WITH OUR RESIDENT EXPERT AND TIPSTER: OMULANGIRA KUSSAM KALEMA

Arsenal have won nine successive EPL games against Newcastle

Arsenal remain without injured duo Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott but Shkodran Mustafi may be available following a thigh problem. Sead Kolasinac and Alexandre Lacazette are set to be reinstated after being rested at West Ham in midweek. Newcastle midfielder Jonjo Shelvey is banned following his red card against Everton, with former Arsenal player Isaac Hayden expected to deputise. Aleksandar Mitrovic misses out with a back injury but Paul Dummett returns.

MATCH FACTS: Head-to-head

• Arsenal have won nine successive Premier League games against Newcastle, scoring 22 goals and conceding just six.
• Newcastle have lost their last five away matches at Arsenal, with their most recent victory being 1-0 in November 2010.
  Arsenal
• Arsenal are winless in three Premier League games, drawing two of them.
• They are closer to the bottom of the table than to the top – 18 points ahead of Swansea and 19 points behind leaders Manchester City.
• Arsenal could lose back-to-back home league games in the same season for the first time since November 2010, when one of those defeats came against Newcastle.
• The Gunners are unbeaten in 33 matches against promoted teams, winning 28 of them, since losing at QPR in March 2012.
• Arsene Wenger’s side have kept eight clean sheets in 2017-18, second only to Manchester United’s 10.
• No side have hit the woodwork more than Arsenal this season, who have done so on 10 occasions.
  Olivier Giroud has scored five goals in four league games against the Magpies at the Emirates Stadium.

Newcastle United

• They have picked up just one point in their last eight Premier League matches, conceding 18 goals during that period.
• Newcastle’s tally of 15 points is their lowest after 17 matches of a top-flight season since 1988-89, when they went on to finish bottom.
• The Magpies’ last league win was 1-0 at home to Crystal Palace on 21 October.
• Rafa Benitez’s side have been beaten in 10 of their 17 league games.
• Newcastle’s 1-0 win at Swansea in September is their solitary triumph in 19 Premier League away matches – they have taken just seven points from a possible 57 during this run.

Morata back to haunt Saints

Chelsea welcome back top scorer Alvaro Morata, who missed the win at Huddersfield through a combination of fatigue and a back problem. Defender David Luiz is continuing his rehabilitation from inflammation on his knee and remains out. Southampton manager Mauricio Pellegrino has a full squad at his disposal. Nathan Redmond and James Ward-Prowse could earn recalls after dropping out of the starting line-up in the midweek defeat by Leicester. Wesley Hoedt, who was not even on the bench on Wednesday despite being available, may also return.

MATCH FACTS:Head-to-head

• Chelsea have won each of their last three Premier League games against Southampton since losing 3-1 at Stamford Bridge in October 2015.
• Saints have kept one clean sheet in their last 24 league games against the Blues – a goalless draw in west London on Boxing Day 2002.

Chelsea

• Chelsea have won seven of their last nine league matches (D1, L1), including their last four games at Stamford Bridge.
• Antonio Conte has won 74.6% of his league matches as Chelsea head coach, the best record of any Blues boss.
• All but one one of their nine Premier League defeats under Conte have come in London.
  Willian has been directly involved in six league and cup goals in his last four starts for Chelsea, with four goals and two assists.
• Eden Hazard has had a hand in five goals in his last seven games against Southampton, scoring three and providing two assists.

Southampton

• Southampton have only won two of their 40 top-flight matches away to the reigning champions – against Leeds in 1970 and Chelsea in 2015.
• Saints’ tally of 18 points after 17 games is their lowest at this stage since their first season back in the Premier League in 2012-13.
• They have six points fewer than at this stage last term under Claude Puel.
• Charlie Austin has scored eight goals in his last 12 Premier League starts for Southampton, including four in his last four games.

Tottenham seeks to maintain hoodoo over Manchester City

Manchester City are likely to recall Leroy Sane and Kyle Walker, who will make his first competitive appearance against his former side. Defenders Vincent Kompany, John Stones and Benjamin Mendy remain sidelined. Tottenham central defender Davinson Sanchez must complete a three-game ban.Dele Alli and Mousa Dembele may return after being rested in midweek, while Ben Davies and Kieran Trippier could also feature if Spurs continue to rotate their full-backs.

