The Premier League table on the last day of 2017

At the top of the Premier League table, it's very very hard to see how Manchester City will allow any drama regarding who's going to win the league this year.  Oh sure, there are several months left in the season, but they are way out in front and appear to have completely forgotten how to lose a game.

Which is not good news for Crystal Palace, who as I write this will play Manchester City tomorrow morning (morning on this side of the Atlantic pond, that is).

Which brings us to the bottom of the table, where there is a massive pile-up of teams that could be relegated.  And yes, there are a lot of months left in the season, and that will get sorted out, to an extent.

Crystal Palace is back in danger, though on tie-breakers (whatever they are), they are still ahead of West Ham United.  Both of them have 18 points, ahead of Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion.  The problem with that is, while CP is extraordinarily unlikely to defeat MC, the match between WHU and WBA on Tuesday could very well produce a winner.  If WHU wins, then they'd go ahead of CP by three points. If WBA wins, then they'd be tied on points with CP and WHU.  (On New Year's Eve, while CP faces MC, WBA is playing Arsenal, and they aren't likely to win that.  So that Tuesday game is pretty critical.)

But that's not all.  Again, as I write this, Newcastle has 19 points, and Southampton, Bournemouth, and Stoke City are all at 20. 

And to top all of this off, CP plays Southampton on Tuesday, too, and they might have a chance to win or draw that, provided that they can recover from Sunday's Manchester City match.  A good manager will have to decide who to rest and who to play.

It's a happy mess.   Have a Happy New Year!