Premier League Matchday 19: What you need to know

Chelsea's N'Golo Kante.

The Premier League continues with Matchday 19, and Sportsnet will have live coverage of five games.

MATCHDAY #19

Wednesday, December 26
• Leicester City vs. Manchester City, 9:30 a.m. ET (Sportsnet)
• Crystal Palace vs. Cardiff City, 9:30 a.m. ET (Sportsnet World)
• Brighton & Hove Albion vs. Arsenal, noon ET (Sportsnet)
• Watford vs. Chelsea, 2:30 p.m. ET (Sportsnet)

Thursday, December 27
• Southampton vs. West Ham United, 2:00 p.m. ET (Sportsnet World)

Here’s what you need to know.

MARQUEE MATCH

Leicester City vs. Manchester City: The defending champions are in a slump, having sandwiched losses to Chelsea and Crystal Palace with a win over Everton that was flattering to say the least.

David Silva has been the steadying influence for City this season and his absence has clearly been felt. The defence has also been posed questions it has failed to answer, now going five straight matches without a clean sheet.

The Foxes, meanwhile, are riding the high of defeating Chelsea this past Saturday but will certainly be taking a gamble if they bank on Jamie Vardy for a second match in quick succession with the England striker only just returning to full fitness from a groin injury.

City can’t afford another slip-up with Liverpool pushing their lead atop the table to four points.

PLAYER TO WATCH

Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City: The Belgian had the best season of his career in 2017-18 to emerge as one of the top players in the game. His eight goals and 16 assists hardly do justice to the manner in which he dominated the opposition last season.

This season has been quite a different story with a pair of knee injuries allowing him to only make five appearances. City will be feeling some pressure to stop the bleeding on Wednesday and with Silva out, all eyes will be on De Bruyne to see if he can lead them once again.

HEADLINES

Solskjaer home debut: Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer makes his Old Trafford managerial debut on Wednesday against Huddersfield Town. Affectionately known as the ‘Baby Faced Assassin,’ the Norwegian has already helped bring some positive vibes since the departure of Jose Mourinho with a thumping 5-1 win away to Cardiff City.

Hard to believe, but it was the first time the Red Devils scored five goals in a match since Sir Alex Ferguson’s last game managing the club.

Benitez returns to Anfield: Newcastle manager Rafa Benitez makes his return to the club with which he shares some especially fond memories, none more so than May 25, 2005, when Liverpool overturned a 3-0 halftime deficit against AC Milan to win the Champions League final.

The Spaniard spent six seasons with the club, also winning the FA Cup in 2006 but never finishing higher than second place in the league.

Southampton revival?: After winning just one of their opening 16 league matches, the Saints have picked up six points in their last two matches by ending Arsenal’s 22-match unbeaten streak and carrying that form over into a convincing 3-1 win over Huddersfield.

They are home to a West Ham side that had won four straight league matches before falling 2-0 at the hands of Watford on Saturday.

After missing four straight league matches, Danny Ings has led the renaissance with three goals in the last two matches, helping lift Southampton three points out of relegation.

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Liverpool made some time for the community in the season of giving by having Mohamed Salah, Xherdan Shaqiri and Andrew Robertson surprise local school children while they talked about their favourite players. It made for some hilarious moments and is certainly worth a watch.

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