MATCH FACTS: Head-to-head

• Manchester City are winless in four Premier League games against Spurs since a run of four consecutive victories between November 2013 and May 2015 (D1, L3).
• Tottenham have won 10 Premier League away games at Manchester City, more than they have at any other club.

Manchester City

• City’s record run of 15 consecutive league wins is only the third best streak of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career. He won 16 in a row with Barcelona in 2010-11 and 19 with Bayern Munich in 2013-14.
• Manchester City have scored the winning goal in or after the 83rd minute in each of their last three league and cup home games.
• Sergio Aguero is one shy of 100 goals for Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium in all competitions. He has 99 goals in 133 home games.
• Aguero has scored 35 times in 52 Premier League games against “big six” opposition – with those strikes representing 29% of City’s 119 goals in those matches.
• David Silva has scored four times in his last three games – doubling his total this calendar year to eight Premier League goals.
• City boast the only three players to have scored at least five Premier League goals this season whilst also registering at least five assists – David Silva and Kevin de Bruyne (both five goals and eight assists), plus Leroy Sane (six goals and six assists).

Tottenham Hotspur

• Spurs have not won a Premier League away game since beating Huddersfield in September, claiming just one point from four matches.
• Under Mauricio Pochettino, Spurs have won just one of 17 Premier League games away to the “big six” (D6, L10). That sole victory came at Manchester City in February 2016.
• Pochettino’s first match as a head coach was against Pep Guardiola – he led Espanyol to a 0-0 draw against Barcelona in a Copa del Rey game on 21 January 2009.
• A month later, Pochettino claimed his first ever win by guiding Espanyol to a 2-1 league victory against Guardiola’s Barca at the Camp Nou on 21 February.
• Pochettino has won two of 11 competitive meetings with Guardiola as a manager or head coach (D4, L5).
• Harry Kane has seven goals in seven Premier League away matches for Spurs this season.
  Kane’s Premier League goal tally in 2017 stands at 33 goals in 33 games – just three goals away from equalling Alan Shearer’s record of 36 in 1995.

West Brom have lost eight of their 11 EPL home games against Man United

West Brom could be boosted by the return of Matt Phillips and Gareth Barry following respective hamstring and thigh injuries.However, Nacer Chadli, Craig Dawson and James Morrison remain sidelined.
Manchester United central defender Eric Bailly is out for up to three months with an ankle injury. Paul Pogba serves the final game of his suspension but Marcos Rojo and Marouane Fellaini may both be involved after respective head and knee injuries.
MATCH FACTS: Head-to-head

• West Brom have lost eight of their 11 Premier League home games against Manchester United, with their only victory coming in March last year.
• However, Albion have won three of the eight league meetings home and away since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement as United manager (W3, D2, L3).
• The teams drew 5-5 at The Hawthorns in May 2013, in Ferguson’s 1500th and final match in charge of Manchester United. Romelu Lukaku scored a hat-trick for West Brom in that game.

West Bromwich Albion

• West Brom are enduring a seven-match winless run at home in the league (D5, L2).
  They haven’t won at all since August and are currently on a club record winless streak of 16 games in all competitions.
• The Baggies are yet to score in the Premier League since Alan Pardew took charge three games ago.
  Albion have failed to score in 17 league matches so far in 2017. Another game without a goal would make it their worst return since 1971, when they failed to score in 20.
• This could be Gareth Barry’s 36th Premier League appearance against Manchester United – only Ryan Giggs (38) has faced an opponent more often in Premier League history.

Manchester United

• United are looking for a third consecutive away win in the Premier League – they’ve scored seven goals in their two previous victories.
• The Red Devils have earned 24 Premier League points out of a possible 27 at Old Trafford this season, but only 14 points out of a possible 24 in away fixtures.
• David de Gea has kept 24 clean sheets since the start of last season, a figure matched only by Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak in the five major European leagues.
• Since the start of last season, Romelu Lukaku has scored 30 goals in 38 league appearances against clubs outside the established top six.
• Lukaku scored a hat-trick the last time he played in this fixture; no player has ever scored a hat-trick for both clubs in a Premier League fixture.

