Premier League Predictions: Get on Unai's Villa

• Palace strong at home

• Villa to cause Reds problems

• Winning start for Wolves

HOT trends?

Palace sharp at Selhurst

We are coming into unknown territory in the Premier League, approaching the festive period without any recent games to look back upon.

We only have what happened a month ago to go off, and the chances are some teams will have revitalised themselves or improved in that time off, but we can only go on what we have seen so far.

Which brings us nicely onto Crystal Palace, who have performed as expected given their schedule, and who should be backed when at home and in a good spot.

This is one of those good spots, against a Fulham team who have shipped 2.21 xGA per away game this season.

The Eagles are a good home team, and against non-big six teams at Selhurst Park, Patrick Vieira's side boast a W4 D1 record, averaging 1.56 xGF and 1.32 xGA this term.

We can back them at a decent price of 2.16 on the Exchange on Boxing Day, which looks too big to me.

Emery revolution rolling

Aston Villa went into the break with a new manager and on the back of successive wins since his appointment, with the Unai Emery tenure off to the best possible start.

Not only did they win both matches, but they beat Manchester United and Brighton, two of the current top seven in the league.

Defensively they already look to be revolutionised under Emery, allowing just 0.55 and 0.89 xGA in those two games.

That's great news for their chances on Boxing Day, as they welcome the best attacking team in the league according to xGF, with Liverpool averaging 2.27 per game.

It means that Villa could be well placed to limit the Reds, and given Liverpool's defensive struggles, they will fancy their chances of scoring at least once.

Jurgen Klopp's men have ranked as the sixth worst defensive team in the league, and given the early signs under Emery, backing Villa +0.75 on the Asian Handicap at 1.95 appeals.

COLD trends?

Toffees stuck in a rut

Everton look to again be in relegation danger this season, sitting 17th in the table after a run of one win in seven league games.

Frank Lampard is under immense pressure yet again, and is the favourite in the sack race, and it isn't difficult to see why.

While Goodison Park was a fortress at the back end of last season, with Everton posting positive underlying numbers as they climbed to safety, that form has not carried over, with the Toffees averaging 1.14 xGF and 1.53 xGA per game.

That xGF average ranks fourth worst among home teams this season, while the xGA average ranks sixth worst.

A hosting of a Wolves team under new management poses a huge problem for the Toffees, with Julen Lopetegui a top coach and his new team boasting some good players.

The Old Gold have a perfect platform for Lopetegui to build upon, with their defence, despite sitting bottom the league table, ranking eighth best in the league according to xGA per game (1.45).

Backing Wolves +0.25 on the Asian Handicap at 1.92 makes great appeal, with us getting a full pay out if the visitors win at Goodison, and a half pay out if they avoid defeat.

Saints to struggle

Southampton are in a relegation battle, and as much as I rate Nathan Jones as a manager, the Saints would have been better off sticking with Ralph Hasenhuttl in my opinion.

Jones' first game in charge pre-break saw his side lose 3-1 at Liverpool and ship 3.04 xGA, with their defence a major concern.

He has a job on his hands keeping his new side in the league, with Saints ranking fourth worst on xGF per game (1.15) and seventh worst on xGA per game (1.65).

They welcome Brighton on the restart, a team who rank fourth in terms of expected points (xP) this season.

Away from home the Seagulls rank as the fifth best team on xG process, racking up an average of 1.76 xGF per game, which spells trouble for a vulnerable Saints team.

We can back Brighton at 2.22 to win on the Exchange, and that looks good to me.

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