We’re back for our last set of Danske Bank Premiership fixtures before Christmas and we have a full game of fixtures this week in the Danske Bank Premiership, our writing team will be giving their predictions later in the article.
The action kicks off tonight when Ballymena welcome Glenavon to the Ballymena Showgrounds, both these sides are currently level on points in 7th and 8th in the league with David Jeffrey’s United side ahead on goal difference. A win for either side would move them to within two points of Larne who occupy the final top six spot at the moment, anything less than three points for either side could see Carrick or Dungannon seek to close the gap when they play tomorrow.
The top four in the Premiership are currently only separated by four points and tomorrow they all play each other. Current leaders Linfield play 3rd placed Crusaders and while that game takes place at Windsor Park, Oran Kearney’s Coleraine side will hope to take advantage of any slip when they take on Cliftonville across the city.
The full fixture list for this weekend is as follows, all games kick off tomorrow at 15:00 unless otherwise stated:-
Ballymena United v Glenavon (tonight at 19:45)
Carrick Rangers v Glentoran
Cliftonville v Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts v Institute
Linfield v Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town v Larne
The Premiership league table going into the pre-Christmas set of games is looking like this:-
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Linfield | 18 | 14 | 0 | 4 | 41 | 11 | 30 | 42 |
| 2 | Coleraine | 20 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 45 | 20 | 25 | 40 |
| 3 | Crusaders | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 46 | 20 | 26 | 39 |
| 4 | Cliftonville | 19 | 12 | 2 | 5 | 34 | 13 | 21 | 38 |
| 5 | Glentoran | 19 | 10 | 5 | 4 | 41 | 25 | 16 | 35 |
| 6 | Larne | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 36 | 20 | 16 | 28 |
| 7 | Ballymena United | 20 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 31 | -3 | 23 |
| 8 | Glenavon | 19 | 7 | 2 | 10 | 28 | 47 | -19 | 23 |
| 9 | Carrick Rangers | 19 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 25 | 31 | -6 | 21 |
| 10 | Dungannon Swifts | 19 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 52 | -29 | 17 |
| 11 | Institute | 20 | 2 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 45 | -29 | 12 |
| 12 | Warrenpoint Town | 20 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 14 | 62 | -48 | 9 |
At the minute in our prediction league, Cameron currently leads the way and is sitting four points clear with 70 points. Following him, and level on 66 points, are Rodney and Adrian. The full leaderboard reads like:-
| 1: Cameron | 70 |
| 2: Rodney/Adrian | 66 |
| 4: Bryan | 64 |
| 5: Darren | 59 |
| 6: Keith | 57 |
As always the writers will get three points for a correct result and a point for the correct outcome, current leader Cameron is first up this week.
Cameron
Ballymena United 2-0 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 0-3 Glentoran
Cliftonville 2-1 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 1-2 Institute
Linfield 2-2 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 1-4 Larne
Adrian
Ballymena United 2-2 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 2-3 Glentoran
Cliftonville 2-0 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 1-1 Institute
Linfield 1-0 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 0-3 Larne
Rodney
Ballymena United 2-1 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-2 Glentoran
Cliftonville 2-1 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 2-1 Institute
Linfield 2-1 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 0-2 Larne
Bryan
Ballymena United 2-1 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-3 Glentoran
Cliftonville 2- 2 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 2-1 Institute
Linfield 1-2 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 0-2 Larne
Keith
Ballymena United 1-1 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-1 Glentoran
Cliftonville 1-1 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 1-1 Institute
Linfield 1-1 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 1-1 Larne
Darren
Ballymena United 2-1 Glenavon
Carrick Rangers 1-2 Glentoran
Cliftonville 2-2 Coleraine
Dungannon Swifts 1-1 Institute
Linfield 1-1 Crusaders
Warrenpoint Town 1-3 Larne
Tomorrow there is also a full set of Bluefin Sport Championship games with the following fixtures taking place tomorrow at 15:00 unless otherwise stated:-
Harland and Wolff Welders v Ballyclare Comrades (tomorrow at 14:00)
Knockbreda v Dergview (tomorrow at 14:00)
Queens University v Ballinamallard United (tomorrow at 14:00)
Ards v Loughgall
Newry City v Dundela
Portadown v PSNI
Here is the Championship league table:-
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Portadown | 21 | 14 | 4 | 3 | 43 | 18 | 25 | 46 |
| 2 | Ballinamallard United | 21 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 51 | 21 | 30 | 43 |
| 3 | Loughgall | 20 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 43 | 27 | 16 | 39 |
| 4 | Dundela | 20 | 9 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 30 | 0 | 32 |
| 5 | Ards | 19 | 8 | 4 | 7 | 31 | 30 | 1 | 28 |
| 6 | Newry City | 19 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 36 | 25 | 11 | 27 |
| 7 | Ballyclare Comrades | 20 | 7 | 4 | 9 | 38 | 36 | 2 | 25 |
| 8 | Queens University | 20 | 8 | 1 | 11 | 42 | 44 | -2 | 25 |
| 9 | HW Welders | 19 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 31 | 44 | -13 | 21 |
| 10 | PSNI | 19 | 5 | 2 | 12 | 26 | 64 | -38 | 17 |
| 11 | Dergview | 17 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 20 | 28 | -8 | 15 |
| 12 | Knockbreda | 19 | 4 | 3 | 12 | 23 | 47 | -24 | 15 |
There also four Bluefin Sport Premier Intermediate League (PIL) games tomorrow, kicking off at 15:00 unless otherwise stated:-
Dollingstown v Banbridge Town (tomorrow at 14:00)
Annagh United v Armagh City
Limavady United v Portstewart
Moyola Park v Tobermore United
Here is the PIL table:-
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Annagh United | 7 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 18 | 9 | 9 | 18 |
| 2 | Portstewart | 7 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 17 |
| 3 | Newington YC | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 10 | -2 | 13 |
| 4 | Bangor | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 12 |
| 5 | Lisburn Distillery | 8 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 12 |
| 6 | Dollingstown | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 9 |
| 7 | Armagh City | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 15 | -7 | 5 |
| 8 | Limavady Utd | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 4 |
| 9 | Moyola Park | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 4 |
| 10 | Banbridge Town | 7 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 10 | -6 | 4 |
| 11 | Tobermore United | 6 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 | 14 | -6 | 2 |
You can let us know your own predictions on our Twitter page, @o_t_turnstile, and we’ll see you again next week.
