Summary

  • Benteke scores Palace's first away goal of season

  • Belgian sets Zaha up for second, sub Sako adds late third

  • Ndidi sent off for diving in the box on his birthday

  1. 'Ozil-Sanchez situation will come to a head'published at 11:34 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Arsenal v Newcastle (15:00 GMT)

    Jermaine Jenas
    Former Tottenham midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    Alexis Sanchez and Mesut OzilImage source, Reuters

    If you look at Arsenal, Liverpool and Spurs they've had similar seasons. Inconsistencies - that's why the're battling it out for the one Champions League spot.

    The Ozil-Sanchez situation will come to a head soon and it will cause a problem. The longer Arsenal play this way, the longer they'll think it's time to move on.

    In the summer, they should have let one go and brought in Riyad Mahrez. That's not going to cost you £100m. You'd find yourself in profit after that deal.

    How did it come to the last day of the transfer window and they were still trying to sign Thomas Lemar, who was playing for France? How did it come down to that one moment?

    You can see the years ticking down on their contract. Go and try to make a statement signing to replace them.

  2. Team newspublished at 11:30 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017
    Breaking

    Leicester v Crystal Palace (12:30 GMT)

    LEicester XIImage source, BBC Sport

    Leicester make three changes after their impressive showing at Southampton. Marc Albrighton, Demarai Gray and Vicente Iborra come in for Christian Fuchs, Andy Kind and Shinji Okazaki.

    Leicester XI: Schmeichel, Simpson, Maguire, Morgan, Chilwell, Ndidi, Iborra, Albrighton, Mahrez, Vardy.

    Palace XIImage source, BBC Sport

    Crystal Palace make two changes after their late showing against Watford. Martin Kelly and James McArthur replace Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Luka Milivojevic.

    Palace XI: Speroni, Kelly, Tomkins, Dann, Schlupp, Townsend, Cabaye, McArthur, Loftus-Cheek, Zaha, Benteke.

  3. Can Gunners make it 10?published at 11:25 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Arsenal v Newcastle (15:00 GMT)

    Arsenal have won nine successive Premier League games against Newcastle, scoring 22 goals and conceding just six.

    ArsenalImage source, .
  4. 'Solanke and Abraham should have had a chance'published at 11:19 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Chelsea v Southampton (15:00 GMT)

    Ray Wilkins
    Former Chelsea midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    Andreas Christensen deserves a lot of credit – he went on loan to Borussia Monchengladbach and has come back a bloke because he's played all the time. He looks different class. If they want to free up money, they could get rid of David Luiz and trust him to play.

    I was flabbergasted when they sold Matic to sign Bakayoko. Chalobah goes to Watford for £6m, I don’t see the £34m differential between him and Bakayoko. He’s not been very good.

    I can't understand what happened to Costa. We should have him and Morata at Chelsea. You need top quality strikers. Chelsea need another centre forward

    In my humble opinion Batshuayi is not a Chelsea footballer. We let Solanke go to Liverpool and Abraham go to Swansea. Surely one of these young men can come off the bench and save you £40m.

    Had Ruben Loftus-Cheek trod the same path as Dele Alli, they'd be equal if not Ruben being better.

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post
  5. The boss...published at 11:17 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Chelsea v Southampton (15:00 GMT)

    Antonio Conte has won 74.6% of his league matches as Chelsea head coach, the best record of any Blues boss.

    Antonio ConteImage source, .
  6. Lawro takes on WWE starpublished at 11:15 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Media caption,

    Warford? Fournemouth? John Cena as you've never seen him before!

    This week, Mark Lawrenson takes on American wrestler John Cena in his predictions. There won't be any excuse if he loses to a man who thinks there's a Premier League team called Fournemouth.

    Read their predictions here.

    Have a go yourself with our predictor tool.

  7. 'Pochettino's side have a point to prove'published at 11:13 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    Jermaine Jenas
    Former Tottenham midfielder

    Tottenham's title hopes are over and, whatever happens when they play Manchester City on Saturday, they are just fighting to finish in the top four.

    But Mauricio Pochettino's side can still do some serious groundwork at Etihad Stadium for future success, starting with the way they approach the game.

    For a team that talk about themselves as future Premier League champions, their record under Pochettino away from home against the rest of last season's top six is getting a bit silly.

    It is not just the results that have been poor. I cannot remember the last good performance they put in against any of those sides away from White Hart Lane or Wembley.

    Read more here.

    SpursImage source, .
  8. I would not have gotten into this City team - Guardiolapublished at 11:11 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    Pep Guardiola says his record-breaking Manchester City team is so good he would not have been able to get into it during his successful playing career.

    The Premier League leaders are the first English top flight side to win 15 consecutive league games.

    As a Barcelona midfielder Guardiola won six league titles, the European Cup and Uefa Cup Winners' Cup in the 1990s.

