As is tradition, this time of year is packed with Premier League action and there are three consecutive days of action to look forward to straight after Christmas. First up on Boxing Day is Tottenham versus Southampton, two sides who won’t be satisfied with their current positions in the league. Liverpool are in action later in the day where they will host relegation favourites Swansea who recently sacked manager Paul Clement after less than a year in charge.
Moving on to Wednesday and for the first time this season Newcastle face the daunting test of Manchester City. The Magpies are just one of two Premier League sides Pep Guardiola hasn’t beaten this season so we will see if the Spaniard can cross them off the list. The following day a revitalised Crystal Palace will be looking to pull themselves further from the foot of the table when facing fellow London side Arsenal at Selhurst Park.
Tuesday 26th December 2017
Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton (12:30) – Under 2.5 goals (23/20 with BetVictor)
Southampton have rather struggled to get going this season and the attacking football Mauricio Pellegrino promised in the summer has rarely been seen. It’s not all doom and gloom for Southampton here however as their record against the top sides in the league could be a lot worse. The south coast side only lost by a single goal to Man United, Man City and Chelsea plus they managed a draw last month against Arsenal. This would suggest they won’t be easily brushed aside by a Tottenham side who haven’t enjoyed life at home this season.
Last year Spurs dropped just four points at White Hart Lane but they’ve already dropped nine at Wembley. Even several of the games they have won have been far from convincing. It took a mishit cross to break the deadlock against Brighton and they surely wouldn’t have beaten Crystal Palace had Wilfried Zaha tapped into an empty net. Most teams know how to set up when facing Spurs at Wembley and the Saints defence, which is far from the worst in the league, should be able to do that. It’s easy to see another frustrating home game awaiting Spurs who are yet to learn how to break down a deep lying defence.
Liverpool v Swansea City (17:30) – Swansea to win with a +3 handicap (8/13 with Coral)
Liverpool have racked up some very big scorelines in recent weeks such as 5-1 against Brighton, 7-0 against Spartak Moscow and 4-0 against Bournemouth. Before you put your money on the Reds though you should be aware that they’ve drawn their last three league matches at home. Games against Everton and West Brom should be ones Jurgen Klopp’s side are able to win but they’ve simply struggled to find a way through. Here they are up against a side who beat them 3-2 at Anfield last season although the mastermind behind it, Paul Clement, has just been removed from his post.
Even with a change of manager, Swansea are unlikely to bring such a goal threat this time Merseyside. The two players who found the net in the 3-2 win are no longer with the Welsh side. Defensively though they look like they might be able to give the Reds a hard time. The Swans let just the one goal when playing Chelsea away and two when at the Emirates Stadium facing Arsenal. Winning or drawing this game would be a very big ask for the relegation threatened side given current form but you shouldn’t bank on them getting hammered.
Wednesday 27th December 2017
Newcastle United v Manchester City (19:45) – Man City to win with -1 handicap (4/6 with Betfred)
Newcastle’s promising start to the Premier League season feels like a very long time ago now as Rafa Benitez’s men have largely suffered disappointment over the past couple of months. Now dragged into the relegation fight, it seems unlikely that the Magpies can get points to pull themselves clear here. They’ve lost their last four matches at St James’ Park and don’t seem to have the firepower nor defensive resilience to be of any real threat to Wednesday’s visitors. You could perhaps say they were a little unlucky to lose against Leicester and Bournemouth but this will not make them feel any more confident ahead of this game.
There’s almost no need to mention how good Man City have been this year as it has been so widely talked about for many weeks. They’ve sometimes required late goals to grab the three points but this never say die attitude looks to serve them very well this year. On other occasions they’ve been simply brilliant, recent examples being the 4-0 win over Swansea and 4-1 victory over Spurs. Away from home they are yet to drop a single point and no Premier League side has conceded fewer goals on their travels. Another away test should mean another win and it’s likely to be a comfortable one against an out of form Newcastle.
Thursday 28th December 2017
Crystal Palace v Arsenal (20:00) – Crystal Palace to win or draw (5/4 with Betfair)
Roy Hodgson is a very popular man at Selhurst Park after pulling Palace away from bottom spot and making Premier League survival look a very attainable goal. Much of his success has come from making Wilfried Zaha the focal point of the south Londoner’s attack. The skilful Ivorian has played a big part in a lot of his side’s goals of late. Hodgson has even managed to tighten up a previously leaky Palace backline. The absence of Mamadou Sakho though will make keeping things this way a big ask, such is his importance to the Palace defence.
The absence of the Frenchman didn’t stop Hodgson’s men breezing past Leicester 3-0 earlier in the month though and you can expect another impressive showing from them here. Arsenal can often be a bit shaky on the road and this had led to winning just two league matches outside the Emirates this season. Recent away draws came against bottom half sides Southampton and West Ham and more dropped points look likely. At odds of 5/4 you can hardly say Palace are poor value to grab something from the game especially as their last home defeat was all the way back in September.