LONDON, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- The New Year kicks off with a full round of fixtures in the Premier League as Liverpool look to continue what looks to be an unstoppable march towards their first title in 30 years, while everyone else looks to pick up the scraps and perhaps set their sights on different targets.

Liverpool entertain Sheffield United, who saw a run of 18 away games without defeat finally come to an end when they lost to Manchester City on Saturday. Nevertheless Jurgen Klopp's men would be well advised to not be overconfident against a side that matched City in the first half and only succumbed to second half goals from Kun Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne.

Pep Guardiola's side play one of the game of the day as they entertain an Everton that looks to be born again since the departure of Marco Silva and the arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as first team coach.

City kick off 14 points behind Liverpool, who have played one game less, and Guardiola will maybe be better fixing his sights on his side's Champions League campaign, where they face Real Madrid in the next round.

The next two months have to see him resolve his City's defensive weaknesses and hope that Aymeric Laporte completes his recovery from knee surgery to be fit to face Madrid.

Second placed Leicester City travel to Newcastle on the back of their weekend triumph against West Ham United, which saw Manuel Pellegrini replaced by David Moyes in the "Hammers" hot-seat.

Moyes will make his return to West Ham with a vital home match against Bournemouth, who are one point and one place above them following a run of seven defeats from their last nine games.

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta is having a tough baptism at the club and his side's home game against Manchester United is another standout fixture to start 2020. Arsenal go into the game on the back of their 2-1 capitulation at home to Chelsea, which again highlighted the team's mental frailty, while United look to be gaining confidence and have moved up to fifth after Christmas wins over Newcastle and Burnley.

Chelsea travel to Brighton for what should be a close game, while Tottenham visit Southampton after a 2-2 draw against Norwich three days ago highlighted that Jose Mourinho's side need to tighten up at the back if they want to compete for a top-four finish.

Norwich entertain Crystal Palace looking for their first win since November 23rd and knowing they too have to stop leaking goals if they want to stay up.

Nigel Pearson may have a reputation for being a somewhat dour character but he has won almost as many points from his first three games in charge (7) as his two predecessors did (9) in the previous 17 and suddenly confidence is soaring at Vicarage Road.

A win at home to Wolves wouldn't be enough to lift Watford out of the relegation zone, but it would increase their hopes of survival, while increasing the pressure on Aston Villa, who face a difficult trip to play Burnley at Turf Moor. Enditem

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