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LONDON. — The festive season is finally upon us and it’s not only a time for family, friends, presents and plenty of delicious food and drink but also copious amounts of football.The Christmas and New Year period is always a busy one, with full schedules of matches in the English Premier League and beyond.

It’s an unrelenting schedule at an important stage of the season and each of the Premier League managers would no doubt gladly accept a Christmas wish or two to help them through it.

We take a look at what each of the 20 English Premier League bosses might be wishing for this Yuletide.

ARSENE WENGER (Arsenal)

After an horrendous week that saw back-to-back Premier League losses, Wenger has reached the end of his tether when it comes to referees and their sub-standard decision making.

He criticised Mark Clattenburg for wrongly awarding a corner in the lead-up to Ashley Williams’ winner for Everton in midweek, and then said that Martin Atkinson allowed Manchester City two off-side goals to win on Sunday.

With their title challenge on the rocks, Wenger will be wishing for a referee that simply gets the big decisions right. Well, to his exacting standards anyway.

EDDIE HOWE (Bournemouth)

Having lifted Bournemouth from the basement of the Football League to the lofty heights of 10th in the Premier League, Eddie Howe can’t really ask for too much else.

The Cherries look very much a fixture in the top-fight and have recorded wins over Stoke City, Liverpool and Leicester City in the past month.

Howe will take more of the same, retaining the never-say-die attitude that he described after the Liverpool win as the “spirit of a Championship team.”

SEAN DYCHE (Burnley)

It’s very clear what Burnley require – a cure to their debilitating travel sickness. Dyche’s team are one of only two (Leicester being the other) sides not to have won away from home in the Premier League this season.

Perched just three points above the drop zone, the Clarets will be heading back to the Championship unless they can find a way of picking up wins away from Turf Moor.

“We have not played well enough, it is as simple as that,” Dyche said ahead of their visit to Tottenham last weekend, which ended in a 2-1 defeat. He’ll be wishing for a quick fix.

ANTONIO CONTE (Chelsea)

No Premier League manager will have a more enjoyable Christmas than Conte, with his Chelsea side on an 11-match winning run and seven points clear at the top.

Naturally, the Italian will be keen for more of the same in 2017, with the possibility of winning the Premier League in his first season in England a very real one.

Conte will hope for no injuries so he can continue the consistency of team selection and tactics that has worked so well in the past few weeks.

WHOEVER REPLACES ALAN PARDEW (Crystal Palace)

It’s not such a happy Christmas for Alan Pardew, dismissed as Crystal Palace manager on Thursday after what has been an absolutely torrid year.

His successor – most likely to be Sam Allardyce – will just wish for a few early, morale-boosting victories to carry them away from relegation danger and give the fans some cheer.

RONALD KOEMAN (Everton)

They started the season in superb fashion before everything fell a little flat for Everton under Koeman and there have been some restless atmospheres at Goodison Park at times.

But they are ninth in the table and Koeman will just wish to stumble upon that formula that enables the Toffees to string together more than one win in a row.

Koeman may also wish to find a speedy resolution to Ross Barkley’s new contract negotiations when they get underway in the New Year.

MIKE PHELAN (Hull City)

Having hit the woodwork three times in their slender 1-0 loss to West Ham on Saturday, Phelan may well scribble ‘some good luck’ at the top of his Christmas wish list.

While rock-bottom Hull have admittedly been on the end of the odd thrashing this season, they can also bemoan a bit of ill fortune at time too.

The good news is, despite being 20th in the table, they are potentially just one win from safety in a congested relegation fight.

CLAUDIO RANIERI (Leicester City)

It’s been such a curious season for the defending champions, who have been pretty woeful in the Premier League but outstanding in their maiden appearance in the Champions League.

Ranieri will pray for the return of some of the magic and sparkle that swept them to glory just seven months ago and enchanted the whole of the football world in the process.

The Italian will pray for two or three wins in the near future to lift them away from relegation danger.

JURGEN KLOPP (Liverpool)

Going forward, Liverpool appear fully equipped to mount a sustained title challenge. At the back, there have been far too many signs of weakness.

Whether it’s keeper Loris Karius or their centre-half pairing, Klopp’s team have often looked vulnerable and the manager may wish for one or two January acquisitions to address this.

Sort out that area and Liverpool must be regarded as the best hope of anyone catching Chelsea during the title run-in.

PEP GUARDIOLA (Manchester City)

There have been times this season when City have played the attractive football on which Pep Guardiola has built his career.

But far too many times they have shown frailties at the back – not to mention the odd moment of confusion at Guardiola’s instructions – and this has resulted in dropped points.

So what Guardiola will really be wishing for this Christmas is that runaway leaders Chelsea drop some points, despite their favourable schedule.