Liverpool are unbeaten in their last eight games in the Premier League

Tyrone Mings and Adam Federici remain out for Bournemouth with back problems, while Brad Smith is again sidelined by a hip injury. Both Steve Cook and Harry Arter are one booking away from a suspension.
Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet will return for Liverpool after missing out against West Brom with an ankle problem. The Reds have a lengthy injury list and will also be without the suspended Emre Can, but Adam Lallana and Daniel Sturridge could be involved.

MATCH FACTS: Head-to-head

• Bournemouth’s 4-3 win in this fixture 12 months ago is their only triumph in 11 league and cup games against Liverpool (D3, L7).
• Last season’s two meetings produced a total of 11 goals – only the games between Crystal Palace and Swansea (12 goals) yielded more in 2016-17.

Bournemouth

• The Cherries are winless in their last five league games (D3, L2).
• They have claimed eight Premier League points at home this season – only Swansea, with seven, have fewer.
• Eddie Howe’s side have taken just one point from a possible 27 this season against teams who began this weekend in the top half of the table.
• Jermain Defoe has scored three goals in his last three league matches against Liverpool, one more than he netted in his first 20 games versus the Reds.

Liverpool

• Liverpool are unbeaten in their last eight games in the Premier League (W5, D3) – their best run since an 11-match streak ended in November 2016.
• The Reds have only lost one of their last 22 league games against teams from outside the “big six”, winning 14 of those matches and drawing seven.
• Jurgen Klopp has made 65 changes to Liverpool’s starting line-up in this season’s Premier League, which is 23 more than any other team.
• Last season, Klopp only made a total of 54 changes to his starting line-up in the league.
• Mohamed Salah could become the first Liverpool player to score at least 20 league and cup goals in a single season since Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge both did so in 2013-14.
• Twenty three of the Reds’ last 27 goals in all competitions have been scored by either Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino or Philippe Coutinho.

La Liga: Five things to look out for this weekend

Real Madrid’s involvement in the Club World Cup means the Barcelonas, Atletico Madrids and Valencias can take advantage by winning this weekend. Real Madrid’s Club World Cup commitments mean Barcelona, Valencia and Atletico Madrid have a huge chance to put even more distance between themselves and the European champion this weekend. Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao and Real Sociedad face off at San Mames, while newly-promoted Girona and Getafe have the chance to move into the top six.
Here, AFP Sports looks at five things to watch for this weekend in La Liga:

Barca’s big pre-Clasico chance

If it beats Deportivo la Coruna at the Camp Nou on Sunday, Barca will take a commanding 11-point lead over Real. Next weekend, Barca travels to the Santiago Bernabeu bidding to end the year with an El Clasico win over Real Madrid. Even with a game in hand, Madrid has never overcome such a deficit to win the league and to remain in the title race would realistically need to inflict Barca’s first defeat since it last visited the Bernabeu back in August to win the Spanish Super Cup.

Suarez back in business

Further aiding Barca’s bid to regain the title is Luis Suarez’s return to form after a poor start to the season. Suarez struggled for both form and fitness after rushing back from a knee injury suffered as Barca fell to Madrid in the Super Cup.
However, the Uruguayan has scored in his last two outings against Celta Vigo and Villarreal with the latter strike in particular displaying the touch and speed of movement of Suarez at his best. Playing Deportivo also tends to bring the best out of the former Liverpool striker, having netted six times in his last three meetings against the Galicians.

Bleak times in the Basque country

Athletic and Sociedad are both in need of some festive cheer in the midst of hugely disappointing campaigns so far only propped up by progress to the Round of 32 of the Europa League. Both sides have just two league wins each since mid-September and were dumped out of the Copa del Rey by third-tier opposition in Formentera and Lleida Esportiu.
However, with just six points separating sixth from 17th in the table, European ambitions for next season are still a realistic goal for the Basque teams if the squads boasting the talents of Spanish internationals Kepa Arrizabalaga, Inaki Williams, Aritz Aduriz, Asier Illarramendi and Alvaro Odriozola start playing to their potential.

From second-tier to top six

With Girona hosting Getafe before Villarreal’s trip to Celta Vigo on Sunday, a win for either side will take it into the top six for a few hours at least despite having two of the five smallest budgets in the division. “Money isn’t everything, with humility Girona are competing very well,” said Girona boss Pablo Machin after Monday’s 1-0 win at Espanyol.
In its first ever season in the top flight, Girona’s tiny budget on paper is aided by Manchester City’s part ownership of the Catalan club with five players on loan from the Premier League leader.
After bouncing straight back after relegation, Getafe has learned from the mistakes made during its 12-year stay in La Liga between 2004 and 2016 with crowds up at the Alfonso Perez Coliseum and Jose Bordalas building a side that caused even Barca and Madrid problems and inflicted Valencia’s only defeat of the season.

