Ten KEY questions for the Matchweek 18 fixtures

Here we look at the main talking points for the 10 games being played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Can Amorim navigate what is, subtly, a huge moment in Man Utd’s season?

Manchester United’s performance at Villa Park, supplied by the new tactical flexibility of the manager, suggests that Ruben Amorim’s side can look forward to a brighter future and perhaps even Uefa Champions League qualification this season.

And yet things could turn very quickly. There is something in the air that suggests Man Utd are on the edge of something; that the next couple of weeks will define their 2025/26 campaign.

Injuries and international duty mean Man Utd’s squad is looking thin in the build-up to a tough game against Newcastle United who, with a win, would go level on points and drag Amorim’s side back into mid-table ahead of an inviting set of winter games.

Man Utd play Wolverhampton Wanderers (H), Leeds United (A) and Burnley (A) after this one. If they enter that spell in good spirits then Amorim can reasonably expect three wins from three and clear air between his team and their rivals for Uefa Champions League qualification.

But if they have anything less than a win against Newcastle, Man Utd will begin that run of games with one win in their last five. A lack of confidence could then lead to dropped points against a rejuvenated Leeds in particular – and more toil ahead.

One big result on Boxing Day, Friday evening, might be all it takes for Amorim’s team to come up for air in January in a strong position for a top-five finish, meaning, for the first time, his methods are not constantly put under scrutiny.

Breathing space, and the general perception Man Utd are cementing their place near the top, would be monumental. It is within touching distance.

Will Chelsea or their visitors Villa emerge as title challengers in 2026?

Aston Villa’s 10th consecutive victory in all competitions, their longest winning run in the top flight since March 1914, has fans dreaming – but the feeling could be short-lived.

Saturday’s match at Stamford Bridge is a final of sorts. Only one of Chelsea or Villa can realistically keep up with Arsenal and Manchester City. There will be no four-horse race.

A win for Villa would open a 10-point gap to Chelsea and declare, emphatically, that Unai Emery’s side are the better team in 2025/26. Victory for Enzo Maresca's men would take them to within four points of their visitors and most likely leave Villa feeling like the moon shot at a title challenge is already over.

That’s how big a game this is for both sides, although given recent history, it feels more so for Villa, who sense a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To pull it off, they need to win at Chelsea and then win at Arsenal three days later. Over to you, Morgan Rogers.

Can Dyche repeat last season’s City Ground win or will Cherki pick the lock?

Momentum is with Man City: the ruthless attacking machine accelerating calmly through the winter months.

But if anyone can grind them to a halt, it is a Sean Dyche team determined to send their visitors home empty handed, just as Nuno Espirito Santo’s side did at the City Ground last season in a 1-0 win in March.

However, that match was defined by Man City’s midfield looking jaded towards the end of a disappointing campaign. This time, Nottingham Forest’s backs-to-the-wall approach faces a forward line in scintillating form.

Rayan Cherki has been a revelation over the last few weeks, his six key passes in the 3-0 victory against West Ham United forming the foundation of a simple win for Pep Guardiola’s side. On that occasion, Nuno's current team was swept aside.

Cherki tops the Premier League charts for chances created per 90 (3.9). His ability to pick the lock could be Man City’s most important weapon against a stubborn and narrow Dyche defence.

How does Slot inject width into the side to avoid an Arsenal-like struggle?

A Wolves win at Anfield could reshape their entire campaign. It is not entirely out of the question.

Cody Gakpo’s injury and Mohamed Salah’s absence for AFCON leaves Liverpool without much pace or invention out wide, as we saw at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday night when Arne Slot’s very narrow 3-2-2-3 formation relied upon the full-backs for width.

That could be a problem in an extremely one-sided contest this weekend at Anfield, where the Premier League's bottom club will drop into a deep 5-4-1 formation and shuffle across, blocking Liverpool’s entry into the penalty area.

It will require ingenuity and width, two things Liverpool lack, pointing to an overly-narrow and midfield-heavy home side huffing and puffing against Wolves, just as Arsenal did a fortnight ago.

Only a last-gasp own goal prevented Rob Edwards' struggling side from taking a point at Emirates Stadium. Against a Liverpool team with fewer attacking resources than Arsenal and still out of their rhythm, the Wolves boss will believe he has the tactical strategy to blunt the champions – and just possibly steal a huge three points.

Can Gyokeres use his winner at Everton to kick-start his Arsenal career?

Viktor Gyokeres ended a run of five games without a goal by scoring the winner from the penalty spot against Everton last weekend. He needs to use that moment to drive him forward and cement his place as a title-winning No 9.

Mikel Merino’s form and Arsenal’s strong start to the 2025/26 season has papered over the difficulties Gyokeres has experienced adapting to Premier League football. It should be remembered that he was supposed to be the missing piece of the jigsaw, the goalscoring striker Arsenal have been craving for so long.

