they need it the most. They have United and Portsmouth at home and Chelsea away. I don't count Derby. Looking at the entire league, the real losers are Arsenal and Portsmouth. They are gonig to get HAMMERED this month, while the best one is probably City, who are unbeaten at home and have 3 out of their 4 in Manchester.

[macca247]

united all the way

[pantlessjim]

If we keep our form for the month, I haven't a doubt in my mind that we will end up on top. I think Arsenal may slip at Chel$ki or Pompy, giving us the perfect opportunity.

Liverpool and Everton will be a challenge for us, but I'm confident we can take the Scum, and while Everton always seem to lift their game against us, we have done well against them as of late.

C'mon United!

[funkdoctorspock]

So keeping this up to date we have:

Arsenal: win against Chelsea. Next game against Tottenham.

Chelsea: loss against Arsenal. Next game against Blackburn.

Liverpool: loss against United. Next game against Portsmouth.

United: win against Liverpool. Next game against Everton.

[funkdoctorspock]

Forgot to update this. So here we go...

Arsenal: win against Tottenham, currently playing Portsmouth right now

Chelsea: win against Blackburn, draw against Aston Villa

Liverpool: win against Portsmouth, win against Derby

United: win against Everton, win against Sunderland


Very surprised that Chelsea dropped points against Aston Villa. If you haven't watched this match, I am going to look for a replay and cap it. This game was amazing. In fact, so amazing, that no spoilers will be talked about it this match in here. I or someone else can make a thread of it. Easily one of the top 2 EPL games this year.

[GocartMozart]

you do realize you just spoiled the game, don't you....