Chelsea found Everton’s defensive organisation just beyond them on Saturday and an extended spell in the second half camped on the edge of the Toffees' area yielded nothing in a disappointing 0-0 draw.
That means another two points dropped in what has become an increasingly hopeless pursuit of Manchester City but Antonio Conte will at least have another option up front with the return of Alvaro Morata following a ban.
Heading back to Stamford Bridge will do no harm either with their home record standing up to the utmost scrutiny following seven wins from eight in all competitions and it will be a major surprise if they are not able to put a functional but limited Brighton side to the sword.
The Seagulls picked up their first three points since the start of November with a lively performance against Watford with the 1-0 scoreline somewhat underwhelming considering the number of chances they created.
They almost blew it too at the death when Stefano Okaka contrived to scoop a chance over the bar from three inches but the visitors simply must convert the limited chances likely to come their way to have any hope of making things interesting.
Swansea and Southampton have both come to west London in the last month and only been seen off by a 1-0 margin so I can’t see Chris Hughton’s well organised team being on the wrong end of a clattering.
Morata’s return though can help make things a bit more comfortable for Conte in a run-of-the-mill home victory.
Prediction: Chelsea 2-0 Brighton -
Mark Hughes and Stoke go the shot in the arm they were looking for over the weekend in a 3-1 victory over West Brom but the result was very much in the balance until added time and I don’t feel the Potters are out of the woods just yet.
They allowed the Baggies to build way too much pressure with the score at 2-1 and some slightly better finishing or a kinder bounce of the ball for the Baggies could have seen the hosts chuck a vital two points away and leave Hughes’ position under serious threat while he tucked into his Christmas lunch.
We will have a better idea of whether Stoke are back on the right track or not at the John Smith’s Stadium against a fair Huddersfield team making a decent fist of their first season in the Premier League.
They stuck to the task well on Saturday to earn a point at Southampton having gone behind and they seem extremely good at rising to the occasion on their little patch of west Yorkshire in front of some tremendous support.
They are 6/4 or thereabouts to bolster an already strong home record - two recent defeats have come at the hands of Manchester City and Chelsea - and should give it another very good go against a side that has managed just one away success all season.
Prediction: Huddersfield 2-1 Stoke - Sky Bet odds: 9/1
The Baggies will have all the trappings of a classic hard-luck relegation story this season if they can’t start to convert possession and chances into victories relatively quickly.
Salomon Rondon remains a striker who requires four or five opportunities per game to find his range while new boss Alan Pardew needs to bring some order to the frenetic passages of play with the defeat at Stoke another good example of a desperate search for someone to keep a calm head and put their foot on the ball.
There has been some early money for them to finally bring to a conclusion a horrible winless spell that stretches back to Accrington in August but they are simply going to have to show much more guile and craft to get any joy against the visitors on Boxing Day.
This is a team that kept Chelsea at bay for over 90 minutes on Saturday as Sam Allardyce’s has turned a slipshod defence into one that is remarkably stout in a short space of time and look very well equipped to deal with any threat posed by the home side.
Getting an edge at the other end is rather more tricky but the positive of Wayne Rooney’s predicted return from illness is balanced by the loss of midfield destroyer Idrissa Gueye, the architect of so many forward surges with his ball-winning ability, to a hamstring problem.
Allardyce will once more rely on a keeping a clean sheet as the foundation of any success at The Hawthorns and his team have responded well by finding a knack of coming up with a decider in front of goal so another narrow away victory seems a reasonable conclusion to draw.
Prediction: West Brom 0-1 Everton -
This was a pivotal fixture for the Swans last season in their successful survival bid and we go full circle with them heading back to Anfield in the hands of a new manager following the sacking of Paul Clement.
Leon Britton has temporary charge at the Liberty Stadium and he remains unbeaten after taking a creditable point at home to improving Crystal Palace at the weekend.
His players showed plenty of tenacity having fallen behind to a second-half penalty and it was certainly Swansea who looked the more likely to go on and claim all three points as they applied some strong pressure in the closing stages.
The fact they are not adrift from the rest of the relegation strugglers is a bonus as we head into the second half of the season and it will be fascinating to see how Britton goes about a daunting second test.
This is the time of year that awards are dished out and Liverpool are clear front-runners when it comes to the most frustrating team to follow.
The full range of their brilliant attacking wares were on display at Arsenal on Friday night but they still managed to let a team off the hook that was dead and buried early in the second half.
Swansea don’t possess that sort of quality to recover if Liverpool do manage to open up a decent advantage but you simply can’t rely on Jurgen Klopp’s team not to drop a clanger or two at some stage in the match and give the visitors some hope of taking something back to south Wales.
The latter outcome might require a Man of the Match effort from Lukasz Fabianski in goal but surely his players can at last prevent Klopp from spontaneously combusting on the touchline with a straightforward success.
Prediction: Liverpool 3-1 Swansea -
Posted at 1445 GMT on 24/12/17.