The traditional Boxing Day fixture list is one of the busier days in the Premier League as there are eight matches on the card in total including three of the top four in action so there should be no Christmas hangover on what is an important day of football.
As ever on busy Premier League days there are three kick off times with an early match, the regular slot and a late game.
Early Kick Off
It looked like it was going to be a fairly tame start to events as the early kick off sees Watford hosting Crystal Palace in a London derby but that all went out of the window when Alan Pardew was sacked last week and Big Sam replaced him. This will be the former England manager’s first game in charge of Palace so suddenly there is plenty of attention on the game.
3pm Matches
There are six matches in the usual kick off time. Arsenal host West Brom at the Emirates while Chelsea will look to make it 12 wins in a row when they take on Bournemouth at Stamford Bridge. The champions Leicester play host to Everton and David Moyes goes back to Old Trafford for the first time as Sunderland manager.
The other two matches sees Burnley hosting Middlesbrough in a battle of two promoted sides from last season with the other game being a huge one at the bottom of the table when Swansea face West Ham at the Liberty.
Late Game
A busy day concludes up at the KC Stadium as struggling Hull host a Man City side who need an emphatic win just to get everyone believing in them again. Hull are desperate for the points though so are unlikely to just roll over.
Betting
There are three matches I like in the Boxing Day card from a betting point of view. I nearly took Chelsea to win to nil but with Costa and Kante out that just isn’t worth the risk especially as we want Chelsea to win to boost the outright bet on them.
Bookmakers still aren’t giving Burnley’s home form the respect it deserves. Since the opening day only Arsenal and Man City have won at Turf Moor and the former was in controversial fashion. Middlesbrough only have won win on the road all season and that was only at Sunderland who were finding themselves at the time on the opening fortnight of the campaign. The home form of Burnley stands up to good scrutiny and I can’t be having them as the outsiders here. That’s just wrong.
The champions Leicester look to have found their mojo once again and they can see off an Everton side who have lost their last four away games. Defeat at Chelsea was fair enough on paper but the dismantling they took there looks to have rocked their confidence on the road. Leicester have still only lost one home game all season despite their indifferent start to the season. Even in the absence of Jamie Vardy I think Leicester have enough in that one.
I can’t help but think there will be goals down at the Liberty Stadium as Swansea take on West Ham. Swansea ship a stupid number of goals and West Ham can certainly score them but this is a game the Welsh side have to go after as it is one they should target as a game they can win. It looks like it could have an end to end feel about it and goals are the order of the day there for me.
Tips
WON – Back Burnley (0AH) to beat Middlesbrough for a 4/10 stake at 2.02 with 188bet
Back Leicester (0AH) to beat Everton for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with 188bet
Back them here:
WON – Back Swansea vs West Ham – Over 2.5 goals for a 4/10 stake at 1.80 with BetVictor
Back it here:
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