- Crystal Palace has the most difficult series of Christmas games according to statistics
- Manchester United face tough festive tests against Liverpool and Aston Villa
- Manchester City have fallen, but Gary Neville is wrong when he says they are complacent. Listen to It all starts
Each Premier League team's upcoming festive matches have been ranked by difficulty, and that's not good news for Crystal Palace, Arsenal and Manchester United.
Opta's supercomputer has analyzed the difficulty of each team's next five top matches and assigned a rating to each team in the division.
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal have one of the toughest fixtures, while Premier League title rivals Manchester City can look forward to the easiest run of fixtures.
Of course, no Premier League match is a comfortable affair, but with five games in just 22 days, some teams will be hoping for fewer toiling battles on the pitch.
Crystal Palace have been given the statistically toughest set of games and a score of 93.1, with Roy Hodgson braced for games against Liverpool, Man City, Brighton, Chelsea and Brentford.
Crystal Palace have been given the most difficult set of festive matches statistically
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal will play Aston Villa, West Ham, Fulham, Brighton and Liverpool in their next five matches
Manchester United travel to Anfield before hosting Aston Villa at Old Trafford before Christmas
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The Eagles kick off against Jurgen Klopp's title-chasing Liverpool at Selhurst Park on Saturday, while the Reds themselves also compete against other top-half teams in the same period.
Liverpool are ranked the eighth most difficult festive fixtures, with Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle all set to make trips to Anfield.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have the second-highest average opponent rating of 91.2, having also faced Aston Villa, West Ham, Fulham and Brighton in addition to Liverpool on December 23.
Manchester United has already played against City, Arsenal, Chelsea and Newcastle this season, but will still have to face Liverpool and Aston Villa before the end of the year.
Erik ten Hag's side will also host Bournemouth, while he also travels to West Ham and Nottingham Forest in the next five matches.
United returned to form with a recent 2-1 win over Chelsea at Old Trafford and look to build further momentum against the Cherries this weekend.
Pep Guardiola's Manchester City side have been given the easiest set of Christmas matches according to Opta's difficulty rating
Mauricio Pochettino hopes his Chelsea side can bounce back from defeat to Man United and put in a string of strong performances before the end of the year
Vincent Kompany's struggling Burnley will need to produce their best performances of the season in the upcoming run of games as they look to climb out of the Premier League relegation zone.
The Clarets have been awarded the third highest rating of all teams by Opta with a difficulty rating of 90.5, as they face three of the top eight teams in the division in the form of Brighton, Liverpool and Aston Villa.
Everton are currently three points above the relegation zone after their midweek win over Newcastle, but tough tests await against Chelsea, Tottenham and Man City in December.
Aston Villa supporters have reason to be optimistic that they can continue their fight for a place in next season's Champions League, with the Gunners and Man United their most challenging festive fixtures, while they also face Brentford, Sheffield United and Burnley have to play.