PREMIER LEAGUE MATCH DAY 18 PREVIEW
The Christmas period of games is a uniquely British thing. Premier League Match Day 18 will be shown by pay-TV broadcasters Sky Sports and BT Sport in the UK with match highlights available free on BBC Sport with Match of the Day.
While continental Europe takes a break over the holidays, even after a break for the World Cup, no such luxury is afforded to players in Britain. Games comes thick and fast, and as a result of that so do these previews!
Our Premier League Match Day 18 preview is brought to you in partnership with EPL Index, and Dave Hendrick – host of the Two Footed Podcast, offering FREE podcasts to football fans.
Let’s not waste time, straight into it!
Premier League Match Day 18 | Liverpool vs Leicester City
Friday 30 December | 2000 GMT | Sky Sports Live Streaming
A former Liverpool manager returns to the club who sacked him, facing the sack from his current club with his team in disarray. A family movie for the whole family.
Liverpool have not had a good season to date, and even in their win over Aston Villa there were still some concerning signs in terms of how easy they were to play through. Had Aston Villa taken advantage of Liverpool’s frailties and poor finishing, they might have taken something from the game. Liverpool took the three points and plenty of positives though, notable the return to form of Fabinho and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Those two performed very well throughout the game and laid the ground work for a strong attacking performance from Liverpool. Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah as a duo were impossible for Villa to deal with, and given Leicester are significantly worse defensively from a personnel and coaching standpoint they should be in for a good night against Leicester.
Leicester went 2-0 down against Newcastle within seven minutes and seemed to give up at that stage. Defensively they were all over the place from the first minute of the game until the last and at no point did they seem likely to fight their way back into the game. This isn’t the first time this season that Leicester’s players seemed to have downed tools on their manager and you do have to wonder why Rodgers wasn’t fired when Leicester sat 20th after seven games despite having such a talented squad. Rodgers’ failure to coach his players to deal with set-pieces on any level is staggering and with Liverpool having a team containing Van Dijk, Matip, Fabinho and Nunez you wouldn’t really fancy a Leicester clean sheet on Friday. It’s worth noting that Leicester are yet to win a game this season in which they haven’t kept a clean sheet.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch Premier League Match Day 18. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
Premier League Match Day 18 | Wolves vs Manchester United
Saturday 31 December | 1230 GMT | BT Sport Live Streaming
A manager just getting settled into life in English football takes on one still trying to find his feet and put his imprint on his team in our next game.
Julen Lopetegui was appointed as the new manager of Wolves just before the World Cup, officially taking over during the break. He has overseen two games so far, and made the perfect start. A League Cup victory over Gillingham was expected, but the come from behind victory over Everton in his first Premier League game was hard-fought and a result of his excellent in-game changes. Wolves overcame a slow start and an early deficit to leave Goodison Park with three points thanks to a cleverly worked set-piece and then, after some excellent substitutions and tactical tweaks, a late Rayan Ait-Nouri goal. Wolves went into the World Cup break bottom of the table but because of the condensed nature of the Premier League a win on Saturday could see them end the weekend in 14th.
Erik ten Hag couldn’t have asked for an easier return to action, with United facing lower league opponents in the League Cup before taking on helpless and hapless Nottingham Forest in their first Premier League match back. Due to the silly rule that loaned players can’t play against their parent club, Dean Henderson was unable to play leaving Forest to field Wayne Hennessy who played a big part in gifting United their goals. United were efficient and did produce some good football during the game but Forest were so poor it’s hard to know if ten Hag can take much from the game. He will be happy that Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial both scored as United will have to rely on them to carry the attacking load over the second half of the season.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch Premier League Match Day 18. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
Premier League Match Day 18 | Tottenham Hotspur vs Aston Villa
Sunday 1 January | 1400 GMT | Sky Sports Live Streaming
Neither of these teams got the result they wanted in their first game back after break, and truthfully neither of them deserved any more than they got.
Tottenham made an awful start against Brentford and were 2-0 behind before they seemed to realise that the game had begun. It took fully an hour for Spurs to show what they were capable of and begin playing football. Prior to that they had been lethargic, cumbersome and sloppy. It was like watching a group of old men get together for their annual Christmas kickabout where they have a feed of pints and chat about the time, thirty years previously, when they finished 2nd in the local reserve league before going out for a kickabout under supervision of doctors worried about their wellbeing in the cold.
When they did begin to play, they found themselves able to open up Brentford’s defence regularly but that first 60 minutes was so poor that a draw was as much as they deserved. Harry Kane hit the bar with a late header but thankfully it didn’t go in because Spurs can’t continue this terrible habit of falling behind and battling back. With the talent in their squad, and in particular the dugout, Tottenham need to be giving a much better account of themselves from the first whistle.
Villa were beaten 3-1 at home by Liverpool and should probably consider themselves fortunate that it wasn’t a heavier beating. Their defence was completely unprepared for the Chaos Merchant that is Darwin Nunez and the Uruguayan forward gave Ezri Konsa in particular a torrid time. Without Jacob Ramsey in midfield, Villa seemed to lack real urgency and despite Liverpool making themselves quite easy to play through, Unai Emery’s men weren’t able to take advantage. Emery relies heavily on home form and doesn’t have the best track record across his career when it comes to getting results on the road but he can’t afford for Villa to fall into another run of defeats like the one that ended Steven Gerrard’s tenure at Villa Park.
