The New Year is upon us in a flash this weekend and with it comes another whole host of matches. It’s a shorter game week with Tottenham’s match against West Ham pushed to the following week but there’s still plenty of good looking contests to keep us entertained. Manchester City away to Palace will be an interesting match given they have now extended their run of wins to 18 straight. It should be a match that they should comfortably win but sometimes funny things can happen as these streaks get longer and longer as you’re bound to slip up at some point.
Week 21 Best Bet: Manchester United to lead at half-time vs Southampton at $1.83
Week 21 Best Value Bet: Everton Draw No Bet at $2.1 against Bournemouth
Week 21 Head to Head Multi Bet: Manchester United Win ($1.33), Manchester City Win ($1.25), Newcastle Win ($2.1), Watford Win ($1.67) = $5.83
**Odds from Sportsbet.com.au as of 28thDecember
Huddersfield vs Burnley
Undefeated in their last 3, Huddersfield will have a tough task in getting the full 3 points here against a difficult Burnley side. Burnley bounced back strongly from their 4-1 defeat at home to Tottenham to grab a 2-2 draw away at Manchester United. That was a match that they could have won having led 2-1 only for a late equaliser from Lingard in injury time snatching some pride for United. This will be a different style of match though given Burnley will have more time on the ball compared to United who had 71% possession. The last time these two played it was a very even contest which ended in a nil all draw. Don’t expect a lot of goals in this match as it looks likely to end in a similar result.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Half-Time Draw at $1.83
Best Value Bet: Draw at $3
Liverpool vs Leicester
The Reds will be feeling pretty good about themselves again after dispatching Swansea 5-0 at the weekend but they will need to be wary of a Leicester side that tends to get up for the bigger matches. In saying that, Leicester haven’t exactly been in the greatest of form without a win in their last 3 and are at risk here of Liverpool blowing them away if they score early on. That looks likely to happen again given Leicester’s questionable defensive record on the road. From a results perspective they’ve been ok losing just 3 times, but they’ve conceded 1.6 goals a game and against this Liverpool side that could be a dangerous trend.
Predicted Result: Liverpool 3-1
Best Bet: BTTS – Yes at $1.67
Best Value Bet: Over 3.5 goals at $2.08
Bournemouth vs Everton
Bournemouth are a little on the ropes at the moment sitting in 18th and without a win in their last 9 across all competitions. It’s brighter over at Everton at the moment who have continued their unbeaten run stretching to 8 matches in all competitions. On the road though is where Everton need to start turning things around. They’ve won just once away from home this season which came at Newcastle not too long ago as part of their unbeaten run. They were frustrated to a 0-0 draw at West Brom last time out away from home and will need to find a way of scoring more goals when they play here at Bournemouth. The Cherries aren’t exactly having a good time of it defensively having conceded 10 times in their last 4 home matches and that gives Everton a good shot at kick starting their goal scoring on the road.
Predicted Result: Everton 2-0
Best Bet: Everton Double Chance at $1.53
Best Value Bet: Everton Draw No Bet at $2.1
Chelsea vs Stoke
Stoke have given themselves a boost with 4 points from their last 2 games taken they need to produce something very special to take something out of this away trip to Chelsea. Their away form though leaves a lot to be desired and really points to nothing else other than a Chelsea win here. Stoke have won just once on the road whilst have seemingly conceded at will averaging 2.2 goals conceded when away.
Predicted Result: Chelsea 3-0
Best Bet: Chelsea to win to Nil at $1.83
Best Value Bet: Chelsea to win both halves at $2.25
Newcastle vs Brighton
Newcastle broke their run of 9 games without a win when they beat West Ham just before Christmas and then did themselves no harm in keeping Manchester City to 1 goal when they lost 1-0 this week. Brighton presents an interesting test as for the most part they’ve been pretty competitive this season but away from home they’ve lost 7 of 10. Newcastle will be upbeat despite losing to Manchester City this week and should be taking that positive energy into what should be a home win here.
Predicted Result: Newcastle 2-1
Best Bet: Newcastle to win either half at $1.58
Best Value Bet: Newcastle to win at $2.1
Watford vs Swansea
Watford broke their losing run last time out with a good win over Leicester which places them in a strong position ahead of the visit of Swansea. The Welsh side are still struggling at the bottom of the table winning just once in their last 5. Their 5-0 loss away to Liverpool will have knocked them around a fair bit and that could spell danger with Watford finding some confidence in their last match.
Predicted Result: Watford 2-1
Best Bet: Watford to win at $1.67
Best Value Bet: Swansea to score exactly 1 goal at $2.5
Manchester United vs Southampton
Things aren’t going too well for United at the moment with their arch rivals now 15 points ahead after their late 2-2 draw during the week at home to Burnley. That draw makes it just 8 points taken from their last 15 available. The positive though is this week is a chance to turn things around against a Southampton side that will be a little down after being comprehensively beaten by Tottenham 5-2. To add further to Southampton’s woes is that they’ve arguably sold their best player as well this week with Van Dijk heading to Liverpool. There is still of course plenty of improvement needed from United before they get a win here but they do look clearly the stronger of the two sides.
Predicted Result: Manchester United 3-0
Best Bet: Manchester United to lead at half-time at $1.83
Best Value Bet: Manchester United to win both halves at $3.25
Crystal Palace vs Manchester City
Still undefeated for the season, Manchester City look set to continue that run of games when they take on Palace this week. The time will certainly come when City slip up (surely!) but even in a difficult match away at Newcastle during the week, they found a way to make sure they kept a clean sheet for a 1-0 win. Palace themselves have been in pretty competitive form lately being undefeated in their last 8 but that may not be enough to see them cause much of an upset here as City should win this one way or another.
Predicted Result: Manchester City 2-0
Best Bet: Manchester City -1 Handicap at $1.62
Best Value Bet: Manchester City to win to Nil at $2.1
West Brom vs Arsenal
The Baggies managed a scoreless draw at home to Everton last time out and there’s every chance they could do the same to Arsenal here. The Gunners have been in questionable form lately winning just once in their last 5 whilst on the road they have claimed just 2 wins all season. This looks set to be a frustrating day for Wenger, particularly if he throws up a peculiar starting line-up as he has done numerous times this season.
Predicted Result: Draw 1-1
Best Bet: Under 2.5 goals at $1.98
Best Value Bet: West Brom to win either half at $2.56
