The Premier league action continues mid-week with another 10 matches which sees the busy December and January fixtures really start to kick into gear. There’s not an abundance of big team match-ups in this round of matches but there’s always the possibility of more upsets and points to be dropped. The weekend saw 4 of the top 6 sides drop points with Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool put on the back foot as Manchester city continued their incredible and now record breaking run of 14 straight league wins. It now seems almost impossible that Manchester city will lose the title from here, albeit for a catastrophic run of results.
Week 17 Best Bet: West Ham vs Arsenal – Over 2.5 goals at $1.66
Week 17 Best Value Bet: Burnley to beat Stoke at $2.3
Week 17 Head to Head Multi Bet: Burnley Win ($2.3), Chelsea Win ($1.33), Everton Win ($3.1), Tottenham Win ($1.22) = $11.57
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as at 11thDecember
Headline Fixtures
West Ham vs Arsenal
There’s some belief building at West Ham now, particularly after their excellent 1-0 win over Chelsea last time out. That’ll give them great confidence to repeat the dose here against Arsenal who can be a little unpredictable at times in terms of what sort of performance they will put out.
Predicted Result: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.66
Best Value Bet: Half-Time Draw at $2.25
Remaining Fixtures
Burnley vs Stoke
This looks nothing other than a Burnley win here. Stoke have been poor and will have a lot of work to do to bounce back from what was a very poor showing at Tottenham when they were belted 5-1. You may of course see some sort of reaction from Stoke, but Burnley are extremely difficult to beat and look unlikely to be beat here either.
Predicted Result: Burnley 1-0
Best Bet: Burnley Draw No Bet at $1.54
Best Value Bet: Burnley to win at $2.3
Huddersfield vs Chelsea
Chelsea didn’t make the most of their chances against West Ham and will need to ensure they take them here against Huddersfield. Huddersfield had a good win over Brighton last time out but Chelsea’s quality may be just too much to break through even when not in the greatest of form.
Predicted Result: Chelsea 2-1
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.8
Best Value Bet: Half-Time/Full-Time – Draw/Chelsea at $3.75
Crystal Palace vs Watford
Palace had their chances last time out against Bournemouth but Benteke was unable to put away an injury time penalty to give them a 3-2 win. They face a tough contest here with Watford looking a very competitive side this season.
Predicted Result: Draw 2-2
Best Bet: BTTS – Yes at $1.72
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $3.4
Swansea vs Manchester city
Swansea will be hard pressed to get anything out of this such is the form of Manchester City at the moment. The Welsh club had a good win over West Brom at the weekend but even if they play to the same level, it doesn’t seem realistic of them to be able to cause such a big upset over Manchester City here.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 3-1
Best Bet: Manchester City to lead at Half-Time at $1.57
Best Value Bet: Manchester City to win and BTTS at $2.5
Newcastle vs Everton
Newcastle have put together a really poor run of results without a win in their last 7 matches taking just the 1 point. Everton look a lot better side than their first stages of the season with 3 wins in their last 4 in all competitions. That confidence should see them continue the difficulties for Newcastle at the moment.
Predicted Result: Everton 2-1
Best Bet: Double chance Everton at $1.53
Best Value Bet: Everton to win at $3.1
Southampton vs Leicester
The Saints have been pretty unlucky not to get more out of recent results. Their last match, a 1-1 draw with Arsenal could have easily been a 1-0 win if not for a late equaliser whilst their 2-1 loss away at Manchester City could have easily ended in a 1-1 draw. Against Leicester though it’ll again be a tough match but Southampton have been showing that they are a good enough side to trouble the top sides. They’re due for a win and defensively should be able to keep Leicester at bay for long enough.
Predicted Result: Southampton 1-0
Best Bet: BTTS – No at $1.91
Best Value Bet: Southampton to win the 2nd half at $2.4
Manchester United vs Bournemouth
United should be back on the front foot against a lower side this week in Bournemouth. It may also see the return to form of Lukaku who seems to go missing regularly for the big matches. Against top 6 sides this season, Lukaku has 0 assists and 0 goals across 5 matches.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 3-0
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Manchester united to Win to Nil at $1.91
Liverpool vs West Brom
Tough match and tough luck for Liverpool in their Merseyside derby with Everton finishing 1-1 thanks to a controversial late penalty to Everton. The Baggies haven’t been getting the results their after lately but have been more than competitive against most they have faced. The trouble is most of the lower ranked sides in this league tend to be taken apart when they play Liverpool and that seems likely to continue here.
Predicted Result: Liverpool 3-1
Best Bet: Liverpool to lead at half-time $1.57
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $2.37
Tottenham vs Brighton
Spurs bounced back from a poor run of form to thump Stoke 5-1 last time out. They have a great chance to continue that form at home to Brighton ahead of their big match against Manchester City this weekend.
Predicted Result: Tottenham 3-0
Best Bet: Over 2.5 goals @ $1.59
Best Value Bet: Tottenham to win both halves at $2.63