No matter where you are, you can use your Liberty Shield VPN to find a way to watch Premier League Match Day 18. Don’t have a Liberty Shield VPN? You’re missing out! Click right here to check out what we can offer you, and use the code EPL25 to get a 25% OFF your VPN or VPN Router at check-out.
How to watch every Premier League Match 18 game from anywhere…
Premier League Match Day 16 matches will be streamed live on Amazon Prime Video in the UK, as well as their respective apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, Smart TV, Now TV, FireTV etc.
But these streaming services are not available to everyone, for example when you load Amazon Prime, Sky Sports and BT Sport in the USA, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Australia, Dubai, Canada etc. you will get an error message.
Sorry, this video is not available in your country.
This is basically because their streaming services are geoblocked based on the IP address being used to access it. You must be a UK domestic web user to access Amazon Prime, BT Sport, Sky Sports and BBC Sport live tv streaming.
- Get a UK IP address for Premier League Match Day 18
- If you want to watch on your Windows PC, Mac, FireTV, iPhone, iPad or Android then you can get a UK Proxy or VPN Apps from Liberty Shield, FREE for 48 hours and then from only £8.99 per month..
- Prefer to watch on supported media streaming devices like Now TV, Smart TVs, Apple TV, Xbox, PS4, Roku etc? You’ll need a UK configured VPN Router setup as British, available from only £14.99 with Worldwide Shipping available.
How can I watch Sky Sports Premier League 22/23 matches live?
If you’re a diehard fan of the Premier League, then Sky Sports is undoubtedly the best place to watch. Not only do they show more live games than any other broadcaster – 128 in total – but their dedicated channels mean that you won’t miss a single match. And with packages starting at just £44 per month, it’s easy to see why they’re one of the most popular choices for fans.
Whether you’re looking for comprehensive coverage or just want to catch the odd game here and there, Sky Sports has you covered. So if you’re a Premier League fan, there’s really no better place to watch your favourite team in action.
Whichever option you choose, you’ll also get access on your phone, tablet and/or laptop via Sky Go. See all four options on the Sky website.
If you don’t want to get locked into a Sky contract and satellite dish on your home, that’s OK. The NOW (formerly NOW TV) streaming service is another alternative offered by Sky. It’s now available on a number of devices, including smartphones, tablets, laptops, Chromecast, and even gaming consoles.
A Day Pass allows you to watch all Sky Sports channels for 24 hours and costs £11.99; this is ideal for single-occasion visits. If you plan on watching every weekend, the Month Pass makes much more sense. It will be available for £25 per month for 12 months before reverting to its usual price of £33.99 after that – unless you cancel.
This offer also includes a month of free Now Boost, which adds 1080p video and Dolby 5.1 surround sound, removes ads and lets you stream on three devices at the same time (instead of the usual 2). After that, it’ll cost you an extra £5 per month.
How can I watch BT Sport Premier League 2022/23 matches live?
Your secondary place for Premier League action after Sky is BT Sport. This season, there are a total of 52 live games available. There are a few options when it comes to signing up to BT Sport, firstly by combining it with BT Broadband. Put your postcode into the website to see what deals are available.
On the TV side, prices start at £16 per month for the duration of a 24-month contract. In exchange, you’ll get all the BT Sport channels and BoxNation, alongside Freeview, AMC and a recordable TV box.
You can also just use the BT Sport app for £16 per month- it works on mobile, tablet, smart TV and console – or buy the Monthly Pass for £25 per month. If your device supports it, you’ll still be able to watch in up to 4K HDR quality. Sky customers can get BT Sport added for £21 per month.
BT also offers a combined package with Sky Sports via Now, which is £41 per month for 24 months.
How can I watch Amazon Prime Premier League 2022/23 matches live?
Over the last several years, Amazon has gradually increased the number of sports showcased on its Prime Video streaming service. While tennis is still the main attraction, there are 20 Premier League matches to watch this season. You can watch Prime Video on a computer or with the free Prime Video app on numerous devices.
If you’re already a member of Amazon Prime, you already have access to Prime Video as part of your membership. It presently costs £7.99 per month or £79 per year, and you also receive free next-day delivery on many items, music, cloud storage, and other services. From September 15th onwards it will increase to £8.99 or £95 per year instead.
New customers can participate in a 30-day free trial. You can join up via the Amazon website, but if you live outside of the United Kingdom, you’ll need a VPN to watch the football.
How can I watch BBC Sport Premier League 22/23 matches?
Whilst BBC will have no live Premier League matches, if you are content with free Premier League Match Day 2 highlights then they have you covered. Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2 are available live when screened on the BBC Sport website, and also on catchup with BBC iPlayer.
Furthermore; Sky Sports, Now TV, BT Sport, Amazon Prime and BBC Sport aren’t the only geographically-censored streaming services a VPN or Proxy will allow you to access. Other UK services like BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, All 4 and BritBox are available. Plus with the option to switch to our USA service whenever you like, you can access Hulu, HBO GO, Netflix and Pandora. Essentially you can access international content from virtually anywhere!
