Premier League preview and football tips – Match Day 18

Boxing Day Matches

With 2 game weeks in quick succession (Match Day 18 takes place from 26 December to 28 December and Match Day 19 from 30 December to 1 January), highlights from both weeks can be seen below;

Manchester United have two home games, against north east sides Sunderland and Middlesbrough. United have won three successive league games and with both of the visitors in the bottom half of the table they should have no problems in taking maximum points across the two games. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is back in form with 7 goals in his last 6 league games and as such is 12/5 to score first in Monday’s game against Sunderland. It’s also worth noting that only bottom club Hull City have scored less than Sunderland and Middlesbrough in the league this season, so United to keep a clean sheet in both matches is likely to be a popular bet.

Burnley could be the club to look to, to add into your accumulator over the next 2 gameweeks. The only two visiting teams to have won at Turf Moor since the opening day of the season are Manchester City and Arsenal and the Clarets have won 5 of their last 8 at home, including the notable scalps of Liverpool and Everton. They have the same opponents over the next week or so as Manchester United, with Sunderland and Middlesbrough both visiting making it likely that Burnley will also take maximum points here.

Another team with two favourable home fixtures are Arsenal. Alexis Sánchez, the highest scoring player in this season’s game, will be relishing the games against West Brom and Crystal Palace. His record of 6 goals and 3 assists from his last 5 games speaks volumes about the form he’s in, and he’s excelled in the striking position entrusted in him this season by Arsène Wenger as such he’ll feature as many peoples top choice for first goalscorer. Key points to note here are that the Gunners have won each of their last 5 home games against West Brom and haven’t lost at home to Palace since 1994 so anything other than a home win is looking unlikely.

Finally, league leaders Chelsea will also play at home twice, against Bournemouth and Stoke. It’s hard to see them losing another game all season with the kind of form they’re in right now, and considering Stoke have won only 2 of their last 7 away and Bournemouth just 1 of theirs, it would be a massive shock if either of these were to return back from Stamford Bridge with points in the bag. Diego Costa is suspended for the game against Bournemouth and Eden Hazard is a doubt with a knee injury which should offer some form of comfort to the visiting teams.

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Our daily football tips can be found here.

* Prices correct as of 12.30 GMT 26/12/16
** Odds mentioned in this article do not represent our tips for the respective matches but are used for promotional purposes.

Standings provided by Sofascore LiveScore