Saturday
Fixture: Blackburn 3-0 Stoke
Venue: Ewood Park (Blackburn home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Stoke can consider themselves unlucky to have run into Blackburn just as they find themselves a new manager. Sam Allardyce is not everyone's cup of tea, but he is a decent fit for Blackburn and should get the bounce factor at home for quick points on the board.
Betting Advice: 1pt Blackburn win at 4/5 (1.8 generally)
Fixture: Bolton 2-1 Portsmouth
Venue: Reebok Stadium (Bolton home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Worrying times for Portsmouth whose mad piano playing boss is starting to prove about as confused and useless as most of us thought he would be. Bolton are efficient rather than proficient, but they know they need to win this one. Will be tight.
Betting Advice: 1pt Bolton to win at 13/10 (2.3 at BlueSq, Paddy Power, 888sport)
Fixture: Fulham 3-0 Middlesbrough
Venue: Craven Cottage (Fulham home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Fulham are becoming the draw specialists, but must fancy their chances of breaking that sequence against Boro who are in poor foprm at the moment. However Boro have a knack of pulling out a performance when least expected, so this match is best avoided.
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Hull 1-4 Sunderland
Venue: KC Stadium (Hull home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: I take back what I said: maybe the Premiership is full of managers that are incapable of finding out how to combat Hull's attacking style of play. To that end, they won't go down and should get another three points here.
Betting Advice: 2pts Hull to win at 23/20 (2.15 at totesport, BlueSq and 88spport)
Fixture: West Ham 0-1 Aston Villa
Venue: Boleyn Ground (WHam home)
Kick-off: 5.30pm GMT
Verdict: Grim times for West Ham who are on the market and suffering from a bout of injuries. They have been poor these last few months, though a draw at Chelsea looked like a step in the right direction last weekend. However, everyone's getting points at Chelsea nowadays, and I struggle to see them get any change out of Villa's lightning face attack.
Betting Advice: 4pts Villa to win at 7/5 (2.4 BlueSq and 888sport)
Sunday
Fixture: WBA 2-1 Man City
Venue: The Hawthorns (WBA home)
Kick-off: 1.30pm GMT
Verdict: The pressure of money is weighing heavy on Man City, while the pressure of the entire Premiership is on top of hapless WBA. Avoid.
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Newcastle 2-1 Spurs
Venue: St James' Park (Newcastle home)
Kick-off: 3pm GMT
Verdict: Both sides much improved form make this one a difficult one to predict. At a neutral ground I'd suggest Spurs would edge it.
Betting Advice: no bet
Fixture: Arsenal 1-1 Liverpool
Venue: Emirates Stadium (Arsenal home)
Kick-off: 4pm GMT
Verdict: Arsenal are my bet of the weekend. Fernando Torres is being sorely missed, but Robbie Keane is being bizarrely left on the bench and it is causing problems. Arsenal's problems are well documented, but they have shown solidarity in the big games and still have the wherewithal to give Liverpool a footballing lesson here.
Betting Advice: 5pts Arsenal to win at 7/5 (2.4 generally)
Monday
Fixture: Everton 0-0 Chelsea
Venue: Goodison Park (Everton home)
Kick-off: 8pm GMT
Verdict: Poor home record meets incredible away record in what can only be described as an absolute gift. Have yourself a Merry Christmas by backing Chelsea for the win.
Betting Advice: 4pts Chelsea to win at 3/4 (1.75 at BlueSq and 888sport)
