15 festive title-defining days

SIX title chasers; five London derbies; four festive fixtures; three real contenders; two six-pointers — and a Sturridge with Balotelli.

There may traditionally be 12 days of Christmas but in the Premier League this season there are 15, starting tomorrow and ending on January 4; and they are 15 days that will go a long way to deciding the title.

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas, whose team face Tottenham on Thursday in the first festive six-pointer, believes all the top six, down to Liverpool but not including Newcastle, are potential champions. Whether that will still be the case on January 5, when all those teams will have played four quick-fire fixtures in the space of two weeks, seems unlikely.