This unpredictable English football season continues on as we head into the end of year fixture pile up.  Here’s a round up from around the web of breaking talking points and news.

The view from Upton Park is that West Ham could still be higher in the table than Arsenal by the end of the year.  And some concerned Gunners fans are tending to agree, with a lot hanging on the Dec 28th match between the two sides.

Manchester City managed to pull off the great escape at Roma to go through to the next round in the Champions League as not forecast by many pundits a couple of weeks ago.

In the race for promotion to the Premier League next season, Middlesbrough are hoping to head the table by Christmas with wins over the top two teams (Derby County and Ipswich), while AFC Bournemouth lurk around the promotion places.