Premier League Matchday 16 Preview: Tyne-Wear derby, Salah, Slot and more | OneFootball

What happened in Matchday 15?

Matchday 15 commenced in dramatic fashion as Premier League leaders Arsenal lost 2-1 at Aston Villa thanks to a goal by Emi Buendia with the very last kick of the game. The result temporarily moved Villa up to second in the table, just three points behind the Gunners.

Manchester City returned to second in the table and closed the gap to Arsenal to just two points thanks to a routine 3-0 win over Sunderland and that was the same scoreline for in-form Everton who moved up to fifth (later dropping to seventh) with their victory over Nottingham Forest.

Newcastle and Tottenham also recorded home wins on Saturday afternoon but it was another disappointing result for Chelsea who followed their 3-1 defeat at Leeds with a goalless draw at Bournemouth.

The game of the weekend was played out at Elland Road where Leeds held Liverpool to a 3-3 draw thanks to a last-gasp equaliser. Liverpool had held a two-goal lead just after the interval and they were ahead again at 3-2 but they couldn't hold on and dropped another two points in their title defence.

After the game, Mo Salah delivered an explosive interview where he accused the club of throwing him under the bus and claimed that he no longer has a relationship with Liverpool manager Arne Slot. You can read more details here.

We witnessed one of the least exciting Super Sundays of the season when Brighton drew 1-1 with West Ham before Crystal Palace beat Fulham 2-1. Matchday 15 concluded when woeful Wolves made it four defeats out of four under new boss Rob Edwards when they were thrashed 4-1 by Manchester United in front of their home fans on Monday night

Who are the favourites to win the Premier League title?

It's tight at the top of the Premier League Winner market with Arsenal drifting to 4/6 after losing to Aston Villa at the weekend. Man City have shortened to 11/8 following a midweek win at Fulham and Saturday's win over Sunderland, scoring eight goals in the process.

It already looks a two-horse title race in all honesty, and that's backed up by the fact that the third favourites for the title, Aston Villa, can be backed at 28/1.

Both Chelsea and Liverpool failed to win any of their two most recent Premier League games, and as a result they have both drifted to 40/1 to win the title.

2025/26 Premier League Winner:

- Arsenal 4/6- Manchester City 11/8- Aston Villa 28/1- Chelsea 40/1- Liverpool 40/1- BAR 80/1

Who are the favourites to be relegated to the Championship?

The Relegation market gives Wolves no chance of survival at 1/500 to go down, and it's not much better for second bottom Burnley who are now 1/33 to be relegated back to the Championship after making it six league defeats on the spin with a 2-1 loss at Newcastle.

The market is then quite tight between West Ham, who at 4/5 are a similar price to what they were a week ago, Leeds, who enjoyed a great week by picking up four points against Chelsea and Liverpool and are now out to 5/2, and Nottingham Forest at 7/2.

Not listed below, Sunderland, who were as short as 2/9 when the market opened in the summer, are out to 16/1 to be relegated. That's an industry-best price, and despite currently sitting in the top half of the table Lewis Jones believes that's a price well worth taking about the Black Cats going down. Read why here.

2025/26 Premier League Relegation:

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What are the Matchday 16 fixtures?

Saturday 13 December

- Chelsea v Everton (15:00)- Liverpool v Brighton (15:00)- Burnley v Fulham (17:30, live on Sky Sports)- Arsenal v Wolves (20:00, live on TNT Sports)

Sunday 14 December

- Crystal Palace v Manchester City (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Nottingham Forest v Tottenham (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Sunderland v Newcastle (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- West Ham v Aston Villa (14:00, live on Sky Sports)- Brentford v Leeds (16:30, live on Sky Sports)

Monday 15 December

- Manchester United v Bournemouth (20:00, live on Sky Sports)

What is the game of the weekend?

We have a few contenders this week, both the Saturday 3pm kick-offs look enticing with Chelsea hosting in-form Everton and under-pressure Liverpool taking on Brighton, while one of Sunday's early kick-offs sees highflying Crystal Palace host title-chasing Man City.

But the vote for the game of the weekend in Matchday 16 goes to the Tyne-Wear derby as Newcastle make the short journey south to take on arch rivals Sunderland.

The Black Cats have enjoyed an excellent start to the season on their return to the Premier League, and they've occupied a top four place berth on a few occasions already. But after winning just one of their last six games Regis Le Bris' men have dropped to ninth in the table and they're now just one point ahead of the Magpies, which means Eddie Howe's men have that extra incentive of moving above Sunderland in the table with a win at the Stadium of Light.

The only meeting between the two clubs in recent years was an FA Cup third round tie almost two years ago in which Newcastle ran out comfortable 3-0 winners. You have to go back to August 2011, however, to find the last Premier League victory for the Magpies at the home of Sunderland.

In the Match Odds market on the Betfair Sportsbook Newcastle are the 6/5 favourites to win the game with Sunderland available to back at 9/4 and the Draw at 11/5. Below you can see a chart showing the percentage chance of each outcome according to the Betfair Exchange Match Odds market.

Managers to watch in Matchday 16

We've covered Liverpool a lot in this section this season but once again the manager to watch in Matchday 16 has to be Arne Slot.

A few weeks ago we, and many others, said he arguably had three games to save his job. Of those three games, Slot's Liverpool team failed to beat newly-promoted Sunderland at Anfield and blew a two-goal lead at newcomers Leeds. So given those results, you'd have thought Slot would be fighting for his job.

But then that Mo Salah interview appeared, and it seems to have helped Slot in a strange sort of way. Salah stated that his relationship with Slot has broken down and he has no intentions of speaking to him in the future. He was criticised for that explosive interview with many people having sympathy for Slot and the situation he was thrown into.

And then the decision early in the week was made by Liverpool to remove Salah from the first team squad for the Reds' crucial Champions League game at Inter Milan. That decision had the full backing of Slot, and Liverpool duly won in Milan without Salah.

So where does that leave Slot? If Liverpool fail to beat Brighton on Saturday with no Salah in the team do people say, "well he's without his best player", or does he come under huge pressure to save his job again?

Even starting the season with seven straight wins in all competitions Liverpool's performances have been way below the level expected this term and they're now 10th in the table. They've failed to win any of their last three games at Anfield and conceded eight goals in process.

A heavy defeat on Saturday could be the end for Slot, but if it isn't, then back-to-back home games against Wolves and Leeds immediately after Christmas will surely decide his fate. Lose one of those, and it should be curtains.

Another manager who is likely to come under pressure should his side lose heavily this weekend is Wolves' new boss Rob Edwards.

Nothing has gone to plan for him since he jumped ship from Championship club Middlesbrough to join the rock bottom Premier League club, and performances are seemingly getting worse. True, his side performed well against Aston Villa in a derby game, but they were awful against Nottingham Forest and they could have conceded seven or eight at home to Manchester United on Monday.

They're very likely to lose at Arsenal on Saturday night, meaning it wll be five defeats out of five for Edwards, so it's all about the performance. Lose heavily with no fight and it might just convince the Wolves' hierarchy that they made the wrong appointment.

Player to watch in Matchday 16

There would only be one man featuring here if we knew he were playing, and that would be Mo Salah following that interview on Saturday night in which he accused Liverpool of throwing him under the bus.

But it's highly unlikely he will be in the squad to face Brighton at Anfield on Saturday after being left out completely for his team's 1-0 Champions League win over Inter Milan in midweek.

If Salah is back in Liverpool's squad though, does that mean the club are happy for him to have his Anfield farewell before going to the Africa Cup of Nations, and perhaps never to be seen in a Liverpool shirt again? It's a fascinating scenario for sure.

So our vote for player to watch in Matchday 16 goes to Arsenal striker Viktor Gyokeres.

There was much speculation early in the season as to whether he was the man to fire the Gunners to a title challenge, and it's fair to say, they haven't really needed him so far. True, Gyokeres has four Premier League goals to his name this term, but he's scored just one since September and in his brief absence the Gunners have kept on rolling.

But of course, Gyokeres scoring more regularly would undoubtedly help Arsenal's title aspirations, and he won't get a better chance to get on the scoresheet than against rock bottom Wolves on Saturday evening.