The Grinch Stole Christmas (and Boxing Day)

Talk about coal in your Christmas stocking.  Newcastle got no points against two sides in the bottom four.  Aston Villa got one point in their two matches.  Ho ho ho my ass. 

You Can Go Home Again

Chris Wood comes "home" for Christmas
Photo: Lee Smith/Action Images/Reuters

Ex-Magpie Chris Wood returned to Saint James' Park and dropped a hat trick on Newcastle to complete the holiday wipeout.  On Saturday against 18th place Luton Town, Newcastle managed just two shots on goal in a 1-0 loss.  All I remember now is thinking can we just get out of here with a draw?  Boxing Day was even worse.  Newcastle did get an early lead thank's to a Guimaraes PK but they couldn't even take that into the halftime lockerroom because Chris Wood got a stoppage time tap in.  Two more early in the second half from Wood and you knew this match was out of reach.  

Surveying the damage, we see that Newcastle could not manage a goal from the run of play against the 17th and 18th place sides.  With players returning, injuries and fatigue are becoming less an explanation and more of an excuse.  Well, that's not completely fair, as this team defines the "whole is greater than the sum of the parts" concept so missing players like Jacob Murphy, Elliott Anderson, Harvey Barnes, and Matt Targett may be more damaging than we realize.  Also, fitness levels for returning players like Botman could be an issue too.  Whatever, they are not fun to watch right now.

Not Much Better For Villa

Things weren't all that great for Aston Villa either, as they eschewed the chance to go top of the table for Christmas.  On Friday they did look the better side at home versus Sheffield United, having more possession and more shots but it was still 0-0 late.  An 87th minute goal from Cameron Archer made it look like they wouldn't even get one point but Nicolo Zaniolo rescued the draw with a 97th minute equalizer.  Pretty thin gruel for the BFS sides this weekend so this ends up being the YouTubeableMoment.

Though the opponent was much tougher, the 3-2 loss at Old Trafford feels even worse.  Villa were up 2-0 at halftime and seemingly in control.  They even had a goal from Leander Dendoncker.  You know that here at BFS we don't buy that two goal lead is the toughest to defend nonsense.  However, Villa proceeded to prove the exception, ceding two to Garnacho and the game winner to Hojlund.  Villa probably deserved a draw here but the second half was very unVilla-like.  This was first time they dropped points from a winning position.  

Conversation That Could Have Taken Place and Did

Dennis:  Did you say Klopp substituted Tsimikas?

Steve: No I said he took him out

Tsimikas ended up with a broken collarbone from the incident, though I'm pretty sure it was the initial landing as opposed to the subsequent kollision with Klopp that caused the break.  He'll be out for several months, if not the rest of the season.  Recall that Tsimikas had been deputized to fill in for Andy Robertson, who dislocated his shoulder earlier this season.  He'll be returning shortly so Liverpool is not looking at a long term hole at this position.

The Real Coach "Beard"

The beard is back

Good to see Nuno Espirito Santo back in the EPL, even if his Nottingham Forest side took the measure of Newcastle on Tuesday.  Nuno's first game back wasn't so sweet as he saw Willy Boly get two yellows in the opening 23 minutes against Bournemouth.  Forest still made a match of it, taking a 1-0 lead and rallying from a 1-2 deficit.  Alas, Solanke completed his hat trick with a stoppage time goal to seal the win for the Cherries.  Taking three points from Newcastle probably took some of the sting of that defeat away.  Forest are currently two points clear of the bottom three but are probably in for a  relegation battle

Hard Times At the Top

Liverpool got four points from 1-1 draw with Arsenal and a 2-0 win over Burnley.  That was enough to put them top of the table.  Arsenal only got the one point from that draw, losing 0-2 to West Ham on Thursday; they sit second.  Villa also just got the one point and are third.  Actually, Man City did okay, winning the FIFA Club World Cup (4-0 over Fluminense) on Saturday, then taking the measure of Everton 3-1 to slide past Tottenham into fourth (with a game in hand no less). Spurs got three from 2-1 win over Everton but were fairly well beaten at Brighton and fell to fifth.    

Don't Look Now

Bournemouth have won four in row, haven't lost in seven and have taken 19 of the last 21 points on offer.  Their last defeat was 11/4 against Man City and they've beaten Man United and Newcastle (well maybe that's not a big a deal as we thought) in the streak.  

Will Still Have A Job 1/1/24

Post-Christmas wins for ten Hag and Pochettino mean they will probably be around for the new year.  After ugly pre-Christmas losses, that wasn't a sure thing.  Man United were awful in a 2-0 loss at West Ham and Chelsea no better in a 2-1 loss at Wolves.  The latter included six more yellows for Chelsea players.  United's comeback win over Villa should give ten Hag some breathing room.  Chelsea did not exactly dominate struggling Crystal Palace but late PK gave them a much needed 2-1 win.  

Given expectations, they will probably remain on the hot seat for the time being, joining Roy Hodgson and Eddie Howe.  We will argue that Howe certainly deserves more time to see how he fares with a full squad.  The next two league matches are Liverpool and Man City so that doesn't seem like a fair test either.  However, Newcastle do have Sunderland in the Third Round of the FA Cup sandwiched between those two fixtures;  a loss in that one could be more problemmatic.  Hodgson is in more peril.  Palace are just three points outside the relegation zone.  They haven't won since 11/4 and have taken just three of the last 24 points available.

The Last of the Holiday Fixtures

Everybody gets one more match before heading to the FA Cup weekend.  Another early start with Luton Town - Chelsea at 7:30 on Saturday on USA. Will the real Chelsea please stand up?  Four to choose from at 10 am.  We think the TV guys got it right with Wolves - Everton but loyalties may require us to take in Aston Villa - Burnley.  Your other choices Man City - Sheffield United (right, Opta has the Blades with a 3% chance of winning and 11% chance of getting a draw) or a London Derby between Crystal Palace and Brentford (actually that one will be competitive).  The NBC feature match is Nottingham Forest - Man United; on paper it doesn't sound great but we'll watch to see if either sides builds on their Boxing Day triumphs.

Two at 9 am on Sunday - a London Derby between Fulham and Arsenal (Peacock) or Spurs - Bournemouth on USA; as noted above, Bournemouth have been a tough draw lately but Tottenham will be looking to get back on track after the spanking by Brighton.

We can ring in the Newcastle Year with a very difficult contest - on the road at Liverpool (3pm USA).  The holiday schedule wraps up on Tuesday with West Ham  - Brighton (2:30 on USA), an interesting contest between two top half sides.  

If we have time next week, we'll try to identify the big winners and loser in the 12/2 - 1/2 holiday period, which saw most sides play seven matches.  Spoiler alert: unless they pull off an upset on New Year's Day, Newcastle will be one of the losers.