JOSE MOURINHO (Manchester United)

He may still be living in a hotel, but Mourinho should be fairly cheerful this Christmas with his plans at Manchester United finally starting to come to fruition.

With Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba purring, United have improved noticeably in recent weeks and have found some winning form to keep themselves in touch with the top four.

Mourinho will be wishing for more of the same. And perhaps a nice place to live so he can finally get off the room service.

AITOR KARANKA (Middlesbrough)

Even though their 3-0 win over Swansea on Saturday suggested otherwise, Middlesbrough have struggled painfully for goals this season and Karanka will appreciate that their return to the Premier League will be a short one if they don’t remedy the issue.

Prior to that game, Boro had scored just 13 goals in their opening 16 league fixtures of the season – the lowest total of anyone – and they had the least shots per game.

So Karanka will be hoping for a little bit of cash for which to go out and buy a striker or two in the January window to end this drought.

CLAUDE PUEL (Southampton)

Sitting 7th in the Premier League table at Christmas is a very good return for Southampton and their manager Claude Puel in his maiden season in English football.

Although their early exit from the Europa League was disappointing, there is a possibility the Saints can return to continental competition next season.

But key to this will be retaining defenders Virgil Van Dijk and Jose Fonte – who are both attracting intense interest from bigger clubs – in the January window. Puel will be happy to still have both of them come February 1.

MARK HUGHES (Stoke City)

Stoke are a notoriously tough side to beat, as many of the Premier League big boys have found out down the years, but that fear factor has been missing this season.

Manchester City beat them 4-1 at home, while Tottenham walked away from the Potteries with a 4-0 win. They were well beaten at Arsenal and should have been thrashed at Old Trafford before somehow escaping with a point.

With testing matches away to Liverpool and Chelsea over Christmas and New Year, Mark Hughes would just take some of that old-fashioned Stoke resilience.

DAVID MOYES (Sunderland)

With Sunderland deep in the relegation dogfight and bad luck with injuries, Moyes may have wished for some additional funds to spend in January but it doesn’t appear that will be forthcoming.

So either Moyes must hope that the mooted Chinese takeover of the club happens very quickly indeed and the new owners are feeling generous, or Sunderland can summon once again that spirit of Premier League survival.

Another concern is that Sunderland have only had three different goalscorers this season so far in the league – Jermain Defoe, Victor Anichebe and Patrick van Aanholt – and so Moyes wouldn’t mind if some of the others got involved.

BOB BRADLEY (Swansea City)

The American has endured a difficult start to life in the Premier League, winning just two of his 10 matches in charge and Swansea remain thoroughly mired in the relegation battle.

He will take some funds to spend in January to take some of the pressure of their talisman, Gylfi Sigurdsson, and also some kind of cure to a defence that has conceded 11 goals in their last three away trips.

The Swans have lost seven of their nine matches on the road this season, a travel sickness that needs to be cured if they are to escape relegation.

MAURICIO POCHETTINO (Tottenham Hotspur)

Despite being out injured for a couple of months, Harry Kane is still Tottenham’s leading goalscorer this season with nine.Son Heung-min stepped up in his absence, but Vincent Janssen has been pretty awful and it is glaringly obvious that Spurs need a reliable second striker if they are to properly challenge again.

Pochettino will also wish for a few Europa League wins at Wembley so they can acclimatise ahead of next season.

WALTER MAZZARRI (Watford)

A bit of a double-edged sword for the Italian. Watford have the worst disciplinary record in the division with 40 yellow cards (including 10 for dissent) and three red cards, so you’d think he’d be keen for them to clean up their act.

But equally Watford have a acquired a useful edge that allows them to compete with anyone in the Premier League on their day. The 3-1 win over Manchester United in September is the obvious highlight of the campaign so far.

Mazzarri will want his players to stamp out the back-chat to referees, however, as it leads to unnecessary suspensions.

TONY PULIS (West Bromwich Albion)

It’s been a brilliant season for the Baggies, who have played some of their best football in the Premier League, and for Pulis, who has won back the appreciation of the fans in the process.

He’ll just want more of the same in the New Year because a top 10 finish is a distinct possibility.

What’s more, this form has been achieved without Saido Berahino and Pulis would also be satisfied if he is offloaded to a club where he can recover his fitness and make a positive impression in January.

SLAVEN BILIC (West Ham United)

The contrast between last season and this for West Ham is vast, with Bilic’s team really struggling towards the bottom of the league amid stadium teething problems and another injury curse.

Bilic will be praying for a continuation of their recent little upturn and all their key players, especially Andy Carroll, keeping fit and healthy.

And if this latest speculation about Dimitri Payet moving away could also vanish, that would also be great. — Mailonline