Christmas is known for many things, including wall to wall football. The festive period is one of the most punishing for players, and this year is no different. After a full round of games here on Boxing Day, teams are back in action just two days later. While the players might not enjoy that, fans certainly will.
The Christmas period is built for the fan. With a constant stream of games, there’s so much football to watch there’s little time for anything else. Boxing Day is a perfect example of that, given that it’s packed with a full schedule of 10 Premier League games for you to enjoy. There are four lives matches in the space of seven hours, each with big ramifications throughout the table. Here we have previews for the best of the Boxing Day action, with a betting tip for each.
Saturday 26 December 2015
Stoke v Manchester United (12:45) – Stoke to win (23/10 with Betfair)
The early game sees an out of form Manchester United take on an out of form Stoke City. United haven’t won a game in over a month going into this one, with questions over Louis van Gaal’s future swirling. Can he inspire his side back to winning ways, and restart their push for the top four? To do that would take a feat that neither Chelsea nor Manchester City could manage, claiming a win at the Britannia Stadium. Is that too tall a task for this low-on-confidence team?
While Stoke aren’t having the best of times themselves, they’ll be looking at this one as a chance to turn things around. There’s no real fear factor about United now, given how poorly they have played of late, so Mark Hughes will be expecting a win from his team. While they can’t seem to get a run of results together, the Potters tend to play well against the bigger sides and they seem to have their game plan worked out for those matches. That’s why we’re backing a home win here, with United’s struggles set to continue.
Liverpool v Leicester (15:00) – Leicester to win (11/4 with Coral)
For some bizarre reason, this game, the game of the weekend, isn’t being shown on TV. The resourceful among you will find a way to see it, but BT Sport passed this game up. It should be a great match, given how Leicester play, and it should be a good test for the league leaders. Many are still writing off the Foxes, but after their wins over Chelsea and Everton, surely you have to look at them as an incredible team, not just a side on a hot streak. That’s why we’re backing Leicester to win at Liverpool, at just shy of 3/1.
The gut reaction to that is to see it being a long shot, since its Leicester. They’ve won a few games but surely this is when they crumble. But, replace the Foxes with a traditional top side, like Man City. Say City came here in fantastic form, unbeaten since September with just one league defeat all season. They’re scoring for fun with a fully fit side against an out of form Liverpool, would you hesitate for a moment at backing an away win at 11/4? Given all they’ve done this year, we have to look at the Foxes as a top side now, and any other big side at this price against these opponents would be a steal!
Newcastle v Everton (17:30) – Lukaku to score any time (5/4 with Sky Bet)
Now for the game BT decided was better viewing than Liverpool v Leicester. Struggling Newcastle take on an inconsistent Everton side, who need a win to keep their European hopes going. The Toffees lost to Leicester last week, and they’ll be dying to get back to winning ways. To do that, they’ll need to overcome a side who tend to perform for the cameras. Newcastle shook off their awful run of to claim wins against both Liverpool and Tottenham in TV games, so could they pull off another upset here?
Well, the main threat to Newcastle is Romelu Lukaku, a man who just can’t stop scoring goals right now. He’s struck in eight matches in a row, and he’ll be desperate to extend that run. He recently said that scoring was an addiction to him, and we’re backing him to feed that addiction here. This Newcastle defence aren’t the best, and we can see the Belgian bullying this back four, and finding his way past stand-in goalkeeper Rob Elliot. While Everton are struggling for consistency, their star striker certainly isn’t.
Southampton v Arsenal (19:45) – Arsenal win (21/20 with Coral)
A 7.45pm game on Saturday might be a hassle for supporters, but it caps off a fantastic day of football. Southampton are in awful form, and their European push has tailed off badly in recent weeks. Meanwhile, Arsenal are genuine title contenders, and they need a good run over Christmas to guarantee they’ll be in the hunt come the New Year. Usually a game at St Mary’s would be tricky for a big side, but Saints haven’t made much impact on United and Liverpool when they’ve visited this season. Can they do any better when the Gunners come to town?
Arsenal are a much stronger team than at any stage in the last few years. They may not have added too many players, but the ones they already had are coming in to form. Mesut Ozil is returning to 2010 levels, while the rest of the team are adapting to a new formation. Petr Cech’s experience seems to be helping as well, and with the Gunners playing so well, we’re backing them to pick up a win in this game. Aston Villa and Tottenham have caused Southampton problems here in recent weeks, so Arsenal should be more than capable of taking the three points.