The busy Christmas period in the Premier League began with a solid win for Liverpool on Friday night and it continues with eight matches on a rare busy Saturday in the top flight, a day where the champions are in action along with plenty of other big sides.
Manchester City headline the day but they do not take up either of the two TV matches in the UK. They are centred around other stories with the new era at Manchester United among the highlights on Saturday.
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Early Kick Off
The action gets underway at the Emirates Stadium where Arsenal look to put a poor week behind them when they take on a Burnley side who could really do with a win for a bit of Christmas cheer after a poor first half of the campaign. They might be getting the Gunners at a bad time though as after successive defeats, having gone so long without being beaten, Arsenal will be eager to get back on track.
3pm Matches
Two sides in the bottom half of the table meet at the Vitality Stadium where Bournemouth will look to put their Carabao Cup defeat behind them when they take on Brighton and Hove Albion while the pick of the matches could see Chelsea taking on Leicester City at Stamford Bridge. There is a big game at the bottom of the table too as two of the bottom four meet at the John Smith’s Stadium when Huddersfield host Southampton.
The champions will be looking to close Liverpool’s gap back to one point when they host Crystal Palace at the Etihad Stadium. The other two matches see Newcastle playing host to Fulham at St James’ Park and two mid-table sides West Ham and Watford collide at the London Stadium.
Late Game
The busy day of action concludes at the Cardiff City Stadium where Ole Gunnar Solskjaer takes charge of Manchester United for the first time when they take on his former club Cardiff City. Both sides could do with a win to take into Christmas with them so this one has the makings of another important game for the pair of them with United potentially dropping out of the top six if they lose. Cardiff could be five points clear of the draw if they win.
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Betting
I’m going on the attack on Saturday with three bets where I think there is plenty of value to be had. Up at the John Smith’s Stadium I’ll take Huddersfield on all the day long while I can get draw value in the opposition. I’ve said all season that I do not rate Huddersfield and their poor displays in front of goal will always lead me to taking them on with draw cover. Southampton have been poor this term but much of that was the manager rather than the personnel, as we saw last week. Saints are going to go after the ball higher up the pitch under Mr Hasenhuttl and that could pay dividends against the Terriers. I think Southampton will win this but it is still early enough in the Austrian’s tenure to play safely.
West Ham United are absolutely buzzing at the minute and I think they can see off Watford and make it five wins in a row on Saturday. Watford are having a decent season but 15 of their 24 points have come at home and I’m not even sure that a win at Burnley counts for much. They have failed to win at Fulham and Southampton this season and have shipped two or more in each of their last five games. West Ham are flying despite their injuries and they can use the class of Felipe Anderson to pick up another win in this one.
Finally in the last game I can’t ignore the chance of goals at the Cardiff City Stadium. Cardiff City are much more potent at home and I would expect them to take the game to a wounded United but there is no doubt in my mind that we are going to see an improved performance from Manchester United too. In fairness they’ll do well to ever be worse than they were last weekend but they won’t be that. Both sides need to win which should see a number of goals come along with both attacks consummately better than the respective defences.
Tips
WON – Back Southampton (0AH) to beat Huddersfield for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with Betfred
Back them here:
Back West Ham United (-0.25AH) to beat Watford for a 4/10 stake at 2.00 with NetBet
Back them here:
WON – Back Cardiff City vs Man Utd – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with BetVictor
Back it here:
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