The first day of matches in the Premier League sees five matches being played on New Year’s Day as the division builds towards the break for the FA Cup. We have two live games in the UK to enjoy with affairs in both halves of the table on display over the day.
Early Kick Off
The opening match of 2018 comes from the Amex Stadium where the south coast duo of Brighton and Hove Albion and Bournemouth meet in a match which is still significant for both sides. Brighton have a little more breathing space as they bid to survive but both teams will enjoy their FA Cup match more if they can pick up a win here.
3pm Matches
We only have three matches at the normal time on Monday with the biggest of them coming from the Bet365 Stadium where all eyes will be on Stoke when they host Newcastle in a battle of two sides at the wrong end of the table. At the other end of the pile fourth placed Liverpool head to seventh placed Burnley with the other match seeing Leicester hosting Huddersfield.
Late Game
The first day of action in the year comes to an end at Goodison Park where Everton host Manchester United with both sides looking to recover from disappointing results at the weekend. Everton are playing the role of spoilers now while United need to win to ease the pressure that is beginning to mount on them as Man City pull further clear of them.
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Betting
I’m going with one bet here which comes in one of the afternoon matches. That sees Stoke hosting Newcastle. Stoke went down the unusual but perfectly understandable route of resting a number of their star players at Chelsea on Saturday afternoon and they will hope that the freshness of those players will see them through here. Newcastle have had an improved Christmas with a win at West Ham and a draw against Brighton but they’ve not really looked much in either game.
The Magpies are still struggling and while Stoke are nothing special they usually perform in the big games at home and this is very much one of them. I think it is worth backing Stoke to justify the risk Hughes has taken ahead of this one.
Tips
Back Stoke City (-0.25AH) to beat Newcastle for a 4/10 stake at 2.05 with BetVictor
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