#premier-league

#premier-league

It is the final Premier League matchday of 2025, and with that, we have some mouthwatering matches for you to enjoy on this final Tuesday of the year. Firstly, we head to Stamford Bridge as Chelsea look to bounce back from a loss to Aston Villa as they host AFC Bournemouth. Later, it's a heavyweight clash between two league contenders as leaders Arsenal host the aforementioned Villa. Finally, we head to Old Trafford as Manchester United take on last-place Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The festive fixtures keep on coming in the Premier League, with six more games on the agenda tonight. We'll be focusing on five of those, headlined by Chelsea v Bournemouth and Manchester United v Wolves. Newcastle are also in action at Burnley, while struggling West Ham host Brighton. Then there's a Sean Dyche derby at the City Ground as Nottingham Forest face Everton.

Portuguese international midfielder Ruben Neves has been linked with a move back to the Premier League in recent months. The Al-Hilal midfielder is a target for clubs like Newcastle United, Leeds United and Manchester United. According to a report from Talksport, Al-Hilal have offered him a contract extension. It will be interesting to see if the Portuguese International is willing to commit his future to the club.

Arsenal were always expected to be in the hunt for a first league crown since their Invincible season in 2003-04, and after 18 matchdays, the Opta supercomputer assigns them a 64.9% chance of becoming champions of England. Manchester City were also favoured by many in pre-season and are assigned a 26.7% title probability, but Aston Villa's challenge has now come out of the blue - they win the title in 7.6% of season simulations.

I say this at the same time every year, but we always seem to forget it: Most January transfers don't matter. There has rarely been a signing across the Big Five leagues that genuinely made a difference for an eventual title-winning team. More specifically, via analysis from the consultancy Twenty First Group: "net transfer spend in January has just a 5% positive correlation with change in points per game, and that €20 million in net spending has delivered on average just a 0.03 increase in points per game in the big five leagues since 2015".

I have a clear position on it and I don't want to lose him. If it happens, we still have to continue competing - we have no other choice,

Wolverhampton Wanderers are having a dire season and are in real danger of getting relegated to the Championship at the end of the season. An established club in the Premier League, who were playing in the UEFA Europa League not so long ago, are the favourites to end up bottom of the standings in the English top flight. Wolves are at the foot of the Premier League table at the moment with just two points from 18 matches.

The Toffees drew 0-0 in a dour match against Burnley on Saturday, with Beto starting as Barry - who has established himself as Moyes' first-choice striker - coming on as a second-half substitute. Beto and Barry both forced smart stops out of Burnley goalkeeper Martin Dubravka, though the duo have just two Premier League goals between them this season.

"There have been plenty of games when we have defended them very well. But the fact is we've conceded too many set-piece goals and we don't score enough," said Van Dijk. "It's something we have to improve. I would say at least 75% of the time or even more, it's not even about the first contact. It's the second phase that is the killer. "Is it a mental thing? I hope not. If that's in your head then it's an issue. Personally, it's not in my head."

Chelsea are investigating after a bottle was thrown towards the Aston Villa bench following their 2-1 Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. After the full-time whistle, an open plastic bottle was directed at Villa's celebrating bench, splashing staff and players with a liquid that appeared to be water. One member of staff pointed towards the area from which the bottle came, which seemed to be a section containing both Chelsea fans and staff. It remains unclear who was responsible.

I didn't regret joining Chelsea because it was a great club, and I felt comfortable in that dressing room. John Terry was a great captain he gave us a calmness and reassured us we'd turn things around. But it was a contrast because I came from years of constant success, and at Chelsea I found myself in a situation where we struggled to get results.

It's time for another Sunday Pre-Match Poser, guaranteed to entertain and enthral, frustrate and infuriate in equal measure. Here it is: What is notable about the following Premier League stars: Gareth Bale, Robin van Persie, and Tomas Soucek? We'll reveal the answer on Monday, December 29, in the comments. You may like If you managed to solve The Pre-Match Poser today, we have absolutely loads more trivia, quizzes and puzzles for you to try out, all thanks to Kwizly.