Alaves threatens Atletico charge

End 2017 strongly and Atletico could be very much in the title race come the new year with nearly 100 million euros of talent in Diego Costa and Vitolo finally freed up to play from January. Victory over Alaves in their final home game of the year on Saturday will see Diego Simeone’s men sleep just three points off the top and open up a five-point lead over city rival Real.
However, despite still languishing in the relegation zone, Alaves poses a more potent threat with Abelardo Fernandez in charge, having masterminded two wins from two since being named the Basques’ third coach of the season.

WEEKEND BETTING TIPS FOR THE MAJOR LEAGUES 

England – Premier League
3:30 Leicester City – Crystal Palace-1/over/gg
6:30 Arsenal – Newcastle-1/over
6:30 Brighton – Burnley-x2/gg
6:30 Chelsea – Southampton-1/over
6:30 Stoke City – West Ham Utd-2/over
6:30 Watford – Huddersfield-1over
8:30 Man City -Tottenham-1/over/gg

Sunday

3:15 West Bromwich Albion vs Manchester United – 2/over
7:30 Bournemouth vs Liverpool – Over

England – Championship
6:00 Birmingham – QPR-X/GG
6:00 Bolton – Burton Albion-2/UNDER
6:00 Brentford – Barnsley-1
6:00 Bristol City – Nottingham Forest-X/GG
6:00 Derby County – Aston Villa-X
6:00 Ipswich – Reading-2

Bundesliga
5:30 Augsburg vs Freiburg-1/OVER
5:30 Stuttgart vs Bayern-2
5:30 Werder Bremen vs Mainz-1
5:30 E.Frankfurt vs Schalke-X
5:30 FC Cologne vs Wolfsburg-2
8:30 Dortmund vs Hoffenheim-1

Sunday
Hannover 96 vs Leverkusen-2
Leipzig vs Hertha Berlin-1

SPANISH LA LIGA
6:15 Athletic Bilbao vs Real Sociedad-1/OVER
8:30 Eibar vs Valencia-2/OVER
10:45 Atletico Madrid vs Alaves-1/OVER

Dutch Eredivisie
7:30 SC Heerenveen vs NAC Breda-1
8:30 Willem II vs PEC Zwolle-X
9:45 PSV Eindhoven vs ADO Den Haag-1
10:45 Roda vs VVV-Venlo-X
10:45 Twente vs Vitesse-2

Turkey Super Lig
12:00 Genclerbirligi vs Kasimpasa-1
4:30 Alanyaspor vs Sivasspor-2
7:30 Trabzonspor vs Bursaspor-1

Portugal Liga NOS
7:00 Feirense vs Vitoria de Setubal -1
9:15 Estoril vs Aves
11:30 Braga vs Belenenses -1

French Ligue 1
7:00 Rennes vs PSG-2
7:00 Caen vs Guingam-2
7:00 Dijon vs Lille-1
7:00 Strasbourg vs Toulouse-X
7:00 Troyes vs Amiens-X
7:00 Montpellier vs Metz-1

Sunday
Nantes vs Angers-1
Nice vs Bordeaux-1
Lyon vs Marseille-1/over/gg

Scotland – Premiership
6:30 Aberdeen – Hibernian-1
9:30 Dundee – Partick Thistle-1
9:30 Hamilton – Ross County-1
9:30 Kilmarnock – Motherwell-2
9:30 Rangers – St. Johnstone-1

Serie A
3:00 Inter vs Udinese – gg
8:00 Torino vs Napoli – 2
10:45 Roma vs Cagliari – 1/over

Sunday
Verona vs AC Milan-2
Fiorentina vs Genoa-1
Sampdoria vs Sassuolo-1
Crotone vs Chievo-x2/over
Bologna vs Juventus-2
Benevento vs SPAL 2013–over/gg
Atalanta vs Lazio-2

TABLE OF THE TOP 20 TEAMS IN EUROPE:

TABLE OF TOP 10 PLAYERS IN EUROPE: