As the 2024/25 Premier League season dives head first into the Festive fixture list Paddy’s pal Mark Lawrenson is merrily continuing to gaze into his crystal ball over the busy Christmas period and beyond.

The Soccer Soothsayer has read the signs and crunched the numbers to produce his Premier League predictions over the coming days. Let’s see what the future ho, ho, holds…

I keep thinking, ‘How on earth are Manchester City ever going to win again?’ They were just as bad as they have been against Everton and they could, and should, have lost that game as well. Leicester were alright at Anfield but I’ll go with the champions to finally pull themselves together a bit. Leicester 0-2 Manchester City.

You have to fancy Crystal Palace to win this. Southampton lost again to West Ham and they did look better but they still aren’t good enough. It’s a big game for Palace because they can start to stretch away from the other teams at the bottom. Crystal Palace 2-0 Southampton.

Everton have had some good performances and, like I say, they could have beaten Manchester City in the last few minutes the other day. Nottingham Forest are flying but I just fancy a home win. Everton 2-1 Nottingham Forest.