GW 22 – Ones to Watch

Matt: The traditionalists among you will love nothing more than the Boxing Day fixtures and we’re no different here at TUG! Let’s see if we can conjure up a few Christmas crackers for you!

With a slightly reduced fixture list (no Scottish matches below Premiership), there’s obviously slightly less to go at, but it still looks a favourable gameweek to me. The English Premier League in particular has clear potential, so that’s where i’ll begin. Tottenham Hotspur recorded a sensational 6-2 win away at Everton on Sunday, a ground that has become something of a fortress for the home side over the years! That didn’t faze Spurs one bit, as they simply brushed The Toffees aside with a thrilling display of attacking prowess and it’s extremely difficult to see how Wednesday’s opponents Bournemouth will keep them at bay here. The Cherries are themselves a very front-foot outfit and i don’t see them heading to Wembley with the intent of simply holding on for as long as possible. Another high scoring game would not surprise me in the slightest, maybe not 8 goals, but enough to keep those of you who plump for Spurs happy enough!

Dropping down a division into the crazy world of The Championship, i have no hesitation whatsoever in selecting West Bromich Albion in their home game against a rapidly deteriorating Wigan Athletic. Albion’s form at The Hawthorns is actually not great, as surprisingly a 4-1 thumping of current league leaders Leeds United is their only success in their last five on home soil. However, their overall results are very decent and crucially as far as this game is concerned, they’re scoring plenty of goals along the way. That surely won’t change on Boxing Day, as Wigan head to the West Midlands off the back of three consecutive defeats and just one win in their last ten Championship fixtures. That run has seen them gradually slide towards the relegation zone and with Dwight Gayle and co. scoring for fun right now, it’s hard to envisage anything other than another long afternoon for The Latics defence! Good luck to everyone and may i take this opportunity to wish all of our TUG players a very Merry Christmas!