Football writer Alex Keble analyses where the midweek fixtures could be won and lost, including:
- Will Chelsea cope without Caicedo against a physical Leeds midfield?
- If Odegaard and Saka can rediscover their connection?
- Do high-pressing Brighton offer Villa the chance to improve their creativity?
- Will Salah bounce back – or will Slot keep him on the bench?
- Is this the perfect opportunity for Edwards to get a first win?
- If Nuno will continue his strong record against Amorim?
- Will Burnley get cut adrift during the festive schedule?
How will Chelsea cope without Caicedo against a physical Leeds midfield?
If Enzo Maresca had to pick the Premier League match he most needs Moises Caicedo for, he might choose the trip to Elland Road.
The rivalry between Leeds and Chelsea means this will be an intense, full-blooded battle, while the physicality of the Leeds midfield means Maresca’s side will need to be at their most bullish, their most bruising, to emerge unscathed.
Caicedo, the engine and tackler in chief, is an essential part of the Chelsea side but he misses out after receiving a red card against Arsenal.
Chelsea’s title bid rests on their ability to play without Caicedo; on this young, inexperienced team – and Andrey Santos in particular - rising to the unique challenge of this fixture without the one player tailor-made for it.
The tenacity and fight Leeds showed at Man City at the weekend is another reason for Chelsea fans to be wary, although Daniel Farke has only won three matches this season - against Everton, Wolverhampton Wanderers and West Ham United.
Chelsea should win. Anything less and the bold performance against Arsenal will be forgotten.
Will Odegaard and Saka rediscover their connection?
Brentford’s stubborn low block has the potential to make this game a banana skin for Arsenal, who often struggle to break down an ultra-defensive team in any way aside from set-pieces – and Brentford’s Expected Goals Conceded (xGC) of 2.14 from set-pieces is the lowest in the Premier League.
Mikel Arteta needs his creative players to pick the lock, which is to say he needs Bukayo Saka to build on his assist in Sunday's 1-1 draw at Chelsea and Martin Odegaard to get back up to speed fast.
Odegaard is still on the road to recovery and is unlikely to start, but he may well be needed off the bench if Saka cannot provide a moment of magic in open play before then.
Saka’s assist against Chelsea was his first in the Premier League for 365 days, a record that has slipped under the radar but shows the Arsenal right-winger isn’t the creative force he was last season, when he weighed in with 10 assists in the league.
Not without Odegaard, anyway. If these two can get on the pitch together and rediscover their old connections, Arsenal will have no trouble beating a side with only three points on the road, the joint-second lowest total in the division.
Do high-pressing Brighton offer Villa the chance to improve their creative record?
Aston Villa continue to look laboured in attack, their obvious lack of speed or natural width becoming a serious problem despite results.
At the moment long-range strikes (56 per cent of their total goals have been scored from outside the box) are getting Villa out of trouble, but clearly that is not a sustainable tactic.
Counter-intuitively, a couple of tough matches this week – Brighton & Hove Albion away, then Arsenal at home – could be what’s needed to rediscover some of the old attacking rhythms.
Villa looked slow and static against Wolves and Leeds partly because it is difficult for Unai Emery’s side to play against a low block, but when teams come at Villa, like hard-pressing Brighton will, they could revel in an end-to-end contest and the space it creates.
Brighton's 116 high turnovers is the best in the division this season, while they are second for pressed sequences, with 164.
The Seagulls will come out and advance on Villa, potentially creating the lanes for Youri Tielemans’ line-splitting passes to get Morgan Rogers on the half-turn.
If Ollie Watkins is back in the side, he can expect some joy with runs in behind.
Will Salah bounce back – or will Slot keep him on the bench?
The last time Liverpool won a Premier League match, impressively beating Aston Villa 2-0 at Anfield, they then beat Real Madrid 1-0 in the Champions League – only to crash back to earth with consecutive 3-0 defeats.
It goes without saying Liverpool have to ensure their latest victory is a real turning point, which gives Arne Slot a difficult decision to make.
Mohamed Salah was dropped for the 2-0 win at West Ham, where Liverpool looked more balanced with Dominik Szoboszlai starting on the right to help his team dominate in central midfield. There is logic in continuing with that selection on Wednesday, although Slot will need to rotate as the busy winter period begins.
What’s more, if there is momentum from the win at West Ham, this could be an opportune moment to bring Salah in, especially if Alexander Isak – who scored at West Ham – is now feeling more confident, and ready to link with the right-winger.
Salah needs to play his way into form. He cannot do that from the bench.
Is this the perfect opportunity for Edwards to get a first win?
Rob Edwards had his first full week on the training ground with the first team in the build-up to the weekend game at Villa, and the difference in performance levels was stark.
Wolves were very unlucky to lose to a Boubacar Kamara thunderbolt, with Emiliano Martinez putting in a brilliant performance to give Villa a win they arguably didn’t really deserve.
Assuming they took heart from the performance, Wolves should be in a good position, then, to finally get their first win of the season on Wednesday.
Nottingham Forest have only won one away game this season, and although that was their most recent one, the tactical shape of their 3-0 win at Liverpool could not be more different from what they are presented with at Molineux.
Wolves will sit deep and hope to launch their own counter-attacks, potentially nullifying Sean Dyche’s favoured playing style.
There are easier games than this, but Forest are 16th in the table. If Wolves are to avoid relegation, they will need to win every single one of their home games against bottom-half opposition.
Will Nuno continue his strong record against Amorim?
Nuno Espirito Santo beat Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United twice last season.
His Nottingham Forest side won 3-2 at Old Trafford in early December, not long after Amorim was appointed, and then 1-0 at the City Ground in April. On both occasions Forest scored the opener within the first five minutes.
Nuno will instruct his West Ham team to race out of the blocks, to put Man Utd under early pressure and see if they again buckle.
However, West Ham are nowhere near the level of Nuno’s Forest in 2024/25, and with Lucas Paqueta suspended and Crysensio Summerville still injured, Man Utd host the Hammers at a very good time.
United's victory at Crystal Palace wasn't pretty, but it was another impressive moment in Amorim’s recovery. With Wolves (A) and AFC Bournemouth (H) up next, there is a real opportunity here to string some wins together and move into a strong position for UEFA Champions League qualification.
Will Burnley get cut adrift during the festive schedule?
Starting Tuesday, there are 80 Premier League matches to be played in the 38 days up until 8 January. Across four weekends and three midweek rounds each team will play, on average, every 4.75 days.
It has taken almost four months to play the first 13 rounds of the 2025/26 Premier League season. The next eight – 62 per cent of 13 – will be played in a quarter of that time.
When the fixtures lessen in January the league table will look very different, and generally it is those with the fewest resources who struggle the most during a busy run of matches.
Burnley are clinging on at the moment but they risk falling away through winter. Palace at home is tough, but it may also be one of the easier matches they have in December.