Premier League Betting Preview: New Year's Day Action
By Covers.com
MAN CITY V SUNDERLAND
Man City (-400) Draw (600) Sunderland (1600)
Man City will host Sunderland after a bitterly disappointing draw at home to Burnley last Weekend. The Citizens are expected to bounce back with an immediate victory against a Sunderland side that has caused them problems in the past.
Will it be so straight forward for Manchester City? We’re not convinced
Sunderland are undefeated in their last 5 away Premier League games and have only lost twice in their last 5 games against Man City.
Key stat: Within the last two years Sunderland have beaten Man City 1-0 on two occasions
LIVERPOOL V LEICESTER
Liverpool (-250) Draw (400) Leicester (800)
Liverpool’s win over Swansea on Monday will be a massive confidence boost, they were very impressive and showed glimpses of their attacking flair from last season.
With the Reds on cloud 9, it’s hard to see past a comfortable home win against Bottom placed Leicester.
Leicester have lost 8 of their last 9 Premier League games away from home and seem to be destined for relegation. The congested fixture list during this time of year does no favours to smaller clubs due to their lack of funds and smaller squads. Things could be going from Bad to worse for the Foxes.
Key Stat: Liverpool have won their last 3 home games against Leicester
SOUTHAMPTON V ARSENAL
Southampton (200) Draw (240) Arsenal (155)
Arsenal will make the trip to St. Mary’s on new years day and should be confident of taking home a win.
The Gunners have an impressive record against Southampton, in fact in their last 10 meetings Arsenal are unbeaten winning 6 and drawing 4.
Both teams are inconsistent of late, and although Arsenal beat the Saints earlier this month(1-0) we see this as a game that could go either way.
One thing is guaranteed though…. There will be goals. The last 9 games at St. Mary’s has yielded an average of 3.2 Goals per game.
EPL Best Bets - Week 20
By Toby Maxtone-Smith
VegasInsider.com
Manchester City missed a huge opportunity to close the gap on Chelsea on the December 28th. After Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at Southampton City only had to beat Burnley, they pre-season favourites for relegation, at home to move to within a point of the Londoners. Things started well enough, with the hosts racing into a two goal lead, but strikes from Danny Ings and Ashley Barnes earned a stunning 2-2 draw for Burnley. With Manchester United also drawing, away to Tottenham, there was little change in the race for the title.
In the quest for Champions League football, Arsenal secured a vital 2-1 win at West Ham, while Liverpool’s recent mini-revival continued as they impressively saw off Swansea City 4-1 at Anfield. Chelsea remain the 2/5 favourites to win the league ahead of 5/2 Man City. Of the outsiders, Manchester United are seen as the third most likely at 20/1, with Arsenal all the way out at 80/1.
Let's handicap Week 20 of the Premier League.
Odds provided by Sportsbook.ag
The Banker: Chelsea to win at Tottenham Hotspur at 4/5
New Year’s Day’s late kick-off is a big rivalry as Chelsea travel to North London to face Spurs. The Blues’ record in this fixture is simply stunning. They have lost it only three times in the league since 1990, and were by far the superior team in the recent reverse match at Stamford Bridge, which Chelsea won 3-0. Many of Spurs’s best work has come in grinding out wins in tricky-looking away games: they have won 2-1 at Swansea, Leicester, Hull and Villa. Each time they have scored the winner in the last 20 matches.
A home game to Chelsea is a completely different scenario. There is more pressure on Spurs at White Hart Lane, and the sense is that the team struggles to deal with it. They have already lost at home to Stoke, Newcastle and Crystal Palace, while their record against big teams is typically disappointing. Chelsea have the motivation and the quality to make short work of Spurs here.
The Solid Bet: QPR to beat Swansea City at 19/10
QPR look very underrated here. After a dreadful start to the season their performances have picked up significantly. This is only the case at home, but at Loftus Road the Hoops really are a force to be reckoned with. Having lost all nine away games, they have picked up 17 points from 10 games at home, and may well pick up another three as Swansea come to town.
I thought that the hard-fought 1-0 win at Hull would be a turning point for Swansea away from home, but they were limp at Anfield in a 4-1 loss, and it is extremely difficult to make a case for them being favourites here. They are a team who can be overrated because they play attractive football. However, their defence is still far from perfect and, in Charlie Austin, QPR have a striker able to exploit that. The former-Burnley man has twelve league goals - ahead of Alexis Sanchez and behind just Aguero and Costa.
The Outsider: Sunderland to draw or win at Manchester City at 10/3
Man City’s surrender of a 2-0 lead on Sunday could have a big effect from the season. For about a month, City had been riding the crest of a wave that had started with their 3-2 win against Bayern Munich. Despite the absence of Sergio Aguero, City just kept on grinding out results and edging closer to Chelsea. However, messing up so spectacularly against Burnley could seriously damage their confidence. And of all the bottom-half teams, Sunderland are the ones most prone to deliver huge results.
The Black Cats have drawn a huge number of games this season - 11 out of 19 - and lie 13th in the table. They were unlucky to lose to Hull last time out in a game they dominated, and the feel-good factor around their last-minute win against deadly rivals Newcastle still lingers. In their escape from danger last season, Sunderland drew at Man City and won at Chelsea. They have lost just twice on the road all season and look an interesting outsider at 10/3 to get a result in Manchester.
The First Goalscorer: Wayne Rooney for Manchester United at Stoke City at 5/1
United are decent looking value at 1/1 here, but it is the 5/1 about England captain Wayne Rooney scoring first that attracts me most. This is particularly the case when you see that Robin van Persie is 4/1, despite having scored the same number of goals. Rooney was superb in United’s last win - a 3-0 home victory over Newcastle. He scored twice and there was a ruthlessness about him that has been absent for a couple of years. With service from Juan Mata, Angel Di Maria and Robin van Persie, Rooney looks a good shout to break the deadlock. He has eight in his last ten games, and his good form has been a major factor in United’s run of positive results since the beginning of October.