But concerns are growing that Gyokeres doesn’t yet have the physicality or first touch for the Premier League.

“For whatever reason - and it shouldn’t be the case, because he’s been in the English leagues before - it looks like he’s really struggling with the physicality of it,” Jamie Redknapp said on Sky Sports after Arsenal's 1-0 victory at Everton.

“In terms of his finesse, his touch, bringing people into play – not good enough. He’s finding it tough. He needs a little bit of confidence.”

That last point is crucial. Low confidence can make even the best players suddenly look slow, weak, or technically lacking. If Gyokeres' winning goal at Everton has lifted his spirits, perhaps Arsenal fans will soon see more of the clinical striker who scored 63 goals in 66 league games for Sporting.

Can Spurs begin a recovery against tiring Palace?

In the last 10 days, Crystal Palace have lost back-to-back Premier League games and shipped 10 goals in four matches in all competitions. Fatigue appears to be setting in.

Palace have lost five and drawn one of their six matches following a Uefa Europa Conference League match this season, showing the difficulty of juggling multiple competitions with such a small squad.

Ten players have featured in at least 14 of Palace’s 17 Premier League games in 2025/26 and seven of those have started four or more of their six matches in Europe. That is simply too large a burden on the legs – and tiredness will only increase as we enter the busy festive period.

“Today is the first game (this season) we fully deserved to lose,” Oliver Glasner told Sky Sports after Palace’s 4-1 defeat at Leeds. “They played man-to-man and we lost every single duel.”

Losing duels, and leaking goals, is a sure sign of exhaustion.

This is all good news for Thomas Frank’s Spurs, who have won just one of their last eight Premier League matches. That Palace played Arsenal in midweek in the EFL Cup, losing an extended penalty shoot-out 8-7, only adds to the sense this is a big opportunity for Spurs to get back on track.

Can Calvert-Lewin again be the hero against a goals-shy Sunderland?

It might seem obvious to once again highlight Dominic Calvert-Lewin as the danger man and Leeds' possible match-winner but honestly, where else is there to look?

Calvert-Lewin has scored six goals in his last five Premier League appearances, becoming the first Leeds to player to score in five consecutive matches since Mark Viduka in 2003. He is on fire.

It might only take one Calvert-Lewin moment to win this one. Sunderland were admirably sturdy in the 0-0 draw at Brighton & Hove Albion, considering six of their players are away on AFCON duty but they nevertheless looked a little blunt in attack.

No Sunderland player has scored a goal since the 1-1 draw at Liverpool on 3 December, three whole games and over 300 minutes ago.

Assuming those goalscoring issues remain for his opponents, Leeds boss Daniel Farke will be confident his striker Calvert-Lewin can keep the run going and win another crucial three points.

Will Bournemouth be in a relegation battle by the end of January?

An eight-game winless run has put AFC Bournemouth in unexpected danger. They could conceivably be fighting for their Premier League lives by the end of January.

Tiredness has set in, a familiar issue under Andoni Iraola, whose Bournemouth have always been streaky. The Cherries have conceded 17 goals in their latest run of eight games without victory. Their overall record in 17 matches so far is 29 goals conceded, eight more than at this stage last season.

If they cannot shore up the defence for a trip to Brentford, then Bournemouth could be as little as six points above the relegation zone heading into a fixture list that reads: Chelsea (A), Arsenal (H), Spurs (H), Brighton (A) and Liverpool (H), before some respite with a trip to Wolves on 31 January.

Realistically, Bournemouth cannot expect too many points from the five matches that follow this weekend’s game at the Gtech Community Stadium. It is a must-win for Iraola.

Will this prove to be West Ham’s most important game of 2025?

There has long been an assumption among outsiders that West Ham will be fine. But they are now on a six-game winless run and the gap to 17th is growing. They are in serious trouble.

Saturday’s home game against Fulham has become surely the club’s most important match of 2025 and maybe one of the most important in the last decade.

Nuno simply cannot afford to lose further ground on Fulham, Forest and Leeds.

Fortunately this game begins a critical period of six-pointers in the bottom half, with Wolves (A) and Forest (H) to come during The Festive Fixtures. None are bigger, none as crucial to their hopes of survival, as Saturday’s showdown.

Can Turf Moor serve up an unlikely festive feast?

Nobody making the journey to Turf Moor is perhaps expecting an entertaining game.

Burnley didn’t manage a single shot until the 86th minute of last weekend’s 1-1 draw at Bournemouth, while Everton’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal had the second-lowest number of shots on target (three) in a Premier League match this season. The lowest number was registered in Burnley’s game several hours earlier.

Everton could be without the injured Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall as well as AFCON participant Iliman Ndiaye, a pair of absences that slows them down significantly. Meanwhile, Burnley's Lyle Foster is also away on international duty, taking away their main goal threat and reducing the output of Jaidon Anthony.

There may not be much goalmouth action to speak of. A single goal will probably be enough to win the game.