as the football season approaches the crucial christmas and new year period, the games have begun to come thick and fast, so who will be the winners and losers this weekend in the premier league? here we preview the four biggest matches and bring you our predictions and betting tips, along with the latest betting odds, as we help you make a profit from your football bets.
west brom v arsenal betting tips
arsenal are going through something of a sticky patch at present; they threw away a three goal lead in the champions league to draw at home to anderlecht, then went down 2-1 at swansea before losing at home to man united. arsene wenger’s men now sit just eighth in the premier league table and their hopes of finishing in the top four – let alone mounting a serious title challenge – look faint.
west brom, meanwhile, have only won once in their last seven in the league and it therefore wouldn’t take a brave soul to predict they could be in for a tough afternoon when the likes of alexis sanchez, danny welbeck and fit-again olivier giroud visit on saturday.
the bookies certainly think the gunners will get back to winning ways at the hawthorns, with paddy power offering best betting odds of 17/20 on an arsenal victory. for those predicting a baggies triumph, the home side can be backed at 18/5 with william hill, with the draw at 11/4 with bet365.
it should be noted that west brom have drawn two of their last four home league matches against the gunners and scored in each of the last six, so our main betting tip here is to back arsenal to win but for both sides to score at nice betting odds of 13/5 with betvictor.
sunderland v chelsea betting tips
table-toppers chelsea continue to set the pace in the premier league and they are still unbeaten after 12 matches. second-placed southampton (who are six points behind the blues) host third-placed man city (two points further back) on sunday, giving jose mourinho’s men the chance to steal a march on at least one of their nearest rivals. but could sunderland pull off a shock victory in this one?
the black cats have certainly had their fair share of upsets against the pensioners in the past, including a 3-0 win at stamford bridge in 2010 and a 2-1 victory there last season. but with the addition of diego costa and cesc fabregas (amongst others), mourinho has moulded a formidable team and one which we predict will breeze past a sunderland side who have just the 16th best defensive record in the division.
the bookies are pricing the visitors as the 4/9 favourites (ladbrokes and others), but dreamers and optimists can back the home side at chunky betting odds of 9/1 with betvictor. our betting tip for this one is for the league leaders to win with room to spare, and we’ll be backing the blues to be ahead at half time and full time at best odds of 11/10 with sky bet.
southampton v manchester city betting tips
as mentioned, southampton and man city are the nearest teams to challenging chelsea in the race for the title, and it has to be said that so far this season it has been the saints who have impressed us more of the two. few would have predicted ronald koeman’s men would have performed so well after selling many of their best players over the summer, and yet they have been the surprise package, conquering almost all who have come before them.
and so this match looks a very tough one to predict given that city have shown indifferent form at times this term (for example losing at home to stoke and away to west ham). the saints are tremendously hard working and they have scored more goals (17) and conceded fewer (just one!) on home soil than any other side in the top flight.
as such, we feel there is real value in backing the saints to win this one at best betting odds of 5/2 with william hill, while backing city at 5/4 (betvictor) looks like a hiding to nothing. our main betting tip is therefore simply to back southampton to win in a match which could effectively end city’s hopes of catching chelsea, at least this side of christmas.
tottenham v everton betting tips
tottenham and everton both came into the current campaign harbouring hopes of finishing in the top four and qualifying for the champions league. given they are currently sitting in ninth (everton) and 10th in the table, they certainly have a lot of work to do if they are to realise those ambitions, and this match will give us a decent indication of which is the more likely to do so.
the corresponding fixture last season ended 1-0 to spurs, and given the match at goodison was goalless it is not hard to predict a tight, low-scoring affair here. given both sides compete in the europa league on the thursday before this match (being played on sunday) the usual vigour and attacking impetus that roberto martinez demands of his everton side might seem somewhat blunted, while tottenham have been rather limp at times this term.
overall then, our betting tip for this match is to back under 2.5 goals at nice betting odds of 21/20 with betvictor while backing against both sides scoring also appeals at 11/8 with coral. this might not be the best spectacle of the weekend, but in backing few goals you should at least be able to make a profit by betting on it.
other matches
burnley vs aston villa
liverpool vs stoke city
manchester utd vs hull city
qpr vs leicester city
swansea vs crystal palace
west ham vs newcastle