Premiership - o que tem de ser tem muita força!

Chelsea's bid to retain their place at the top of the Premier League kicks off a full Boxing Day programme across England's top four divisions.

The Blues, who have a three-point lead over Manchester City, host fourth-placed West Ham United at 12:45 GMT.

It will be Chelsea's second match in a busy sequence of four games in 11 days.

"It doesn't matter - English or not English - the moment you are a football player in this country, I respect you a lot," said Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho.

"At this moment the German guys are on the beach, the Spanish guys are in the Maldives getting sun - everybody else is doing that.

"But in this country you play on the 22nd, you play on Boxing Day, you play on the 28th, you play on New Year's Day. There is no Christmas - just football, and I think the players deserve respect.

"The supporters all around the country give them that respect because every stadium is sold out. And I think the way to do it is with the kind of professionalism my players have shown."

 

Chelsea played their first four Premier League games of the season over the space of 27 days.

Over the Christmas period, where games are squeezed into every nook and cranny of the calendar, the league leaders will play for another 12 points - this time over 11 days.

Put together a run of form and you could head into 2015 flying. Hit a sticky patch and suddenly you could be free-falling down the table.

So who has the festive fixture list favoured and cursed?

Louis van Gaal: Man Utd boss unhappy with festive fixture list

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal is 'unhappy' with the number of fixtures played in the festive period.

United could play four matches in nine days between Boxing Day and 3 January, depending on the FA Cup draw.

Their itinerary in the Premier League sees them host Newcastle on Boxing Day, away at Tottenham two days later before travelling to Stoke on New Year's Day.

"I have a wife, kids and grandchildren, and I cannot see them at Christmas," said Van Gaal, 63.

"But I want to work in the Premier League, so I have to adapt, and I shall adapt," he added.

 

Ir para a Premier League é muito bom, não é? Pois, são ossos do ofício, talvez o melhor do Mundo!

 

Já Jaime Pacheco queixava-se de que não gostaria de estar no futebol pelo Natal e ei-lo, ontem, num jogo da Liga egípcia (1ª derrota e suplantado no 1º lugar) precisamente a 25 de Dezembro!