Will Arsene Wenger's Arsenal be on the wrong end of some shocks during the Christmas period?
Football at this time of the year isn't called 'silly season' without reason, so we've asked Andy Brassell to highlight some potential shocks over the Christmas period in the top flight of English football...
Sometimes it takes a look at something with fresh eyes for it to be seen clearly. Viewing the Christmas holiday football programme from outside the bubble, while living in France a few years back, was an eye-opener. "You have to love English football," a neighbour told me, popping his head around the door. "Playing all through the holidays. And Manchester (as United still tend to be called over there by many people) losing at West Ham! You couldn't pick it, could you?"
Normally, you couldn't have. After all, for all the talk of the Premier League's unmatchable competitiveness, only Manchester United, Chelsea and a newly-flush Manchester City have won the title since Arsenal's unbeaten season of 2003-04 snared it for them. Christmas, though, is a different kettle of fish.
It's more of a "great leveller" (copyright, pretty much any football commentator) than the FA Cup. It is little wonder that the rest of Europe look at the English as loveable eccentrics. Yes, it's tradition, but playing three league games in less than a week in an age when the strain on footballers is a frequent topic of discussion is madness - and as likely to throw up a few unusual results as ever.
That doesn't mean we have to match crazy with crazy and go completely off-piste for our value. The aforementioned West Ham have to be one to watch in this period.
They have a tough pair of fixtures on Boxing Day and December 28th, but they are games that Sam Allardyce and his team will relish in light of their super form to date this season. If they negotiate this tricky run well and find them still in the top four going into 2015, Allardyce will be due even more of the credit that he frequently fishes for.
The first one is definitely the toughest. Away to a Chelsea side that have still lost only one Premier League home game in four-and-a-half seasons of being managed by Jos Mourinho, it's a game that the Hammers would not be blamed for losing.
Yet the combination of confidence and firepower at their disposal is beguiling. West Ham's defeat at Everton is their only one in the last 11, with four out of five won since (the other was a draw).
Andy Carroll has returned in fettle to relieve the burden on the excellent Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, so they could dream of a draw at 5.79/2 (they're 10.5n/a to win). They seem even more generously priced to beat Arsenal - 3.8514/5 - two days later.
Where we get a bit more daring is by backing Queen's Park Rangers.
The 2.47/5 for Harry Redknapp's side to beat Crystal Palace on the 28th isn't much short of free money given their excellent home results of late - three successive wins at Loftus Road in the Premier League, while Palace haven't won in six away since their shock win at Everton in September, failing to score in four of those.
It's the Boxing Day trip to Arsenal, though, that should really interest us.
Arsenal's fragility - both mental and physical - could even become a theme of the holiday period. QPR's poor away form is no secret, with them yet to garner a point away from home comforts. Yet The Gunners' wobbliness makes 6.611/2 for the draw interesting, especially given QPR's decent away showings at Chelsea and Newcastle in recent months. The huge 14.5n/a on a Rangers win at the Emirates reflects the full extent of their rancid form on the road.
So why not believe in the magic of Christmas to throw up a surprise or two? The rest of the continent certainly do.
Andy's Recommended Christmas Shocks
Lay Chelsea @ 1.374/11 v West Ham (Boxing Day)
Lay Arsenal @ 1.282/7 v QPR (Boxing Day)
Back West Ham to beat Arsenal @ 3.8514/5 (28th)
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