Premier League Christmas Wishlist

With Christmas on the horizon, I wonder what the 20 Premier League clubs will be asking for this festive period. Here is what I think there Christmas list will be (In League table order)

Leicester – Keeping other clubs away from men of the moment Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez. They are the hottest targets in the league right now but will the call of Chelsea be too much for Vardy to turn down or do they stay to finish off this already wonderful season and maybe do the unthinkable?

Arsenal – Wrapping Mesut Ozil in cotton wool and hoping there isn’t another injury crisis in the New Year that always seems to derail their title tilt. Maybe another defensive Midfielder to shore up the centre of the park and it really could be Arsenal’s year

Manchester City – A returning Vincent Kompany and a fully fit Sergio Aguero. If they can sort the issues at both ends of the pitch then they can relaunch their stuttering Championship challenge. Manuel Pellegrini will probably wish that someone else employs Pep Guardiola between now and May to ease the growing pressure surrounding his job

Tottenham – Another Striker added to the ranks now that Clinton N’Jie is out for 3 months, not only that but getting one early in the window will be key. The games are going to come thick and fast now for Tottenham so this is going to be a real test for the squad. There is a wave of optimism currently at White Hart Lane let’s just hope it doesn’t fizzle out

Manchester United – Louis Van Gaal will have quite a long list I imagine. Some Goals, a win, and keeping his job. He’s already a lot of money so I’m not sure the United’s upper echelons are going to give him too much this Xmas. I expect Van Gaal is also hoping that Jose Mourinho decides to go on a nice long holiday somewhere away from Manchester.

Crystal Palace – What more can Alan Pardew wish for at the moment. I guess just sustaining their current league position for starters. Although the crazy thing they are on level points with Spurs in 4th. Will this new American investment arrive in time to allow a January splurge to try secure European Football next Season

Watford – I think it will be keeping Odion Ighalo and Troy Deeney fit and healthy. Their partnership is working wonders so far and they have won their last 4 matches thanks their contribution. Another 4 wins and will be safe, I guess the key is to then make sure they don’t let the momentum drop once this achieved

West Ham – Getting Dimitri Payet back from injury. They haven’t won since he has been injured and more to the point they haven’t won in their 7 last matches. That absence is just the tip of the iceberg, if they can get the half dozen key players back then their season should be revitalised

Liverpool – Consistency. We’ve seen the best and worst of Liverpool this season. Wonderful away at Manchester City, woeful away at Watford. It’s Jurgen Klopp’s first transfer window as Liverpool Manager maybe the Liverpool board will allow him to spend some of that Xmas Money, A new Defender might be the first treat for ex Dortmund boss.

Everton – Like their Merseyside rivals Everton also need consistency. Romelu Lukaku is playing his best Football since his move but the league position doesn’t quite reflect that. There are some murmurs of discontent on Merseysidem will news that investment is possibly round the corner placate that

Stoke – I think Mark Hughes won’t be asking for too much this Christmas. Maybe a push into the top half of the table but apart from that there’s nothing apparent that is urgently needed. I expect Hughes is happy with the personnel and half term report

Southampton – They’ll be hoping to get out of this slump that they are currently in. No win in the last 5 league matches and if they keep this up they’ll be in a relegation dogfight. Not quite crisis at St Mary’s yet but Ronald Koeman needs to see a revival of fortunes down on the South Coast

West Brom – Defeat at home to Bournemouth last Weekend just slightly pulled them closer to that relegation mini league. Tony Pulis will have to make sure that he keeps the wolves from the relegation trapdoor but that will probably mean raising funds in the sale of Saido Berahino to get some new faces in. Could be a bleak winter for The Baggies

Bournemouth – Keeping this run going and getting as far away from the drop zone as possible is one thing, the return of Callum Wilson is the other. Everyone thought Bournemouth were done for when Wilson was ruled out for 6 months, they are not clear yet but they have certainly turned the corner as of late

Chelsea – Jose Mourinho and Guus Hiddink is in to hopefully steady the ship. The circus has left town and that means the threat of relegation has all but disappeared. Now they need to focus on salvaging their season and their very slim Top 4 hopes. The second half of the season won’t be as bad the first, maybe an F.A. Cup win?

Norwich – Maybe Alex Neil will be asking for a new Defender to stop the leaking of goals at the back. Goals and more importantly wins have been hard to come by but confidence will be boosted by their win at Old Trafford last week. They will be in a relegation fight no doubt about that, but what side of the dotted line will then end up on

Newcastle – Steve McClaren will hope this improvement of form as of late and unbeaten run of 3 matches continues over the festive period to give them a bit of breathing space from the drop zone. The signs of life are there but still lack a cutting edge, they will certainly look at last week’s home draw against Aston Villa as two points dropped

Swansea – They will be hoping for a new Manager. The search for a boss seems to have gone cold at The Liberty Stadium and with the transfer window around the corner they can’t afford to wait much longer. Also a return to form for Gomis, Ayew and Montero will probably be at the bottom of the list

Sunderland – Sam Allardyce will be hoping that Ellis Short has give him a bumper transfer budget to spend in January. The players they currently have in the squad won’t be good enough to keep The Black Cats up, it looks like another batch of 6 month heroes are going to have to arrive if they are to get Sunderland out of this mess

Aston Villa – Remi Garde will be wishing for a Christmas miracle