    But asked if he would make the current City side, he said: "No way. Fernandinho is much, much better."

    Pep GuardiolaImage source, Getty Images
  9. 'Completely different brand of football'published at 11:08 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    Jermaine Jenas
    Former Tottenham midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    Man CityImage source, Empics

    Manchester City are playing some of the best football we’ve seen in the Premier League. There are opportunities for Spurs this weekend if they go into the game in the right mentality.

    What teams tend to do, especially at the Etihad, is park the bus. The midfield lines are very deep so when the defence win it, they just hock it up the field. What you need to have is a couple of players who don’t panic under pressure and can soak it up and can play a quick ball to get City’s defenders running at their own goal.

    We have seen a complete change in the way City play. You don’t get that just by spending money. Man Utd have probably spent almost half a billion pounds without changing their style. City have a completely different brand of football to anything we’ve seen in the Premier League before.

  10. Three superstarspublished at 11:03 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    City have 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).

    Man CityImage source, .
  11. 'Man City have four world class players'published at 10:58 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Tottenham (17:30 GMT)

    Kieron Dyer
    Former England and Newcastle midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    I look at this Manchester City team and I don't see that in every position they have a world class player.

    They have four world class players and they are going on this run. I think Pep Guardiola deserves all the respect for what he has done.

    It will be interesting to see how Tottenham approach this game. Last season at White Hart Lane they went full press. They pressed Manchester City and their tactics that day were spot on.

    The reason why City have been so dominant this year has been Sterling and Sane on the wings. If you press and leave a high line then those two will be an absolute nightmare for the opposition.

  12. Early team newspublished at 10:54 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    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.

  13. 'City are best team in Europe'published at 10:49 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Man City v Spurs (17:30 GMT)

    Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino says Saturday's opponents Manchester City are the "best team in Europe".

    Hit the play button below.

  14. Postpublished at 10:48 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Leicester-Crystal Palace is the early game but we shall step away from that for a little while and take a quick look at Saturday's other games...

  15. How did he miss?!published at 10:40 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Crystal Palace striker Christian Benteke has had a difficult time of it recently. He has forgotten where the net is, failing to score in 13 games.

    Spare a thought for fellow Belgian frontman Divock Origi.

    The Liverpool striker, on loan at German club Wolfsburg, had a shocker during the week.

    Hit the play button below...

    Media caption,

    Divock Origi misses open goal for Wolfsburg

  16. 'Southampton's loss is Leicester's gain'published at 10:35 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Leicester v Crystal Palace (12:30 GMT)

    Phil McNulty
    BBC Sport chief football writer

    Since his arrival at Leicester City, Claude Puel has overseen a development of his new side based on pace from Jamie Vardy, counter-attacking brilliance led by the revitalised Riyad Mahrez, youth in the shape of Demarai Gray and width as the Foxes' full-backs Ben Chilwell and Danny Simpson have been unleashed.

    It has come as no surprise to those who closely observed his work in France, where he built his reputation on expertly utilising the players available to him, reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League in 2010 with a Lyon side that was pleasing on the eye.

    Read more here.

    Claude PuelImage source, Reuters
  17. 'Albrighton reminds me of Sinton'published at 10:31 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Leicester v Crystal Palace (12:30 GMT)

    Ray Wilkins
    Former England midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    I don’t know why Aston Villa let Marc Albrighton go. He reminds me of Andy Sinton, who could cross it off either side. It’s not just ‘in it goes’, it goes in with quality.

    I think Leicester will go higher than seventh. Their group of players love the way they play.

    This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on Twitter
    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    Skip twitter post

    Allow Twitter content?

    This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

    The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
    End of twitter post

    App users may need to click on the above to view the tweet.

  18. get involved

    Get Involvedpublished at 10:28 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    #bbcfootball, 81111 (UK only), MOTD Facebook page

    John Ingham‏: Why no mention of Europe chasing Burnley?

    And the Clarets are in action too today.

    Sean DycheImage source, Getty Images
  19. 'I don't worry about Palace'published at 10:24 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Leicester v Crystal Palace (12:30 GMT)

    Jermaine Jenas
    Former Tottenham midfielder on BBC Radio 5 live

    Palace are one of those sides, I don’t worry about them. They’ve got the firepower, creativity and desire. When Selhurst is rocking, it’s a tough place go and play. Fair play to Roy Hodgson.

    I’ve seen games at Leicester where Claude Puel has held back a bit. Against West Ham it was going badly and he panicked, bringing Riyad Mahrez off.

  20. A long waitpublished at 10:19 Greenwich Mean Time 16 December 2017

    Leicester v Crystal Palace (12:30 GMT)

    Roy Hodgson's last Premier League game against Leicester City came in August 1998 (whilst in charge of Blackburn).

    Today's fixture will feature the longest gap (7,049 days) between a manager facing a particular Premier League opponent.

    Roy HodgsonImage source, .