While the rest of us don our slippers and pipes and sit back to relax over Christmas, Premier League footballers are entitled to no such luxury as Boxing Day represents a full fixture list. There are ten games to plough through this Thursday, with all topflight teams in action as the festive period kicks into overdrive. Not that we're complaining, because we have some real Christmas crackers to look forward too, starting with Hull versus defending champions Manchester United at lunchtime. We then have eight 15:00 kick-offs to keep us entertained as Aston Villa host Crystal Palace, Cardiff entertain Southampton, Chelsea welcome Swansea, Sunderland travel to Everton, Stoke visit Newcastle, Norwich take on Fulham, Tottenham battle with West Brom and West Ham take on Arsenal. And if you've caught your breath by then, there's always Man City vs Liverpool to squeeze in, too, as the two English heavyweights clash at the top of the table. As always, each of these games have consequences not just to the club's involved, but to our own WhatCulture! Fantasy Football league, too. Nile Smith sits top of the Christmas tree with his Indy Liverbirds but will that still be the case at the end of the week? Can YOU catch him? Here, we take a look at 5 Essential Transfers For Gameweek 18 to help you do just that.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
