The Premier League’s Christmas schedule hasn’t been packed so far, but that changes in the New Year. There’s a full round of fixtures kicking off on Monday, straight after a full weekend of top flight action. There are 10 games spread across three days, including a huge meeting between Tottenham and Chelsea.
This week is the reverse of games from late November, so we have some recent head to head results to help pick out some bets on the coming games. Ahead of these fixtures, we’ve looked through the statistics and picked out betting tips on four of the biggest matches. You can see all of those tips below.
Monday 2nd January 2017
Manchester City v Burnley (15:00) – City to win to nil (4/5 with BetVictor)
Manchester City may be seven points from the top, but they can close that gap with a result at home to Burnley this week. While the Clarets are six points clear of the bottom three, they’ve picked up the vast majority of their points at home. They’ve picked up just 5% of their points on the road, while they’ve lost 88% of their matches away from Turf Moor. That’s very unlikely to change when they travel to Manchester City, who are desperate for some points here. Can Sean Dyche lead his men to a shock victory against the odds here?
It’s difficult to see how the Clarets could get a result here, given their goal-shy nature on the road. Not just do they fail to pick up points away, they’ve got a really poor goal return on their travels. The Clarets have scored just 0.25 goals per game away, failing to find the net in 75% of their matches. City may not have the best defence, but they just kept a clean sheet at Hull on Boxing Day. We’re backing them to follow that up with another win to nil. A City win and clean sheet against Burnley is our tip on this clash, which is priced at 4/5 with BetVictor.
West Ham v Manchester United (17:30) – Both teams to score (5/6 with Betfair)
West Ham’s poor season has turned around in recent weeks, with a run of three straight wins lifting them away from the bottom three. They’ll be hoping to build on that improved form in the second half of the campaign, but can they get things started with three points at home to Manchester United? They’ve failed to claim a big win at their new ground, and a win over the Red Devils would be the perfect solution to that. However, they’re going to face another side who have finally found their feet this season.
United have strung four wins together, and they’ll be heading here looking to add more points to their haul. They’re up against a West Ham side who have won 1-0 in back to back home games. However, those came against goal-shy Burnley and Hull. These two met twice in November last year, with both of those games seeing each side find the net. Given that they’ve both improved since then, but they both look open at the back, we can see more goals here. We’re going with both teams to score, which is 5/6 with Betfair.
Tuesday 3rd January 2017
Bournemouth v Arsenal (19:45) – Arsenal to win & BTTS (5/2 with Coral)
Can Arsenal continue their push for the title away to Bournemouth? The Gunners are nine points off the top of the table going in to this game, but they could fall even further behind. They’re up against a Bournemouth side who are impressive at home, they’ve won 56% of their matches here, and they’ve scored 1.78 goals per game at the Vitality. If they can repeat that form against the Gunners, then this could be a huge blow to Arsenal’s hopes of the title. Will they be able to pick up another big result here, or will this be another win for the Gunners over Bournemouth?
Arsenal have beaten Bournemouth every time these sides have met. That includes a 3-1 win at the Emirates earlier this season. While it’s tough to see Arsene Wenger’s men slipping up at the Vitality, it is worth looking at Bournemouth’s strong home record. They’ve scored in 89% of their games here so far this season, and they’ll be confident of extending that run when the Gunners come to town. Given their strong scoring form on their own ground, we’re backing the hosts to grab a goal here. Arsenal to win and both teams to score is our tip, and that’s available at 5/2 with Coral.
Wednesday 4th January 2017
Tottenham v Chelsea (20:00) – Chelsea to win (6/4 with Betfred)
The biggest game of the week sees league leaders Chelsea traveling across London to White Hart Lane. This is potentially their last trip to their rivals’ ground. Will they be able to sign off here with a win? They did manage to end Spurs’ unbeaten start to the season when they met at Stamford Bridge, coming back from behind to win 2-1. That was probably the toughest test of their impressive winning run, but this will be an even bigger examination of their title hopes. Taking three points at Spurs would be a huge statement.
That’s because they’re unbeaten at White Hart Lane this season. However, if anyone is going to end that run, it’s Chelsea. They’ve held a hoodoo over Spurs for a long while, they managed to draw here even when at their worst last season. We can see this in-form side taking the points at the Lane this time around, since Antonio Conte is working wonders with the side who finished 10th last term. Despite their fantastic form of late, Chelsea are priced as along as 6/4 with Betfred for this clash. That looks like fantastic value for the league leaders.