“Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.” Tom Hanks’ famous quote from ‘Forrest Gump’ could well apply to ‘Boxing Day’ 2024-25. And the ‘boxes’ come with a surprise…
The program of the day on ‘Boxing Day’
The 10 games of matchday 18 in the Premier (Boxing Day).MARCA.com
Few, very few, beyond Michael Owen, dared to predict the ‘disaster’ of Manchester City, which had just become the first team to win four consecutive Premier League titles. Well, Guardiola’s men, who have nine defeats and two draws in the last 12 games, are seventh in the League, 12 points behind ‘Liderpool’… with one more game.
Juventus 2-0 Manchester City: summary and goals | Champions League (J6)
They need an (almost) impossible comeback: according to the ‘Opta’ supercomputer, they only have a 0.6% chance of winning the League and a 20% chance of playing in the next Champions League. If they achieved this, they would change history: never in the ‘Premier era’ (since 1992) has the team that came seventh on Boxing Day managed to finish in the ‘top 4’.
“The boys are running and trying harder than ever… but there are many details, small or big, that mean that we are not as good as before. Against Everton, on Boxing Day we have another opportunity to try to gain time so that the injured return and, over time, we will be better,” said Pep Guardiola.
The kids are running and trying harder than ever… but there are many details that mean we are not as good as before.
Pep Guardiola
The ‘perfect’ Slot
Almost no one expected City to be so bad… or for Liverpool to do so well in ‘year I’ after Klopp. “We are experiencing a post-Klopp reboot,” Billy Hogan, the network’s executive director, acknowledged in the summer.
Míchel’s men are virtually out of the Champions League after losing to Liverpool at the cost of a penalty converted by Salah
However, the ‘Slot cost’ project – only Federico Chiesa arrived – is going ‘from strength to strength’. The ‘Pool’, which hosts Ruud van Nistelrooy’s Leicester, has arrived at Christmas as leaders in both the Premier… and the Champions League. They have only lost one game, against Nottingham Forest (0-1).
This is the ‘top 7’ of Premier.MARCA.com
“The classification, at this point, is not realistic,” Slot acknowledged at the beginning of October. Now it’s another story. Liverpool, which still has the derby against Everton pending, leads Chelsea by four points, Arsenal by six, and Nottinghan Forest by eight…
The ‘reds’, however, do not want theirs to remain a nice Christmas ‘story’. Of the 32 editions of the Premier era, only in 16, half, have the champion coincided with the team that came in the lead on Boxing Day.
Leader on ‘Boxing Day’ vs. Premier champion
1992-93 –> Norwich (leader); Manchester United (champion) 1993-94 –> Manchester United (leader); Manchester United (champion) 1994-95 –> Blackburn (leader); Blackburn (champion) 1995-96 –> Newcastle (leader); Manchester United (champion) 1996-97 –> Liverpool (leader); Manchester United (champion) 1997-98 –> Manchester United (leader); Arsenal (champion) 1998-99 –> Aston Villa (leader); Manchester United (champion) 1999-00 –> Leeds (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2000-01 –> Manchester United (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2001-02 –> Newcastle (leader); Arsenal (champion) 2002-03 –> Arsenal (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2003-04 –> Manchester United (leader); Arsenal (champion) 2004-05 –> Chelsea (leader); Chelsea (champion) 2005-06 –> Chelsea (leader); Chelsea (champion) 2006-07 –> Manchester United (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2007-08 –> Arsenal (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2008-09 –> Liverpool (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2009-10 –> Chelsea (leader); Chelsea (champion) 2010-11 –> Manchester United (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2011-12 –> Manchester City (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2012-13 –> Manchester United (leader); Manchester United (champion) 2013-14 –> Liverpool (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2014-15 –> Chelsea (leader); Chelsea (champion) 2015-16 –> Leicester (leader); Leicester (champion) 2016-17 –> Chelsea (leader); Chelsea (champion) 2017-18 –> Manchester City (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2018-19 –> Liverpool (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2019-20 –> Liverpool (leader); Liverpool (champion) 2020-21 –> Liverpool (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2021-22 –> Manchester City (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2022-23 –> Arsenal (leader); Manchester City (champion) 2023-24 –> Arsenal (leader); Manchester City (champion)
A statistic that Arne Slot hopes to increase, the fourth debutant coach who has arrived as leader at Christmas, following in the footsteps of Mourinho (2004-05), Ancelotti (2009-10) and Conte (2016-17). “There is still a lot to play for, but I hope that the second half of the season will be even better than the first,” confides the ‘red’ coach.
Farm Animals
Almost as much of a surprise as City (negative) and Liverpool (positive) is Chelsea, which hosts Fulham in the ‘neighborhood derby’. Enzo Maresca’s seemed like a project more for the future than for the present. “By age and squad we will be the team or one of the teams that will dominate English football in five or ten years.”
The coach of the ‘blue’ team spoke about the potential of the squad
However, the ‘baby blues’ – 24 years on average – are burning through ‘deadlines’ at the speed of light. However, Maresca, despite the 1,263 million euros that Todd Boehly has invested in signings, does not even want to hear about fighting for the Premier.
“We would like that kind of pressure and I hope we can have it soon. The reason I said we are not there [luchando por el título] It’s because, really, we’re not there. We will see it game by game,” insists the former Leicester coach.
We would like that kind of pressure and I hope we can have it soon, but, really, we are not there
Enzo Maresca
Chelsea, in any case, is great. The ‘rebellion’ of the modest teams is led by Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth, fourth and fifth, two and five points behind Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, which is third.
Both will seek to take advantage of ‘Boxing Day’ to continue adding. Nuno Espírito Santo’s men don’t have it easy: they host Tottenham. Iraola’s team, who have just beaten Arsenal (2-0), City (2-1) and Tottenham (1-0), also play at home… but against Crystal Palace.
Nightmare at Old Trafford
In the ‘red’ part of Manchester they also have ‘nightmares’ for Christmas. The departure of Ten Hag and the signing of Rúben Amorim has not managed to reactivate a United team that visits Wolverhampton in the middle of the ‘Rashford storm’. “Leaving him out is my decision, mine alone. He wants to play and he’s trying.”
The Manchester United coach spoke about the bombshell that Rashford dropped
To make matters worse, the Wolves have just beaten Leicester (0-3) in Vítor Pereira’s debut as coach. At the bench level, there will be a coach who will make his debut today in Premier, coinciding with ‘Boxing Day’: Ivan Juric. The former Roma player will direct his first game for Southampton against Julen Lopetegui’s West Ham. What was said: ‘Surprise boxing’.
